News & Notes: Round and Round They'll Go

By Larry KratkaBerkshire News Network
06:17AM / Sunday, April 20, 2008Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD — Build it and they will come. That's the projection of a group of residents currently raising money and awareness of a project to build a carousel and equip it with 36 horses carved by local artists.

The carousal building will be constructed on property that was once the site of the old Falcon Chevrolet/Cadillac dealership on Center Street, alongside the current CVS store.

The site had been proposed for a minor league baseball stadium until voters shot the idea down several years ago. The CVS store was built there but the rest of the property's been vacant.

Organizer Frank Bonnevie said the group's vision of the project is a 60-foot diameter, enclosed gazebo to house the carousel and an attached building for a carousel museum.

The carousel would be open year-round. The state-of-the-art museum would house memorabilia and a history of carousels. The project is the dream of developer Jim Shulman, who purchased the property for $325,000 and is recruiting area artisans to carve each of the 36 carousel horses.

Shulman, a retired psychologist from Ohio, is a Pittsfield High School graduate.

Organizers are shooting for a grand opening in 2011, the 250th anniversary of Pittsfield's founding. A fundraiser event will be held the weekend of May 3 and 4 under a big top at the Center Street location — complete with a 60-horse carousel.

The benefit will include silent and live auctions and a raffle, all for time (and lunch) with local celebrities and at area cultural venues.

Provided by iBerkshires media partners WNAW and WUPE.

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Pittsfield Wants People to Know Where Free Public Wifi Is

By Brittany PolitoiBerkhshires Staff
04:46AM / Friday, September 18, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city wants it to be clear where people can connect to free public wifi— which expands beyond downtown.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission approved "Free Wifi" signage at The Common, Riverway Park, and Durant Park. Community members can access the internet without charge in these locations, as well as in downtown areas.

Two years ago, Pittsfield received a $99,972 Digital Equity Implementation Grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. This allowed the city to take a comprehensive look at digital equity and determine where to focus attention.

"That was a lengthy process that we worked on, and there was a lot of public input. We did some surveying. We met with a lot of focus groups; [Berkshire Regional Planning Commission] was the group that spearheaded that for us, and one of the things that came up was the lack of accessible wifi," Director of Community Development Justine Dodds reported. "Particularly in the westside."

Throughout this process, residents also wanted to see connectivity at the nearby Westside Riverway Park.

In 2023, Pittsfield was selected to participate in the Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program launched by the state and MBI, focused on ensuring residents can use the internet to conduct day-to-day activities. A digital equity plan also qualifies Pittsfield for additional grant funding.

Around 16,000 city households qualified for the Federal Communications Commission's affordable internet program that ended in 2024.

Dodds said adding Wi-FI and signage to Durant and Riverway Parks is a small piece of the larger digital equity project. Signage is already downtown, and the city plans to hire the same designer for the expanded wayfinding so it is cohesive.

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