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The collapse of the towers last year disrupted wireless and emergency communications.
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The new tower has 35-foot rock anchors.
Updated April 18, 2015 09:59AM

Verizon Set to Switch Service to New North County Tower

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The new cell tower in early February shortly after it was erected. It replaces to older ones that collapsed on March 30, 2014.

Update 10 a.m. on April 18: Verizon has completed its transfer to the new permanent tower on the Western Summit.

"The cutover from our temporary tower to the new permanent one is now complete," executive director for Network for Verizon Wireless Rich Enright said in a statement. "The process went according to plan and the Verizon Network Team will closely monitor it to ensure everything continues to work properly."


NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Verizon customers should be back to normal on Saturday morning once its service is switched to the new tower.

Mayor Richard Alcombright, in a statement released on Facebook and to media, said customers will see a disruption in service beginning at 6 a.m. on Saturday as the new antenna goes online.

North County communications were disrupted just over a year ago when high winds took down two radio towers on top of the Western Summit.

Described as a "catastrophic failure" at the time, the collapse cut emergency communications as well as cell service for Verizon and other wireless providers. The loss was a particular blow to North County, coming just two days after the closure of North Adams Regional Hospital.


Corydon Thurston, principal of North Adams Tower Co., received local permitting last June to install a single 195-foot tower to replace the the two older 150-foot and 160-foot towers that fell. The new tower will be supported with rock anchors drilled 35 feet for each leg, and be installed in-between the two older ones.

The tower was installed more than two months ago but the weather had delayed the inspection process. Antennae were installed over the past couple weeks.

The city will send out a Code Red alert to remind citizens of the disruption or if it goes longer than the expected 2 to 4 hours.

"Further notification will come as other vendors cut over to the permanent tower," said the mayor.


Tags: cell service,   cell tower,   communications,   

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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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