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The Williamstown Fire Department spruces up one of its engines at the Water Street station prior to this year's July 4 parade. On Wednesday, the Fire District will take a step toward purchasing land for a new station.

Williamstown Fire District Again Looks to Purchase Lehovec Property

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williamstown Fire District is headed to Round 3 on its attempts to purchase a Main Street parcel on which to build a new fire station.
 
The three-person Prudential Committee, which governs the district, has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday at 2 p.m. at which the committee is expected to vote to sign a purchase-and-sales agreement on the 3.7-acre so-called Lehovec property at 562 Main St. (Route 2).
 
In 2013, the committee called two special fire district meetings in an attempt to get an authorization from voters to approve a $575,000 purchase price for the property. Both times, the motion failed, garnering the support of the majority of the voters but not the two-thirds "super majority" needed to authorize the purchase.
 
Prudential Committee Chairman John Notsley said Tuesday morning that he began new negotiations with the estate of Kurt Lehovec this spring, shortly after he learned the applicant attempting to obtain a special permit to build a hotel on the Lehovec site was not going to appeal a Zoning Board of Appeals denial of the special permit request.
 
Notsley said he would discuss the purchase price this time around at Wednesday's meeting, but he indicated it will be less than the $575,000 figure negotiated four years ago.
 
"And when we looked at it [in 2013], it had four buildings on the property that we would have had to remove," Notsley said, referring to residences that since have been cleared by the seller. "It's a win-win for the taxpayers, price wise."
 
An even more significant difference this time around may be the fact that there is no longer talk of a combined municipal safety building that could house the Police Department and Fire Department.
 
In 2013, the Fire District, a separate municipal entity with its own taxing authority apart from town government, was moving on a parallel track with the town, which also was looking to expand or replace the antiquated police facility at Town Hall.
 
Critics of the Fire District's proposal to acquire the Lehovec property then said that it would make more sense for the town and Fire District to work together and build a facility that works for both entities.
 
That led to the creation of a joint town-district committee that studied several sites, ultimately concluding that none of the available properties in town suited their needs.
 
In May, the town announced its intention to build a new police station on Simonds Road (Route 7), a plan that will require approval of town meeting for the property purchase. Town Manager Jason Hoch has indicated that issue could come before the planned November special town meeting to look at expanding the Mount Greylock Regional School District.
 
Notsley said Tuesday that the special fire district meeting to decide whether to purchase the Lehovec property likely will be in late September or early October.
 
He said the Prudential Committee likely will hold a second August meeting on Aug. 23 to hear an update from New Britain, Conn.,-based engineering consultant the Maguire Group, which did the initial study for the Fire District in 2013.  

Tags: fire district,   fire station,   

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WCMA: 'Cracking the Code on Numerology'

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) opens a new exhibition, "Cracking the Cosmic Code: Numerology in Medieval Art."
 
The exhibit opened on March 22.
 
According to a press release: 
 
The idea that numbers emanate sacred significance, and connect the past with the future, is prehistoric and global. Rooted in the Babylonian science of astrology, medieval Christian numerology taught that God created a well-ordered universe. Deciphering the universe's numerical patterns would reveal the Creator's grand plan for humanity, including individual fates. 
 
This unquestioned concept deeply pervaded European cultures through centuries. Theologians and lay people alike fervently interpreted the Bible literally and figuratively via number theory, because as King Solomon told God, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:22). 
 
"Cracking the Cosmic Code" explores medieval relationships among numbers, events, and works of art. The medieval and Renaissance art on display in this exhibition from the 5th to 17th centuries—including a 15th-century birth platter by Lippo d'Andrea from Florence; a 14th-century panel fragment with courtly scenes from Palace Curiel de los Ajos, Valladolid, Spain; and a 12th-century wall capital from the Monastery at Moutiers-Saint-Jean—reveal numerical patterns as they relate to architecture, literature, gender, and timekeeping. 
 
"There was no realm of thought that was not influenced by the all-consuming belief that all things were celestially ordered, from human life to stones, herbs, and metals," said WCMA Assistant Curator Elizabeth Sandoval, who curated the exhibition. "As Vincent Foster Hopper expounds, numbers were 'fundamental realities, alive with memories and eloquent with meaning.' These artworks tease out numerical patterns and their multiple possible meanings, in relation to gender, literature, and the celestial sphere. 
 
"The exhibition looks back while moving forward: It relies on the collection's strengths in Western medieval Christianity, but points to the future with goals of acquiring works from the global Middle Ages. It also nods to the history of the gallery as a medieval period room at this pivotal time in WCMA's history before the momentous move to a new building," Sandoval said.
 
Cracking the Cosmic Code runs through Dec. 22.
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