image description — Parks and Open Space Manager Jim McGrath shows a map last spring of the city's riverside projects at the cleared site for the Westside Riverway Park.

Pittsfield's Riverway Project Awarded $75K NEA Grant

09:23AM / Thursday, May 10, 2018Print Story | Email Story

NEA's Jane Chu in one of the Masthead project's mobile writing studios in Pittsfield last June.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Westside Riverway Park project is receiving a grant of $75,000 through the National Endowment of the Arts' Our Town program.

The award was announced Wednesday by NEA Chairman Jane Chu. It is one of 60 awards totaling $4.1 million for projects across the nation.

The City of Pittsfield's Office of Cultural Development is one of the recommended organizations for a grant of $75,000 to use for the design of the Westside Riverway Park in Pittsfield.

"The variety and quality of these Our Town projects speaks to the wealth of creativity and diversity in our country," Chu said in a statement. "Through the work of organizations such as the Cultural Development Office in Pittsfield, NEA funding invests in local communities, helping people celebrate the arts wherever they are."

The site of the future Westside Riverway Park is located five blocks west of North Street, at the intersection of Dewey Avenue and Bradford Street, along the west branch of the Housatonic River. This grant will fund community design and planning sessions with the Westside Neighborhood Initiative and Working Cities Pittsfield Initiative, ultimately leading to the design of the park and related outdoor pavilions, including a pedestrian bridge, river overlook, open-air gathering spaces and a walking loop from North Street.

"The City of Pittsfield is home to both a vibrant arts and culture community and amazing natural resources," said Mayor Linda Tyer in a statement. "The NEA's award will continue the development of the Westside Riverway Park, a space that will offer our residents and visitors a dedicated and accessible space to enjoy Pittsfield’s natural beauty."

The vision for the Westside Riverway Park was first outlined in 2007, when Pittsfield took part in UrbanRiver Visions 2, a program through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to study the reuse of vacant and underutilized riverfront areas along the west branch of the Housatonic River.

Since that plan, the city has advanced preparatory work at the site through federal Community Development Block Grants and funds from the Environmental Protection Agency. Contaminated soils have been remediated and the land is ready to be developed.

The NEA Our Town Grant for the design of the park was spearheaded by local architects Tessa Kelly and Chris Parkinson in collaboration with the city's Office of Cultural Development and Office of Community Development. This is the second NEA Our Town grant that the Office of Cultural Development has received in partnership with Kelly and Parkinson — in 2014, the program launched The Mastheads writers residency, which features five mobile writing studios and ongoing community programming surrounding local literary heritage. Chu visited with the architects and viewed one of the writing studios last summer.

Tags: federal grants, Housatonic, NEA, public parks, river walk,

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Pittsfield Housing Project Adds 37 Supportive Units and Collective Hope

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:01PM / Monday, December 29, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A new chapter in local efforts to combat housing insecurity officially began as community leaders and residents gathered at The First on to celebrate a major expansion of supportive housing in the city.

The ribbon was cut on Thursday Dec. 19, on nearly 40 supportive permanent housing units; nine at The First, located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. The Housing Resource Center, funded by Pittsfield's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, hosted a celebration for a project that is named for its rarity: The First.

"What got us here today is the power of community working in partnership and with a shared purpose," Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier said.

In addition to the 28 studio units at 111 West Housatonic Street and nine units in the rear of the church building, the Housing Resource Center will be open seven days a week with two lounges, a classroom, a laundry room, a bathroom, and lockers.

Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, challenged attendees to transform the space in the basement of Zion Lutheran Church into a community center. It is planned to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round.

"I get calls from folks that want to help out, and our shelters just aren't the right spaces to be able to do that. The First will be that space that we can all come together and work for the betterment of our community," Forbush said.

"…I am a true believer that things evolve, and things here will evolve with the people that are utilizing it."

Earlier that day, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and her team in Housatonic to announce $33.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, $5.45 million to Berkshire County.

He said it was ambitious to take on these two projects at once, but it will move the needle. The EOHLC contributed more than $7.8 million in subsidies and $3.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the West Housatonic Street build, and $1.6 million in ARPA funds for the First Street apartments.

"We're trying to get people out of shelter and off the streets, but we know there are a lot of people who are couch surfing, who are living in their cars, who are one paycheck away from being homeless themselves," Augustus said.

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