Mayor James M. Ruberto announced today the creation of a steering committee to guide the community in the formation of a three-to-five-year cultural plan.
The Steering Committee members represent a broad spectrum of the community. The committee is co-chaired by Elie Hammerling, Chair of the City’s Cultural Development Board and former vice president for planning at the Berkshire Medical Center and Cory Hines, a management consultant specializing in strategy implementation, who has worked with major organizations in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa.
“As arts and culture continue to help drive economic revitalization in the City of Pittsfield, it is critical that we plan to establish a firm foundation for continued success and growth,†said Mayor Ruberto. “The development of the cultural sector not only improves the quality of life for our residents, it also makes our city more attractive to new businesses and residents, and generates jobs and new income to our economy.â€
“This plan will help us celebrate and expand Pittsfield’s rich cultural heritage, due in no small part to immigrants past and present, our schools and community groups, and the many excellent artists and cultural institutions we have here.â€
Committee members include Mary Beth Eldridge, an art teacher at Taconic High School; Pam Rich, marketing director for Paul Rich & Sons, a longtime anchor store in downtown Pittsfield; and Hope Sullivan, the executive director of IS183, Art School of the Berkshires.
Other members of the Cultural Plan steering committee are Peter Lafayette, Director of the Berkshire Bank Foundation; Shirley Edgerton, Director of the Youth Alive Drum & Dance Group and co founder of the Women of Color Giving Circle; Mary Rentz, a longtime community volunteer and board member of cultural organizations, who chaired 2004’s Sheeptacular public art project; and Jenny Hersch, professional musician and interim Artistic Director at the Mahaiwe Theatre. The City’s Director of Cultural Development, Megan Whilden, serves as staff support to the committee. All members live and/or work in the city of Pittsfield.
“We are looking forward to a broad-based thoughtful approach to putting together a cultural plan that will best serve this wonderful city,†commented Hammerling, a Pittsfield resident for over thirty years who also serves on the Board of Directors of Sinai Academy of the Berkshires.
“There are a number of other key initiatives moving forward in Pittsfield and the Berkshires," noted Megan Whilden. “They include the City’s updating of the Master Plan and the Creative Economy Strategy Project for Berkshire County. We are closely coordinating our work with these initiatives so that they enrich each other and so there is no redundancy."
It is believed this will be the first time that a citywide cultural planning process has been done in the city of Pittsfield. The committee has been reviewing plan from other cities, as well as the Downtown Pittsfield Arts & Entertainment District Plan developed in 1999 by Downtown, Inc., a local downtown improvement association.
Hammerling added, “We were impressed when we reviewed Downtown Inc.’s plan how many of the action items are in progress or have been accomplished. The plan was right on target in many respects and we look forward to continuing and expanding the work they have done.â€
The cultural plan’s process is designed to create a ‘roadmap’ to establish Pittsfield as a center of culture, arts and entertainment in Berkshire County and beyond. The plan will identify strategies to increase access to arts and culture for all Pittsfield residents; foster the continuing vitality and expansion of the City's cultural sector; and attract new individuals and businesses interested in participating and investing in the City's creative economy.
The Cultural Plan steering committee is planning to undertake a number of one-on-one interviews, as well as focus groups and a community meeting to gather public input in early 2007.
For more information on the committee or the planning process, please contact Megan Whilden, Director of Cultural Development for the City of Pittsfield, at 413-499-9348 or mwhilden@pittsfieldch.com.
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Born and reared in Pittsfield PHS, Class of 50). Joined the service and left Pittsfield and except for leave and later for summer vacation jobs during college, never came back except for short visitsa with reatives and for class reunions.
After that , only drove through Pittsfield on way to Vermont, Boston, and vacations in Neew Hampshire.
I only got minimal exposure to the deteriorating city I once loved.
The tree graced Park Square is uninviting. North, Upper South and much of West street are aged, uninspired vestiges of a once thriving community that cared. Drug and other related crime from neewspaper reorts and conversations with friends and relatives is significant.
It would seem that more effort and funding should be allocated to the reductdion of crime and the cleansing/beatification of the downtown area BEFORE EXPENDITURE OF RESOURCES on the desireable goal of becoming an ARTS CENTER.
In the sicties and early seventies, we (me, my wife and my two daughters) loved to visit Pittsfield and all it has to offer but since that time it has become increasingly a place we choose to AVOID! We (and many others) will not visit an Arts Center in the existi'ng environment. There is great art to be seen in many other venues! Fix YOUR NEGATIVES, them worry about an Arts Center.
Congratulations to Mayor Ruberto and to the city of Pittsfield on the appointment of a steering committee to help the city develop a cultural plan! This is yet another example of the forward thinking and progressive vision of Mayor Ruberto.
What a wonderful choice in Elie Hammerling to help lead this committee. Elie is extremely talented in moving forward with great ideas!!
If the committee is interested in consultation from the town of Stockbridge, feel free to contact me.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Regional Planning Commission recently submitted grant applications on behalf of the county's municipalities.
On March 5, the BRPC agreed to submit four grants to the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Grant Program.
One was for the Clarksburg Bank Stabilization Project in partnership with the town. This will address the aggressive bank erosion where the former Briggsville Dam was removed, mitigating property loss for residents in the Carson Avenue area of Clarksburg. The area was graded and naturalized on the removal of the old dam but was scoured out by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
Another is for "Ghost Dams Inventory Mapping." This will help address numerous unmapped nonjurisdictional dams throughout the county, many of which are not maintained and no longer serve a purpose. "Ghost dams" can often be an unknown safety hazard and are a barrier to fish and wildlife.
The Housatonic Road Stream Crossing Management Plans grant will help to complete a fully mapped and assessed inventory of culverts in the towns of Lee, Cheshire, Hinsdale, Dalton and possibly Lanesborough. Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Greenagers, Housatonic Valley Association and Mass Audubon will also work with the towns to identify priority culvert replacements based on culvert condition, environmental priority, and climate risk.
The Berkshire Climate Career Lab in partnership with Ethos Pathways, a climate readiness coach, to create a High School career program to prepare students interested in climate careers, explore opportunities, and build skills.
Also submitted were two applications to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's EmPower Implementation Grant Program.
A $150,000 Housing Energy Efficiency Rehabilitation grant would create a more cohesive pipeline for residents within the Community Development Block Grant housing rehabilitation program to receive funding and support through the MassSave Program, which supports energy efficiency, and Berkshire Community Action Council.
A $150,000 Air Quality Monitoring grant would fund the rest of the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air quality monitoring grant. It will help to ensure that the indoor and outdoor air quality sensors will provide valuable data not seen before in Berkshire County.
The BRPC board also accepted $25,000 from The Nature Conservancy, which will be used to help support culvert replacements for municipalities in the county.
The District Attorney's Office has determined that the police officer who fatally shot Biagio Kauvil during a mental health incident in January acted lawfully.
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At the Boys and Girls Club of the Berkshires child care center in Pittsfield, Secretary of Education Stephen Zrike heard from community-based preschool educators about workforce needs and the impact of the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative. click for more
Less than a month into spring, the town received its first dust complaint after an overnight storm on March 31 blew sand and fine dust onto Raymond Drive, sending air monitoring data off the charts.
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Dozens of people bid farewell to the Wahconah Park grandstand on Saturday with a round of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," hot dogs, and stories about the ballpark. click for more
