Berkshire Railway Gets $200K Grant for North Adams Location

BOSTON – The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum has received $200,000 in state funding to help it move some of its equipment to North Adams.

The railway is partnering with North Adams and Adams to develop the Hoosac Valley Service line between the two municipalities, with help from the state.

The money will aid in the nonprofit in bringing necessary equipment north from its headquarters in Lenox and in developing a ticket booth and boarding area in North Adams. The town of Adams recently authorized the purchase and renovation of a former car wash as a boarding area near the projected southern terminus of the rail on Hoosac Street.

The North Adams train station was torn down in the 1960s, but a development group is hoping to raise funds for a new building to house local museums and the new scenic railway needs.

The funding is a Community Development and Tourism grant from the Executive Office for Administration & Finance.

A total of $616,210 was awarded to four projects in the district of state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield.
 

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.