Emergency Drill Planned in North Adams July 29

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Emergency response organizations will be participating in a Northern Berkshire emergency operations community drill on Tuesday, July 29, in a vacant lot located on the Curran Memorial Highway.

The emergency drill will simulate a mass casualty incident in the community in which numerous agencies would respond. The drill will include Berkshire Medical Center and its Northern Berkshire Satellite Emergency Facility, the Police and Fire departments from North Berkshire and North Adams, Adams, Village, County and Action Ambulance services.

The drill is designed to test the response of local emergency operations organizations in the event of a real incident.
Area residents may notice increased activity around the Curran Highway near the North Adams/Adams line and at the BMC Satellite Emergency Facility, and radio chatter during the drill. The drill will not have any impact on response to an actual emergency, should one occur.

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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