IBerkshires Top 10 for 2007

By Tammy DanielsPrint Story | Email Story
Attorney General Martha Coakley was sworn in.
It's that time of year - when the top 10 lists of pretty much everything begin popping up in the media and across the Web. People love lists. Maybe because it's an easy way to encapsulate a year, a decade, a trend, a profit. A list let's you know with a glance what the majority of people were watching, reading and eating at any given time. While lists of hard facts - like box office receipts - can't be argued with, those based on subjective review are really just opinions given heft by the use of a numbering system. But those lists are the most fun because they tend to spark debate over what was included -and especially over what was omitted. Some lists are more democratic - people vote on what should be included and the majority gets to choose. Of course, the voters are usually people who feel invested enough in a topic to bother to voice an opinion on it. Compared to the general population, that's a pretty small sample. It's more like a caucus than an election. We've scoured the Internet to bring you a sample of the top 10 books, songs, shows and whatnots of the past year. We'll let you know, where possible, how the list was generated.
Top 10 for 2007
But we'll start off with our own top 10 - stories and events culled from the iBerkshires archives over the past year. Some events were important to the Berkshires, other stories were popular with our readers. We expect many to differ with our opinion.
  • 1. Politics came out on top as the year began with a dramatic reversal by state Rep. Daniel E. Bosley. The powerful North Adams Democrat had been among the first supporters of Gov. Deval Patrick and was poised to take a leadership role in the newly elected governor's adminstration. But Bosley's role as economic czar changed radically as Patrick slashed the position's responsibilities. Surrounded by the Berkshire delegation, Bosley announced he'd stay in the House - crushing the aspirations of at least a half-dozen politicos hoping to replace him. And we can't forget that Boston came to North Adams when native daughter Martha Coakley was sworn in as state attorney general on the Hunter stage at Massachusetts Museum of Art in January. The hometown celebration for the Drury High graduate included a raft of political stars (including a former and the current lieutenant governor) teachers, bands and others, all presided over by Mayor John Barrett III. Pittsfield native and Supreme Court Assistant Justice Francis X. Spina gave her the oath. And hundreds lined up afterward to shake the new attorney general's hand. There were a few elections, too, this year. Williamstown voted for an elected Planning Board and added two new faces to the Selectmen, Pittsfield had a hard-fought School Committee race and North Adams replaced one-term Councilor Christopher Tremblaywith another newcomer, Lisa Blackmer.
  • 2. Northern Berkshires' Big Three educational and cultural institutions came together in new ways to share the wealth, as it were. Even more intriguing, the two Williamstown icons, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and Williams College, made concrete moves to create a more permanent presence in North Adams. In August, the Clark and Mass MoCA announced that the Clark would take custody of Building 12 to create Clark at Mass MoCA. Clark officials haven't determined exactly how the space will be used, but ideas ranged from off-site exhibits to student work space. Williams, which partners with the Clark on the college's graduate degree in art history, presented Mass MoCA with a $1.8 million gift to kick-start its regional capital fund, both expressing its faith in the contemporary art museum's fiscal future and sealing its participation in the landmark Sol Lewitt exhibit to be installed at MoCA. Oh yeah, the Clark also got a very impressive $90 million gift from the Manton Foundation that included a collection of paintings by famed 19th-century British artists.
  • 3. Time Warner Cable's takeover of the bankrupt Adelphia coverage area caused a local brouhaha after it released its lineup earlier this year. The company's basic service dropped Aldephia's classifed channel, which offered a wide range of local postings and simulcast of WNAW, and the area's one Boston station. But the cable company went up against Barrett and lost.
  • 4. Pittsfield and Dalton got some very good news when Berkshire Biodiesel decided it would build a $50 million facility straddling the municipalities' border. The company has been held up as an example of the next economic wave - alternative energy - that turn the region's economy around.
  • 5. William R. Wilson Jr. called it quits last year after steering the Berkshire Visitors Bureau for 23 years. He's credited with maintaining and growing the bureau through some tough financial times, but decided it was time to pursue a higher calling.
  • 6. Some property transactions in North Adams may have put a couple of waiting projects on track, including the sale of the gravel bank to development company, Clark Biscuit to a housing developer and the decision to purchase the Notre Dame site. But the city will end up with Notre Dame Church after the Contemporary Artist Center pulled, or was pushed, out of the deal to acquire the property. And Adams finally moved forward with the Jones Block as developer Gerardo "Gerry" Sanchez struck a deal to develop that block and the nearby Carlow building in retail and residential space.
  • 7. A devastating fire on Spring Street in Williamstown closed the landmark Purple Pub and several other businesses in March.
  • 8. A $25 million proposal would bring dedicated broadband to Western Mass. The initiative, part of Gov. Deval Patrick's economic program, is awaiting approval in the Legislature but is strongly supported by the Berkshire delegation.
  • 9. It doesn't sound like much, but Pittsfield's role as host of the Babe Ruth world softball series this year certainly helps cement its position in baseball history - and will bring hundreds if not thousands of visitors eager to spend their cash in the rejuvenated city.
  • 10. The MoviePlex 8 opened in downtown North Adams after closing six months before in the shuttered North Adams Plaza. Everything was shiny new and the ceiling didn't leak!
  • 11. OK, this is more than 10, but when acclaimed Swiss artist Christoph Buchel and Mass MoCA battled over Buchel's massive and incomplete installation, it set off reverberations throughout the art world. It also had a significant impact on Mass MoCA - the museum spent hundreds of thousands of dollars getting all Buchel's materials and more trying to get rid of it. That's our highly subjective take on the year. So, what did we forget?
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    Former Harry's Supermarket Under Construction for Restaurant

    By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

    PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Construction is underway to transform the former Harry's Supermarket into a restaurant. 

    Late last month, the Conservation Commission greenlit some tree pruning on the property. New windows and a new door can be seen in the front of the building. 

    "It's a substantial renovation that's currently underway here," Brent White of White Engineering said, speaking on behalf of the applicant and owner, Huajie Zhu. 

    A fire gutted the longtime Wahconah Street supermarket in 2023, and the following year, Zhu purchased the property for $460,000 two years ago to build a restaurant with hibachi in the existing footprint of the more than 100-year-old building. 

    White explained that the project has been ongoing for over a year, and the Community Development Board granted the property a waiver to reduce the minimum required number of parking spaces so that additional spaces aren't needed.  

    He noted that, looking at the site plan, there is very little room to do so. A mirror will be installed near the sharp turn on Bel Air Avenue to alleviate traffic concerns. 

    Pruning will be done on trees in the southeast corner of the existing paved parking lot, as a number of branches are hanging over. The new owners also intend to patch, sealcoat, and re-stripe the parking lot. 

    A fire tore through the building less than an hour after the supermarket closed for the day three years ago. An automatic sprinkler system is required for the new use. 

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