Roof Collapses at Historic Hoosac Mill

A section of roof has fallen in on the NoAMA Mill (Hoosac Mill) and structural damage is apparent in other areas. The city has closed the building and the owner has engineers checking the building.

 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The massive Hoosac Mill is the latest victim of the wave of roof collapses caused by this winter's record snowstorms. A section of the roof has fallen in and other areas are suspect.

It is unclear when the collapse occurred but Building Inspector William Meranti said the city "became aware of it on the 11th and posted the building as unsafe on the 11th."

The building, now known as NoAMA for North Adams, Mass., has been closed since Friday, Feb. 11, according to a message on the office phone. Attempts to contact owner Ariel Sutain have not yet been successful.

Meranti said the entire building was deemed unsafe because of its construction and another area that is in danger of collpase. Sutain has one or several engineers working on the problem, he said.

The 265,000 square-foot mill was being leased for storage and light manufacturing. An anonymous email received by iBerkshires on Thursday said "no one is allowed in the building, even those who have property stored there."

"We've been fielding a lot of question from tenants," said Meranti. "Until we get a report back saying we can use some portion of the building, we can't let anyone one in."

Sutain bought the building in 2007 and has been upgrading and repairing it, including replacing windows and repointing the brickwork, over the last few years. One section has become a gallery and another has hosted artists for the North Adams Open Studios.

The mill was built in 1906 as part of the sprawling textile empire of Arnold Print Works and then purchased by the Hoosac Cotton Co. in 1911. It was later occuped by Hunter Outdoor Products and was a mushroom factory, Delftree.

The "serrated" roof configuration was made to allow for east-facing windows that brought light into the building. The windows were covered over years ago.

Also over the weekend, an old barn/garage on River Road in Clarksburg collapsed. The last significant snowfall was last Monday and Tuesday, when up to 8 inches fell over the region. No major snowfall is expected in the next week.