North Adams Historical Commission Fears Fate of Fort Massachusetts
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Price Chopper's imminent closure after nearly 60 years in the city has the Historical Commission worried about a far older property: Fort Massachusetts.
The commission agreed Friday to reach out to the supermarket to thank it for its support — and apprise the company "that [the fort] is very important to the commission, it's very important to the community."
"I would be heartbroken if anything was built over it," said Commissioner Wendy Champney. "I would hate to see somebody cover the site."
This August will mark the 270th anniversary of the Siege of Fort Massachusetts, when barely two dozen Colonial soldiers tried to hold off 300 Indians and French troops. They lasted 28 hours until their ammunition ran out. Some 30 civilian and military captives were marched to Canada.
A replica of the fort was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s as a museum and meeting place for the Daughters of the American Revolution; it was later sold as a restaurant but was vacant the last years of its existence.
Golub Corp. purchased the five-acre property in 1959 and demolished the replica a year later to make way for what was then Central Market and its parking lot. It has, however, maintained the replica's chimney, and a small park and plaque marking its location for many years.
"Every year I send them a letter thanking them," said Chairwoman Justyna Carlson.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said he has been in frequent communication with the corporation's Vice President Mona Golub, but their conversations had touched on the affected workers and potential marketing of the site, not the fort.
"Other than their decision to close the store, they have not made any decisions related to the site," he told the commission. "They are still ... many weeks away from making a determination how they would market it. And they have a couple tenants there."
Alcombright said he has hopes it could be leased to a small supermarket, since it would not compete with Price Chopper, but the fort parcel would be difficult to "segment out" as a museum site.
A Facebook page, "Bring Back Fort Massachusetts to North Adams," popped up last week calling for the resurrection of the historic site.
Commissioner Paul W. Marino wasn't in favor of the city owning more land, but if it were to be donated to the city, he could support holding it for an organization or leaving it as a public park.
But the land is in the middle of a dense commercial area, in the northeast corner of the market's parking lot. It's surrounded by a laundry and car wash, a machining company, auto parts store, a tire and muffler shop and Carr Hardware, and the currently empty Friendly's building. It's also privately owned, which limits the city's influence on its fate.
Commissioner Darrell English suggested that the fort could be replicated elsewhere in an area more suitable for tourist traffic along the Route 2 corridor.
"I can't see another museum being built there, there are too many modern encroachments," he said. "I think if we could ever rebuild Fort Massachusetts, it should be off Fairgrounds Avenue."
Champney, however, was strongly against such an idea. She's spent the last years researching the fort and writing a book, and says she has proof it was within the area where the replica was built. And that's where any marker or museum should be.
"Whether it's just that postage stamp, I just want to do everything we can," she said. "This is our heritage, this is our history."
In other business, the commission:
• Approved the demolition buildings at the Redwood Motel, 810 Church St., 145-147 Cliff St. and 298 State St. (the former Modern Dairy).
• Endorsed changes planned to the exterior of 164 Church St. that will bring it closer to its original look. The historic home was purchased by Gianni Donati last year. Carlson said the commission did not have to approve the plans, but "we just appreciate that you're dong something with the house and you're passing it by us."
• Heard updates on the archiving of the city's vital records and the historical building survey by Gray & Pape. Carlson reported that the city did not get a survey grant this year, but noted it had the last three consecutive years. There is still $10,000 set aside from Community Development Block Grant funds that would have been the match to the state grant.
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