image description — The building's first artwork, created by local artist Ricky Darell Barton, is displayed in the lobby of 21 Park St. and is part of the building's 'Maus-ART' program.

Adams' Mausert Block Filling Space with Local Art

By Brian RhodesiBerkshires Staff
05:21AM / Monday, August 29, 2022Print Story | Email Story

Artist Benne Perkins restored the original stained-glass windows in the entrance archway.

ADAMS, Mass. — Nearly 30 people gathered outside of the Mausert Block apartments on Thursday, as the owners unveiled the first of more than 30 commissioned local art pieces to be displayed in the building.

Mausert Block owners Holly and Stephen Stenson said the artworks, as part of the building's "Maus-ART" program, will be on display once the project is complete. The work, done with help from the Adams Arts Advisory Board, will be put in the building's common spaces for residents to see.

"We have 31 pieces of art, and this is one," Stephen Stenson said. "So we have 30 to go."

The first artwork, created by local artist Ricky Darell Barton, is displayed in the lobby of 21 Park St. and is from a series of works called "Robot Paintings."

"By weaving these elements together as I feel them, and thus through luck and chance, images actually create themselves in the painting," Barton says on a plaque, posted next to the piece. "This is why I call them 'Robot Paintings'; even robotic faces, along with many other things, appear long after the works are completed."

The artist moved from Washington, D.C., to the Berkshires a few years ago. His work has also been displayed at Real Eyes Gallery.

In addition to the first artwork displayed, artist Benne Perkins restored the original stained-glass windows in the entrance archway. Only one window remained when the Stenson's purchased the property.

"He took that, and he made us four brand-new ones that are as close as possible to the original," Holly Stenson said.

The 1901 building has served several purposes in town throughout its history, and may be best-known as the location of an F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store for more than 60 years. The Stensons have been working on restoring the property since they purchased it in 2011.

The 10-apartment building, when finished, will also house retail and restaurant space on the ground floor. Earlier this year, the building received two awards from Preservation Massachusetts.

Mausert Block is one of several structures on Park Street, including Miss Adams Diner, Adams Theater and the Firehouse Cafe, that has reopened or seen renovation this year. William Kolis, the owner of the Firehouse Cafe, said he is excited to see these businesses revitalized in Adams.

"It's taken a long time, but now we've gotten it done. And it's going to be a tremendous edition, second only to getting the theater up and running," he said. "... There's been an incredible energy that's been brought here."

Tags: art exhibit, Mausert Block,

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Letter: Progress Means Moving on Paper Mill Cleanup

Letter to the Editor05:00PM / Wednesday, February 11, 2026

To the Editor:

Our town is facing a clear choice: move a long-abandoned industrial site toward cleanup and productive use or allow it to remain a deteriorating symbol of inaction.

The Community Development team has applied for a $4 million EPA grant to remediate the former Curtis Mill property, a site that has sat idle for more than two decades. The purpose of this funding is straightforward: address environmental concerns and prepare the property for safe commercial redevelopment that can contribute to our tax base and economic vitality.

Yet opposition has emerged based on arguments that miss the point of what this project is designed to do. We are hearing that basement vats should be preserved, that demolition might create dust, and that the plan is somehow "unimaginative" because it prioritizes cleanup and feasibility over wishful reuse of a contaminated, aging structure.

These objections ignore both the environmental realities of the site and the strict federal requirements tied to this grant funding. Given the condition of most of the site's existing buildings, our engineering firm determined it was not cost-effective to renovate. Without cleanup, no private interest will risk investment in this site now or in the future.

This is not a blank check renovation project. It is an environmental remediation effort governed by safety standards, engineering assessments, and financial constraints. Adding speculative preservation ideas or delaying action risks derailing the very funding that makes cleanup possible in the first place. Without this grant, the likely outcome is not a charming restoration, it is continued vacancy, ongoing deterioration, and zero economic benefit.

For more than 20 years, the property has remained unused. Now, when real funding is within reach to finally address the problem, we should be rallying behind a practical path forward not creating obstacles based on narrow or unrealistic preferences.

I encourage residents to review the proposal materials and understand what is truly at stake. The Adams Board of Selectmen and Community Development staff have done the hard work to put our town in position for this opportunity. That effort deserves support.

Progress sometimes requires letting go of what a building used to be so that the community can gain what it needs to become.

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