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Plowing an area in the park and then hauling in and spraying water at 500 gallons at a time will set the base for the skating rink.

Pittsfield Fire Department Builds Skating Rink At Osceola

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Members of the Fire Department spent Friday in subzero temperatures starting the groundwork for an ice skating rink at Osceola Park.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There will not be an ice skating rink at the First Street Common this year.

But, have no fear skating lovers, the Fire Department began laying the first layers of ice for one at Osceola Park, off of West Housatonic Street.

"It's cold out but this is a good day for it," said firefighter Matt Kudlate, as he and three other off-duty department members sprayed what will be the foundation for a 60-by-40 foot skating rink in subzero temperatures Friday.

For years, members of the department have volunteered their time to create the rink for the Common. But, the Common is under construction and has been regraded, leaving them with nowhere to go. They worked with the city's Parks Department and found a new home at Osceola.

"We've always done it at the Common but they've regraded it and there will be new landscaping so it will probably be here from now on," Kudlate said.

The tradition dates back further than most can remember, so the department wasn't going to give up — especially after seeing the rink filled with people skating on the opening day of last year. On Friday, Osceola proved to be a bit more difficult to create as the firefighters used a reserve truck to load up 500 gallons of water at a time to set the first layer.

After laying the groundwork for the rink on Friday, a larger team of volunteers will return to the park on Saturday, with larger hoses, to build a total of 3 to 6 inches of ice. And just about every day throughout the winter someone will be there maintaining the ice surface.

"It pretty takes the whole department to do this," Kudlate said. "It really is a department effort."


While the rink won't be ready for skating for another five or so days, giving time for the water to freeze, Osceola is still expected to be a hot bed of winter activity on Saturday. The city will open the rope tow, which brings children up to the top of the hill for sledding and tubing.

The rope tow will have two operators helping children from noon until 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Osceola Park has had rope tow, seen in the back, for sledding for years, but now the park is complimented with another outdoor activity.

"The rope tow is one of the traditions and just another free thing we offer the community," said Rebecca Tefft, the city's parks and recreation program director.

Now the two traditional outdoor activities can complement each other off West Housatonic Street.

But, Berkshire weather doesn't always care about tradition: Sunday and Monday are expected to be warmer with rain.

So, just in case, the city has reached a new partnership with the Boys and Girls Club to offer four free days of ice skating on the indoor rink.

"We've heard how everybody loves skating in Pittsfield but the weather is inconsistent," Tefft said. "We teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club to offer free skating on four dates."

The free public skates will be on Saturdays — Jan. 11, Jan. 25, Feb. 8 and Feb. 22 — and there will a limited number of free skate rentals as well. The public skate is from 2 until 3:45 p.m.

Meanwhile, at Osceola on Friday, Kudlate said the weather outlook appears to be good enough to set a good base on the outdoor rink. There is only one warm day on the horizon, which Kudlate said will actually help even out the ice. Firefighters are using new techniques in layering the ice and hopes it last throughout the winter.

Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski, after checking in on the progress, said he approves of his staff using their free time to create the rink.

So, while one tradition may have changed, another stayed the same and a third has just begun. But the winter activity traditions have not been lost in Pittsfield.


Tags: fire department,   parks & rec,   skating rink,   

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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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