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Mark Arigoni of SLR Consulting explains plans for a tunnel under Woodlawn Avenue to the PEDA board on Friday morning.
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The tunnel would be constructed on the north side of the railroad tracks.

William Stanley Business Park Considers Tunnel Under Woodlawn

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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Mark Arigoni shows how the tunnel would connect Sites 7,8 and 9 without having to use Woodlawn or Kellog streets. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Officials are considering building an access tunnel under Woodlawn Avenue for easy travel between the William Stanley Business Park's sites.
 
Using MassDevelopment funds, the business park did a feasibility study of creating a 15-by-15 foot wide, 48-foot long box culvert underneath the road and found that it would be possible at the cost of $1.3 million to $1.7 million.
 
It would connect Sites 7, 8, and the large Site 9 at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and Tyler Street Extension.
 
The proposed tunnel would be north of the train tracks that run through the property.
 
The city's Business Development Manager Michael Coakley explained to the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority board on Friday that there is a large light manufacturing and product distribution company interested in all three sites.
 
The company's concern is needing to use the well-traveled Woodlawn Avenue and Kellogg Street to move between the sites.  
 
"One of the things that they needed was access between sites seven, eighth, and nine," he said. "We've looked at the rail, but there wasn't enough room there, and we don't want to have their trucks and things going over the road, so we looked at the feasibility of doing a tunnel between site seven eight, and nine."
 
He added that another local company has expressed interest in building on Site 3 north, right next to the Berkshire Innovation Center.  This developer would have three anchor tenants, which would aid the finances to put the project together.
 
Whether the companies come through or not, Coakley believes a tunnel would be an asset.
 
Mark Arigoni of SLR Consulting seconded that, explaining that the project would be beneficial for any possible developers and would stay in line with the rest of the business park.
 
With a height of 15 feet, he said, a tractor-trailer could easily drive through the tunnel in one-way traffic. The design is being kept at a maximum of 15 feet high so that it doesn't compromise the road above.  
 
"Travel lanes on roadways are 11 feet wide, so 15 feet, to me, gives a lot of comfort, to be able to drive through that one way, so there'll be a stop condition," Arigoni explained. "That 15 feet as I mentioned before, what we really don't want to do is impact the grade of Woodlawn."
 
Though he could not predict exactly how long the project would take, his firm has done similar projects over a weekend. Arigoni cited the fact that Woodlawn Avenue was closed for a long time before it reopened in 2016.
 
He said that because of the bridge's recent construction, there would not be major utilities that would have to be relocated.
 
PEDA has only gone as far as the feasibility study for this project and there are no official decisions or contracts on the table.
 
Site 9 is a location that General Electric abandoned with its departure decades ago. Pittsfield received $880,000 in Site Readiness Program funding in March from the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development for redevelopment of the site. 
 
The 16-acre parcel is the largest and most prominent section of the business park.
 
In March, Coakley reported that he had presented the parcel to several businesses who were reluctant to invest funds into space because of its current condition and the costs associated with the preparation of the site.
 
It was estimated that about half of the grant funding will go toward removing the concrete from the parcel to make for green space and development.

Tags: business park,   PEDA,   tunnel,   

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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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