PreviousNext

St. Francis' Church Being Razed

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Demolition began in earnest on Wednesday months after the deteriorating steeple on St. Francis' Church was removed.

A building connecting the 150-year-old church to the rectory on Union Street was razed late last week in preparation for the removal of the church proper. Interior work on hazardous waste abatement had been completed some weeks ago.

On Wednesday, in short order, the middle of the massive brick building was reduced to a pile of rubble and only the tower and back portion of the church remained standing. Some benches from the grounds and one of the complete spire structures were loaded onto a flatbed. 

The destruction of the historic building began back in May when brick facing on the tower fell onto the lawn and sidewalk of Eagle Street. Both Church and Eagle streets were closed and a 200-foot perimeter set up to reduce the risk in case of collapse. Two cranes and a crew of experts spent nearly two weeks removing the spire from the 180-foot steeple and lowering thousands of pounds of brass bells to the ground.

Diocesan officials earlier had estimated the complete removal of the building would be done by September.

MCLA in Talks With Anonymous Donor for Art Museum, Art Lab

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Monday, April 29, 2024

Andre Lynch, the new vice provost for institutional equity and belonging, introduces himself to the trustees, some of whom were participating remotely.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts may be in line for up to a $10 million donation that will include a campus art museum. 

 

President Jamie Birge told the board of trustees on Thursday that  the college has been in discussions for the last couple years with a donor who wishes at this point to remain anonymous.

 

"It's a donor that has a history of working with public liberal arts institutions to advance the arts that those institutions," he said.  "This donor would like to talk with us or has been talking with us about creating art museum and an art lab on campus."

 

The Fine and Performing Arts Department will have input, the president continued. "We want to make sure that it's a facility that supports that teaching and learning dynamic as well as responding to what's the interest of donor."

 

The college integrated into the local arts community back in 2005 with the opening of Gallery 51 on Main Street that later expanded with an art lab next door. The gallery under the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center had been the catalyst for the former Downstreet Art initiative; its participation has fallen off dramatically with changes in leadership and the pandemic. 

 

This new initiative, should it come to pass, would create a facility on MCLA Foundation property adjacent to the campus. The donor and the foundation have already split the cost of a study. 

 

"We conducted that study to look at what approximately a 6,500-square-foot facility would look like," said Birge. "How we would staff the gallery and lab, how can we use this lab space for fine and performing arts."