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The Crane Museum is hosting a pop-up on papermaking at the Dalton Library.

Crane Museum Hosts Papermaking at Dalton Library

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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DALTON, Mass. — Although the Crane Museum's building is no longer accessible to the general public, residents still have the opportunity to learn about papermaking and the organization's history. 
 
In the past year, the museum has organized more than 10 pop-up events, each designed to educate the community about the significance of papermaking and the Crane's role in this process, museum docent Dennis Croughwell said. 
 
The Dalton Public Library is next. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., library visitors can drop in to learn how to make paper and watch a demonstration on how to identify counterfeit currency.
 
"It's making people aware of the paper-making process and Crane's participation in that in Berkshire County in particular," Croughwell said. 
 
Money is a tangible item that many people use every day but maybe are not aware that it is made in Dalton. The same goes for paper. It is everywhere but many don't know how it is made, Library Director Janet Forest said. 
 
"So, I think anytime we can offer a program that connects people with a process on how something's made that you use every day, I think is really helpful," she said. 
 
One of the things Forest was tasked with when hired in March was developing more community outreach programs. 
 
Libraries are about books, no matter the kind, but it is also so much more than that, Forest said. 
 
"We are [also] a third space. We're a place for people to gather and so anytime we can do something that might bring someone new into the library, and they look around, they see all the other things," she said. 
 
Someone may come into the library for an event and see other things they also offer like DVDs, video games, thermal cameras, a projector for movie screenings, a "Rent a Backpack" program, and more. 
 
"So, I think anytime you can give someone a reason to come into the library, they might find 10 more things or 10 more reasons to come into the library," Forest said. 
 
This event is mutually beneficial because it encourages more people to visit the library and provides patrons with a "great" program and helps the Crane Museum inform the community about the work it does and its history, she said. 
 
"They don't want to be forgotten, because I know there are people that have been to the museum, they used to be able to go to the museum, and that's not an option anymore," Forest said. 
 
"So, anytime we can provide an organization with a space to share what they're doing and what their mission is, I think is really a great opportunity for everyone." 
 
The Crane Museum closed in spring 2022 when Crane Currency, which produces banknotes, including for the United States, upgraded its security operations. 
 
The search for a permanent location was paused and the focus shifted to a pop-up model. More information on that here
 
The museum was located at 32 Pioneer St. in an ivy-covered stone structure dating from 1844 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the rag room for the first Crane paper mills and hosted exhibits on papermaking and the history of Crane & Co. and the Crane family, and had an activity area for learning how to make paper. 
 
But as Crane grew, so did its campus, and getting to the small museum of papermaking meant driving through the industrial operations.
 
The need to keep the materials secure means the adjusted security parameters are no longer allowing for visitors on the property.

Tags: Crane,   papermaking,   

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Residents Oppose Battery Energy Storage in Southeast Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Fifteen community members attended last week's Conservation Commission meeting to speak against a proposed battery energy storage system on Williams Street.

A Stonehenge Road resident called it an "accident waiting to happen" and said, "None of us want 60 Teslas parked in that goddamn spot." 

Fires, flooding, and noise interruptions are collective concerns. More than 170 people in the southeast Pittsfield neighborhood signed a petition against it.

On Thursday, the commission continued a notice of intent application from Brattle Brook LLC to construct a storage system, or BESS, at 734 Williams St., behind the Pittsfield Cooperative Bank.

Chair James Conant clarified, "we will have multiple meetings on this because it's contentious and it's difficult."

BlueWave Solars' Michael Carey, storage development and senior director, and Jesse O'Donnell, an engineer with Weston & Sampson, presented to the commission.

"We are in a time when we are putting in a lot more solar, a lot more wind power, a lot more renewable energy, into our grids nationwide and in Massachusetts, in particular," Carey said.

"In order to continue that and to continue to build a resilient grid in a world with more electric vehicles, big screen TVs, heat pumps, we need to add storage infrastructure to help balance the grid to make sure we have enough power on-site as needed."

He said the site was selected as a "good place" for a battery energy storage project.

"The interconnection points here in these power lines on William Street, it's a place that needs a battery like this," Carey said.

"Those wires get physically hotter at certain times a day, certain times a year. Our battery will actually draw power during those times to help stabilize things. It's in a place that is on a commercially zoned lot that is next to some other commercially zoned lots."

Work is proposed within the bordering vegetated wetland buffer zone. Carey explained that the BESS was moved east so that it is farther from homes and closer to the buffer zone after discussions with abutters.

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