The former Notre Dame Church, now Shire City Sanctuary, has hosted a number of businesses and activities and will be the site of this year's Berkshire Fringe Festival.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board has granted a request from the owners of the former Notre Dame Church to expand the potential uses of that facility, now known as Shire City Sanctuary.
Owner Chris Swindlehurst said he and his wife, Crispina ffrench, wished to expand the potential business possibilities of the two-story, 14,000-square-foot church building, which they purchased along with an adjacent 7,000-square-foot rectory for $400,000 in 2006.
"At that time, my wife had a fairly substantial business with 10 employees, which was housed in the downstairs, and it was a textile manufacturing business," Swindlehurst told the board on Tuesday. "When they granted that special permit they had just one specific use, and now we'd like to expand the use."
For three years, the church was also the headquarters of the nonprofit Alchemy Initiative, of which ffrench was a founding member. In 2011, Alchemy was also granted a special permit to raise chickens and bees on the premises. ffrench and the organization parted ways when the building was placed back on the market in 2012.
Now known as Shire City Sanctuary, the facility is described as a "Makerspace, Cyberoffice and majestic Eventspace" on its website. It has been the site of an annual holiday bazaar, artist workshops, and next month will host the newly relocated Berkshire Fringe Festival.
Swindlehurst noted that the space also contains a commercial kitchen that they are looking to add to. He also has been looking to rent a portion of the building as "makerspace," or shared artist workspace, a perceived need for which has been of ongoing interest to many in the local arts community over the past year.
"We basically want to expand the special permit to include many different issues that may come along," said Swindlehurst.
City Planner Cornelius Hoss noted the application for usage change was "quite similar" to that granted last year to the Whitney Center for the Arts, adding that any actual usages would still require various permitting from appropriate departments, but would now be acceptable under this amendment to the special permit.
"They'll still have to get building permits, or a certificate of occupancy, to match up with a change of use," Hoss told the board, which approved the change unanimously.
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Tickets On Sale for Berkshire Flyer
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Amtrak, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), announced tickets are now on sale for the Berkshire Flyer.
The Berkshire Flyer is a seasonal summer passenger rail service that operates between New York City from Moynihan Train Hall and Pittsfield. The service, which began as a successful pilot in 2022, is scheduled to resume on Friday, June 21 through Monday, Sept. 2 for Labor Day weekend. Trains depart New York City Friday nights and return at the end of the weekend, leaving Pittsfield Sunday afternoon.
In addition, for the first time this year, the Berkshire Flyer service now includes a train from New York City to Pittsfield on Sunday mornings.
"We're thrilled to announce this season's Berkshire Flyer service," said Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt. "The Berkshire Flyer makes visiting Western Massachusetts on weekends convenient, relaxing, and easy. We are pleased to continue our successful partnership with Amtrak, the New York State Department of Transportation and CSX."
The Berkshire Flyer departs from Moynihan Train Hall at 3:16 p.m. on Fridays and arrives at Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center in Pittsfield at 7:27 p.m. The train will make all intermediate station stops as the scheduled Amtrak Empire Service train does in New York State on Fridays, which include Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, Poughkeepsie, Rhinecliff, Hudson, and Albany-Rensselaer Station.
The Sunday return trip, making all the same station stops, will depart Pittsfield at 3:35 p.m. and arrive in New York at 7:55 p.m. The new Sunday Berkshire Flyer train from New York City to Pittsfield will depart Moynihan Train Hall at 10:50 a.m. and arrive in Pittsfield at 3:15 p.m.
The Berkshire Flyer is building upon two successful seasons where some of the Pittsfield-bound trains were sold out well in advance. Based on that experience, passengers planning a trip are encouraged to purchase tickets early by visiting Amtrak.com, the Amtrak app or by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL.
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