Taconic High Station to Broadcast Colonials Games

By Larry KratkaBerkshire News Network
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Taconic senior Billy Madewell, WBTR's program director, will be a color commentator for the Colonials this summer.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Colonials will be on the air as they return for a second season at historic Wahconah Park with the help of some Taconic High broadcasters.

The Pittsfield School Committee on Wednesday approved an educational partnership between the Pittsfield School System and the Canadian-American League team that will enable the team's home games to be broadcast on Taconic High School's FM radio station, 89.7 WTBR. 

Buddy Lewis, co-owner of the Pittsfield Colonials, told the School Committee that WTBR will broadcast 51 of the 54 home games from Wahconah Park and possibly some away games as well. Lewis also said two WTBR students would be hired by the Colonials as student interns — one to do the PA announcing and another to work with Colonials play-by-play announcer, Chad Cooper, as color commentator. 

WTBR student adviser Larry Kratka, morning news host for Vox Communications stations in the Berkshires, said he was most happy about the two students landing summer jobs. 


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"Billy Madewell is the current student program director and he hopes to pursue sports communications at MCLA in the fall," said Kratka, adding Madewell considers this a dream job.

The student-run radio station offers more than 80 hours of programming a week and has some three dozen students and more than a dozen adults working to keep the signal going. The 89.7 WTBR-FM 400-watt signal is quite powerful and can be heard all the way to Cheshire to the north, New Lebanon, N.Y., to the west and Lee to the south. WTBR also streams live on the Internet. 

Lewis said a press conference will be held next week to release more details of the partnership.
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Wahconah Park Grandstand Leveled, Close to Shovel-Ready

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wahconah Park is expected to be shovel-ready next month, with just a couple of outstanding permits remaining. 

The 75-plus-year-old grandstand was deemed unsafe in 2022 and demolished at the end of the summer. Now, the space where the large structure stood has been leveled, though some accessory buildings, such as the dugouts, remain. 

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath reported that the site, which "looks a lot different," will be shovel-ready in mid-November.  From there, the city needs to do financial planning and sourcing. 

"Again, I sound like a broken record, but it becomes a matter of identifying the funding strategy that will advance the project," McGrath told the Parks Commission on Tuesday. 

In the meantime, the city hopes to return baseball to the site in 2027. 

Planners determined that starting from square one is the best option with the grandstand; a $15 million design was last on the table. 

McGrath reported that all but two permits approved through the Community Development Board and Zoning Board of Appeals remain. One relates to the use because stadiums are not zoned by-right in that area; Wahconah Park is considered "non-conforming" or "pre-existing," and a parking spot waiver. 

He does not foresee the boards denying these permits. 

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