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The property at 49-55 John St. was the first to go Thursday morning.

Four Pittsfield Properties to Be Razed

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Associate Builders from Springfield won the contract for the work.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The first of four blighted properties to be demolished this spring was taken down Thursday morning.
 
The first on the docket was 49-55 John St. The property is one Mayor Linda Tyer had campaigned in front of during her first bid for office four years ago and was removed the morning Tyer announced her second bid for the corner office. 
 
At 9 a.m., Associated Building Wreckers out of Springfield began razing the property. The building had been in code enforcement since 2016 and had been in significant disrepair before.
 
The owner, Raymond Supranowicz, told city officials he was looking to sell the property and claimed he had stopped working on it because it was broken into and copper was stolen.
 
But the property had significant issues with overgrowth, there was a lack of lighting and security, there were no utilities, fire alarms were not connected to alert the Fire Department, and there were significant structural issues, according to the Health Department.
 
Following that, the company, which was awarded $193,043 contract for the multiple property demolitions, will move on to 100 John St. Two others slated for demolition this spring include 68-70 Lincoln St. and 105 Daniels Ave.
 
The fight against blight is a lengthy process with multiple avenues a city can take. Pittsfield demolishes about four to six properties a year.
 
The city has a lengthy list of vacant properties to comb through. A code enforcement team consisting of the building inspectors and Fire, Health, and Engineering departments priorities and determine which properties will be torn down. That group meets regularly with representatives from the Department of Community Development, the city solicitor, and the Purchasing Department.

Tags: blight,   demolition,   

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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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