NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city is looking to pump more than $300,000 in repairs and renovations into Western Gateway Heritage State Park this spring. The hope is to have the park ready to take advantage of the completion of the Hadley Overpass and a state signage program in 2012.

"We see this now as a unique opportunity at the right time with all development that's going on to further utilize Heritage State Park," Mayor Richard Alcombright told the Redevelopment Authority on Monday. "The thing is we have to make it better or do something with it and generate some community interest ... or sell it."

The proposed renovations would include a complete landscape redesign at a cost of $100,000 to $150,000, resetting of the cobblestones, painting, replacement of doors and windows on several buildings, a new roof on Building 4, decking, and new signage. The mayor said he also would like to create a playground or child-friendly stations throughout the park.

The city has operated the park since the 1980s and its success has varied over the years. Its best-known tenant is the Freight Yard Pub; it also has a museum operated by the North Adams Historical Society, a quilt shop, theater group, coffee distributor, Northern Berkshire Community Television studios and state visitors center and museum. It's been particularly hard hit because of the ongoing work on the Hadley Overpass.

"The park is losing somewhere around $20,000 or so a year," said the mayor. "We're hopeful that with the improvements this summer, with a recommitment of the city to provide activity down there and the completion of the bridge that this will be money well-spent."

For years, officials had hoped to link the park to the Mount Greylock State Reservation but were blocked by bad road conditions to the mountain. Furnace Street and Reservoir Road have been redone in the last decade and the state spent more than $21 million and two years repairing roads around the summit.

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation is looking to install signage and a kiosk, possibly an information center, at the park to aid visitors in finding their way to the state's highest peak. The main visitors center is on Rockwell Road in Lanesborough; the mountain can also be reached by taking Notch Road off Route 2 through a heavy residential area.

"The hope is that Heritage State Park will become the northside visitors center for Mount Greylock," said the mayor. "What makes us very excited about that is last year, 248,000 visitors reached the summit. Let's assume 15-20 percent go up or down the north side  — that would breathe some life into the park."

He expected to spend $330,000 if the landscaping can be brought in at about $100,000. There is currently $313,000 in the park reserve account, a state grant of $50,000 and, possibly, $50,000 in unrestricted funds from DCR. The city has been maintaining the property but a project this size would be too hard to do internally, said Alcombright.

An easement agreement in being worked out with the owners of the Sons of Italy that could trade parking for access across city property to the sewer line. The parking area created on the south side of the bridge would be retained.

Chairman Paul Hopkins, Michael Leary and Kyle Hanlon were supportive but encouraged the mayor to locate parking spaces closer to the pub. Most complaints, they said, were about the distance patrons had to walk.

"It's a great start," said Leary.

The Redevelopment Authority meets as needed and has purview over select areas of the downtown. It was unclear if the park falls under its jurisdiction and for years the property has been overseen by the mayor's office.

Alcombright said it was the city solicitor's opinion that it should fall under the board, of which the mayor is a member. Besides, he said, he wanted the board in the loop particularly when spending funds.

"It's a good sum of money, it's a big project and we will come back before the authority for an appropriation," he said.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. —  The distinctive saw-toothed roof at the Hoosac Mill is missing a tooth — with a couple more showing cracks.

Further damage to the mill on Union Street could be seen on Monday.

The century-old textile mill, known as NoAMA (for North Adams, MA) was closed on Feb. 11 after a 30-foot section of the roof gave way and structural damage could be seen at another sawtooth.

The building is mainly used for storage but no one has been allowed in since its closure by the city. Owner Ariel Sutain has reportedly contacted engineers to review the building.

The state has cautioned property owners to remove snow after reports of nearly 200 structures across the state suffering collapse or structural damage.

Up to a foot of snow fell over the weekend beginning Friday and sleet and rain fell through Monday morning. That likely caused the brick end of the collapsed section to fall in. Several more cracks have appeared along the sawtooths near the collapsed section and around another significantly damaged area.

The roof's unique shape once allowed light to come in through windows on the east side. The windows were long ago covered over.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Vandals caused thousands of dollars of damage Friday at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink.

Both the men's and the women's restrooms were damaged during Friday night's community skating time. In the recently renovated restrooms, urinal dividers were torn down, the doors were kicked with skates leaving dents, some of the concrete was chipped and one of the sinks was chipped. A full footprint was found near the ceiling where a skater had climbed onto the sinks.

The city will have to spend thousands of dollars to replace all of the damaged items.

"It's on the city's dime to keep this maintained. Somebody has to pay for this," Mayor Richard Alcombright said Monday. "We're not going to tolerate vandalism in this building."

Public Safety Commissioner E. John Morrocco said police are accepting anonymous tips and if the perpetrators are found they will be prosecuted "to the full extent of the law" and have to pay for the damages. Additionally, a police officer will be patrolling the rink during the final two nights of community skate time.

"You can have a successful prosecution without an eyewitness," Morrocco said. "With the city having limited resources, this is crazy."

Anywhere from 250 to 300 children were at the rink Friday night and the rink's small staff was unable to finger the culprits. Placing an officer there will help deter vandalism but comes as an additional cost to the city, Alcombright said.

"It's unfortunate that we have to put an officer here," Alcombright said. "We just want to have a nice facility. This is a place for families."

Alcombright was informed of the damage Monday morning via e-mail and went to inspect the damage later.

The bathrooms at the skating rink were newly refurbished in April through grant funding of $160,000. According to Michael Nuvallie, of the city's office of community development, the bathrooms were one of several phases of renovations. Close to $2 million has been invested in the rink, he said.

"We've been chipping away at this for years," Nuvallie said. "We're up near the $2 million mark and we're not done."

Renovations began in 2007 when they city took over the rink's operations with a new roof and each year the city applies for grants to continue fixing the place up.

A new floor, mechanical room, boards and glass and doors have also been renovated, Nuvallie said. The next step is infrared heaters for the benches and renovating the parking lot will follow, he said.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Hundreds roamed the downtown on Saturday looking for some good chowder.

More than a dozen restaurants and food service providers participated in this year's "Chowder Hop" with locations set up from Marshall to Eagle streets. There were no surprises this year; all the top chowders have won in the past. But surprisingly, there was little overlap of the judges' and People Choice selections.

Clockwise from left, Sandy Smith; Mayor Alcombright and The Hub's Kate Schilling; Rita Longworth and Kathy Sage with Jon Charbonneau's chowder.

This year's winner was Gramercy Bistro for its lobster chowder, the first time the restaurant's taken a title since it won People's Choice in 2009. The chowder had just the right flavor, consistency and appetizing look to make it the favorite of all three judges.

The judges — Mayor Richard Alcombright, City Councilor Lisa Blackmer and me, iBerkshires Managing Editor Tammy Daniels — were also impressed with the catfish chowder served up by Gramercy's new sister eatery RUB. Of course, they were both made by chef Alexander "Sandy" Smith.

Coming in second was The Hub, which took third last year, followed by North Adams Regional Hospital Dining Services. Both offered up creamy, traditional clam chowders with plenty of clams, potatoes and vegetables. The Hub's chowder was once again made by Matt Schilling and the NARH's by Jon Charbonneau, who last picked up a third in People's Choice in 2008.

We decided to give an honorable mention to Valerie Schwarz of the Berkshire Food Project for her spicy but not-too-over-the-top corn and clam chowder. Schwarz and kitchen manager Adam Quimby were having their own little competition by serving up two varieties at First Congregational Church. Sorry Adam, yours was good but we liked Valerie's better.

The People's Choice winners couldn't be more different: Gringo's got the most votes, a real coup for David Nicholas who reopened the Tex-Mex eatery in Adams this past fall as Gringo's Firehouse Cafe.

More pictures here.

Perennial favorite Boston Sea Foods took second and Aramark Services of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts was third.

Voting was done by ballot; ballots and maps were available at each location. They could be dropped off on Holden Street, where NARH and Red Herring were set up with the SteepleCats and Boy Scout booths.

"People were really taking time to make out their ballots and drop them off," said the city's tourism director Rod Bunt. "We had a decent amount of votes."

"It was a pretty nice spread," he said of the results of the 222 ballots that were submitted. "Other people got respectable votes, too."

Garnering enough votes for honorable mentions were Petrino's, Big Shirl's and NARH. Petrino's Cafe ran out early, but it was the easiest to find: Mark Petrino set up a table right on the sidewalk outside the cafe.

"If I could predict a nice day, I'd say for everybody get out on the street," said Bunt.

It was a nice day, compared to the some we've had this winter. Similar to last year, a severe storm swept into the region on Friday but left in time for Saturday's event, with exception of a few snowflakes for effect.

Last year, the event was moved to Main Street from St. Elizabeth's (St. Anthony's) Parish Center to encourage more outdoor activities and downtown traffic.

Dozens were lined up during the afternoon for a horse and carriage ride around Main Street; stores and eateries were offering specials, there were places to get hot cider and chocolate and, if you were sick of chowder, Girl Scout cookies and ice cream.

Ice blocks were carved into flowers and squirrels and people and First Congregational Church offered a guided tour of its beautiful stained-glass windows.

A list of all the activities and restaurants can be found here.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The empty space of McClelland's Office Supply has barely had the chance to get cold before a prospective replacement was found.

Pittsfield-based arts and crafts store Bisque, Beads and Beyond will look at the Main Street location as a possible second storefront. The company already has a store on North Street in Pittsfield but according to owner Donna Rivers, more than 30 percent of her business comes from the north.

"I've been looking at North County for five years," Rivers said on Friday. "We wouldn't be moving. This location is working well for me so we'd be opening a second store."

Rivers said she was approached by city councilors about the 85 Main St. location after the office supply store decided to close. Rivers expects to look at the site next week with David Bond, who does commercial leasing for the building's owner, Scarafoni Associates. Bond is also a city councilor.

"I think this is the type of business we need downtown," Bond said on Monday. "My goal is by the end of the year to fill all the empty spots downtown."

The crafts store had come close to a downtown location before but the deals always fell through, she said. The business requires a lot of space to accommodate its materials and many workshops at a reasonable price and McClelland's may be just right. The space previously was Apothecary Hall, once renowned for its mocha sundaes.

"I've looked a couple times under the previous administration but I couldn't put it together," Rivers said. "It's definitely a possibility. If I don't do it now, I don't know when there will be another chance."

According to Bond, the McClelland's building is 3,000 square feet - right in the range Rivers is hoping for. If Rivers likes the location, the two will negotiate a rental price, Bond said.

"We're willing to work with anyone to make the numbers work," Bond said. "We'll have an honest discussion about what the business can afford for rent and we'll set up a rent structure that would work."

Rivers said city councilors have been helpful in ushering in the possible expansion and told her the business would fit well with the city's long-term plans.

"We'd be a really good mix up there," Rivers said.

Bond said the craft store fits because it is unique,  is not a competitor with the "big box stores" and brings the creative element that the city is trying to embrace.

McClelland's announced it was closing in early January, after 28 years at several locations on Main Street, and was liquidating its merchandise.

Shortly after Bond met Rivers through common friends and found out she wanted a North County location.

On Wednesday, the McClelland's lettering over the windows was scraped off. The store sold greeting cards, gifts and limited stationery and office supplies. Its store on Spring Street in Williamstown closed last year after more than 80 years in business.

Rivers opened her North Street location last July. The store offers workshops in ceramics, beading and other crafts to all ages.

Edited with more information on Feb. 26, 2011, at 2:30 p.m.

Edited with quotes from David Bond on Feb. 28, 2011 at 3:49 p.m.