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Pittsfield will again request proposals for the long vacant Morningside fire station but is also considering whether it's time to demolish the building.

Pittsfield Preparing Morningside Fire Station RFP

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city plans to reissue another request for proposals for the Morningside fire station with developers' interest ramping up.
 
The City Council on Tuesday heard from Paula Messena during public comment who said she and her partner Scott Graves were interested in developing the long vacant fire station.
 
"I stand before you today publicly announcing our interest in the Morningside fire station," she said. "Scott Graves and I have shown on numerous occasions interest in the building but have never officially been acknowledged by the city."
 
Graves purchased the YMCA boathouse on Pontoosuc Lake and renovated it as the Rusty Anchor. He recently ran in the preliminary election for mayor on a platform focused on the red tape he says makes it difficult for developers to save old buildings and start businesses. 
 
The historic fire station has fallen into disrepair over the years and the city has made attempts to offload it to a developer. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said at a recent City Council meeting that if there is no interest in the building the city will have to take a serious look at demolishing it.
 
Messena did not see this as a respectable option and responded to the statement. 
 
"It is a piece of history that the city cannot deny and it should not be subjected to a wrecking ball when there is a proven a qualified team to take on the challenge," she said. "It is the gateway to the Tyler Street Transformative Development Initiative."
 
In an email exchange, Director of Community Development Deanna Ruffer said the city has released RFPs on multiple occasions, the first one being in 2013. 
 
The city received a proposal that had to be turned down.
 
She said there was more interest in the building and additional RFPs were released in January 2014, March 2017, and in May 2017.
 
There were no proposals. 
 
Ruffer said the city recognized that redevelopment of a historic structure can be a challenge so before releasing another RFP, it has invited potential developers to tour the building first.
 
She said this allows developers to do their "due diligence" before the RFP is released.
 
"A number of parties have taken advantage of this offer and have spent significant time and resources going through the building with contractors, engineers, and architects," she said. "In fact, one party prepared a detailed feasibility analysis, which they shared with the City (and we have shared with those who have demonstrated a serious interest in the property) once they determined the building would not meet their needs."
 
She said communication between the city and these parties has been constant 
 
"In some instances, the further investigations have resulted in some parties advising the city they were no longer interested in bidding on the property; in others, to our knowledge, the parties may still be interested in responding to an RFP," she said.
 
Messena said the developers plan to convert the fire station into a restaurant dedicated to the city's first-responders, nurses, doctors, and Vietnam veterans.
 
She said she hoped the city would extend an "olive branch" to help save the historic building and "roll out the red carpet" to help make the project a success.
 
Ruffer reiterated that the city has allowed multiple opportunities for developers to communicate their interests and tour the building. 
 
"We appreciate the interest expressed by the individual during the open microphone portion of the City Council this past Tuesday, and for the record, they have been offered the opportunity to access the building, as have all who have expressed an interest.," she said. "We continue to encourage anyone who is interested in this building to take advantage of the city’s willingness to provide access to the building in advance of the issuance of the RFP."
 
Ruffer said a release date has yet to be determined but the city is currently in the process of removing remaining equipment left in the building. She said environmental assessment work is also being done and the condition of critical structural elements of the property is being documented to better inform the RFP.
 
She said the city is also advancing streetscape and other in-fill development plans for the Tyler Street corridor. She said this could impact the long-term value and use of this property. She said this information should also be included in the RFP.
 
Responders will have to provide information about their plans for the property and demonstrate their ability to successfully implement these plans.  
 
"These requirements will help ensure that once this property is transferred to a private owner, it will be redeveloped in a timely manner," she said. "It is not in the City’s, community’s, or neighborhood’s best interest to transfer ownership only to have the property remain in a blighted condition for an extended period or to have the structure demolished after we are led to believe the structure would be saved."
 
In other business, The City Council voted hire Justin Brady and Jesse Shulman as permanent firefighters with the Pittsfield Fire Department.
 
The City Council approved the reappointment of Patricia Begrowicz and Thomas Sakshuag to the Airport Commission. It also appointed Melissa O'Dell to the Airport Commission.

Tags: fire station,   historic buildings,   RFP,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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