image description — Repairs being made to the portals on the sides of the Notre Dame steeple on Friday. The work is being financed through a matching state preservation grant.

Repairs Being Done on Notre Dame in North Adams

04:47PM / Friday, August 07, 2009Print Story | Email Story

Towering Repairs

Notre Dame steeple towers over the trees as seen from the bottom of Willow Dell.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Workers from Five Star Building Corp. of Easthampton have a commanding view of the city on Friday as they make repairs to the steeple on Notre Dame Church.

Repairs to portals on the steeple, including the prominent louvered sides, and replacement of the rear portions of two of the church's roofs are being done through a matching grant of up to $100,000 from the Massachusetts Historical Commission awarded in late 2008. Reinhart Associates of Agawam is the project engineer for the estimated $95,000 project.

The cross atop the steeple was removed two years ago along with other religious items.

The city purchased the Notre Dame complex nearly two years ago in an effort to preserve the buildings. The rectory was sold to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the school has been optioned by Arch Street Development of Needham, which is currently rehabilitating the Clark Biscuit mill for housing. The city received $25,000 from the Diocese of Springfield for roof repairs as part of the purchase agreement.

Work began nearly two weeks ago. On Friday, a crane towered above steeple, a distinctive part of the city's skyline from its eastern gateway, wth the bucket holding the workers dangling from it.

Tags: church, renovation,

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'Into Light': Addressing Addiction One Portrait at a Time

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
08:13AM / Sunday, March 08, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The "Into Light" exhibit is sketching a new path toward transforming the conversation around addiction — one portrait and story at a time.

Since 2019, the nonprofit's founder Theresa Clower has put on close to 21 exhibitions around the country, sharing the stories of more than 600 people who have lost their lives to addiction.

Now, the installation will be on view at Hotel Downstreet from Friday, March 13, through June 30, featuring 10 portraits of local community members who died from addiction and 20 portraits from the eastern Massachusetts exhibit.

This collaborative effort combines municipal opioid settlement funds and lead sponsor Berkshire Health Systems, in collaboration with the Northern Berkshire Opioid Abatement Collaborative, HEAL Coalition, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, and North Adams Regional Hospital.

In addition to the installation, the team has developed programs and forums to be held throughout the three months to start a conversation and improve education on the disease.

"The core to our efforts around 'Into Light' is the community education, especially building on people's awareness of addiction as a disease and as a disease that is curable," said Andy Ottoson, BRPC senior public health planner.

Ottoson stressed the importance of treating substance use disorder like any other disease, reducing stigma, and normalizing open conversations around addiction and the resources out there to help recover.

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