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Whiskey Treaty Roadshow closed out last year's series. This year there will be four shows featuring different bands.

Shire City Sessions Returns, Bringing Original Music To Common

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Shire City Sessions concert series has moved to the Common.
 
Four shows will be played in July and August on Monday nights at the First Street park featuring an array of original bands with regional or national draw. The series in its second year; three concerts were held last year in the parking lot of Shire City Sanctuary.
 
"We had a great first season and I think using the parking lot at the church was something that just worked. But, it is also a lot of work to turn a parking lot into a concert venue and back to a parking lot in 24 hours and that was essentially what we were doing last year," Alan Bauman, owner of Compuworks and co-organizer of the series, said on Friday. 
 
Now at the Common, the bands will be sharing the stage and equipment used by Shakespeare in the Park during the evening when the play production isn't using it. The sharing of resources was headed by the city's Director of Cultural Development Jen Glockner. With the ability to use the Shakespeare in the Park equipment, the amount of labor put in by the organizers of Shire City Sessions, who built the stage last year and put up and took down the entire set up each weekend, have been eased.
 
"It is a big deal to share a stage that has already been set up for a production. So it really required that we were patient with one another and just figure out every little detail and address every little concern," organizer Kathy Lloyd said. "But we are able to share resources — lights and sound. It's a great collaboration of two entities sharing a space."
 
The first show is on July 25 featuring the Banditos. The following Monday, the Primate Fiasco will take the stage; Eli "Paperboy" Reed follows the Monday after that, and Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band finish off the weekly series on Aug. 15. The concert is now weekly for four weeks instead of being monthly for three months.
 
"They are amazing singer-songwriter bands that write their own music and perform their own music. You may or may not have heard of them but they are legit," Lloyd said.
 
Bauman said the booking of these bands that was headed by Josh Bennett was more complicated than last year because they are from farther away. 
 
"Last year, there was a local connection to all of the bands that we booked and this year that wasn't so much the case. In making booking contacts and firming up contracts with these bands was more involved than last year," Bauman said. "We're getting them here in part because it is a Monday night so you can negotiate a Pittsfield-friendly price. We wouldn't be able to afford Eli Reed on a Saturday night."
 
And the series budget has doubled, particularly because of the help of additional sponsors. The weekly concerts are free to attend and the money for the bands and other overhead costs are paid for by sponsors — particularly Interprint and Compuworks.
 
"I think we all want this to be accessible to everybody. We don't want there to be a reason for people to not come, the more the merrier. We want this to be a community event," Bauman said. "It is not really about making money or anything like that. It just felt better to us to fund it than to try to charge people a ticket price that might keep them away." 
 
The organizers will pass the hat around at the end of each show for suggested donations. 
 
"If it is $5 or $10, whatever, it doesn't have to be much. But it shows us that people are interested in supporting what we are doing," co-organizer Crispina ffrench said.
 
The group could charge a ticket price for the bands but has opted not to. The focus is not only bringing bands the organizers would want to see but also creating a vibe for the city's downtown and putting something on during Monday night, when there isn't typically much to do.
 
"What Pittsfield needs is not necessarily one big thing, it is lots of little things," Bauman said. "We don't need another Colonial Theatre. We have lots of cool big things. But, in my opinion, it is the farmer's markets, the concert series like this, a dog park in the future, it is these little things that you can get your hands around. It doesn't take $20 million to do. We will do this festival for $20,000 and the next four people will do another thing. If you have enough of these small things, that is really what this city needs."
 
Lloyd said in other cities she's lived in there have been similar events but not in Pittsfield. Instead of lamenting that, she joined Bauman and ffrench last year in putting it on. And now, it is growing.
 
"It was a blast to bring something like this to downtown Pittsfield. We really wanted to bring original music performed by the writers and every concert was mindblowing. It was such a great vibe. I can't imagine why we wouldn't do it again," Lloyd said. "This is the kind of event that happens in cities I want to live in."
 
Last year between 400 and 500 people attended each show. 
 
"Last year we planned this on the back of a napkin. We started planning it in June and our first show was in July. It was really seat of the pants, grassroots, and it was phenomenal. It turned out better than we hoped for. This year, it is much more upfront and our budget doubled, which is allowing us to add a show and bring in some talent from further a field," Bauman said.
 
The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow filmed their set during the final concert of last year. That has helped share the event with their fans and the organizers of Shire City Sessions — who never imagined one of the bands would film it for a live release — hopes it'll help grow the series.
 
"I think it shown a light on the entire series. They were our last event last summer so I feel like it is going to benefit us more this year than last year," ffrench said.
 
In the audience for each one of last year's concerts was Bill Hines, co-managing director of Interprint, who enjoyed it do much that he jumped on as an additional sponsor. 
 
“Everything about Shire City Sessions is exciting ­ a beautiful setting, community, and one of the most interesting lineups of talented musicians and songwriters to be found anywhere. We’re excited to play our part in making it happen," Hines wrote in a statement.
 
Bauman said the future of the series will partly depend on the interest of those who will contribute to growing it. But more importantly, the future depends on whether there are enough faces in the crowd enjoying the show to make it all worth it.
 
"In order for us to feel like the work being done is worthy, we need to know people are really enjoying it. They don't need to help, they just need to show up and have a good time," ffrench said.

Tags: concerts,   Pittsfield Common,   public parks,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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