Architect: work going well in Drury High School renovation

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Work is under way in the major renovation of Drury High School in North Adams, and things are going well. This was the message both on and off the record at a School Building Committee meeting Nov. 8. The regular School Committee meeting followed immediately afterward. Project Architect James M. Morrissey, of Tessier Associates, West Springfield, said the School Building Committee awarded a contract at its last meeting. The contractor — U.W. Marx of Troy, N.Y. — is already in the building and starting to work. “Work has been going well,” Morrissey told members of the School Building Committee. “Marx hadn’t done any work in the area and he was a relatively new contractor to all of us so we checked his references. “From the cooperation that he’s shown today, I think everything’s going pretty well up there,” he said. The head of the company would be coming in to sign the contract — the firm had been working with a letter of intent, Morrissey said. Two sections had to be rebid on the project: the electrical and the carpet. Berkshire Carpet put in the low bid on the carpet, $42,000, which came in below the $50,000 estimate. On the electrical, the lowest qualified bidder was Court Electric, Troy, N.Y., at $1,479,000, with $1,500,000 estimated. The electrical contractor has three people from North Adams on the payroll working on the site, Morrissey said. “We’re going along very well,” Morrissey said. “The students are now all located in their spaces. I understand it’s going very well. Our next step is to get construction moving along.” Fuel, electricity expenses At the School Committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Joseph Rogge said he is concerned about oil and electricity expenses. “I believe electric bills will be increasing soon,” he said. “The electric companies ... are looking for a rate increase based on the fact that the cost of producing electricity is tied to the price of natural gas and fuel oil, and that will be going up as well. “So it’s something that I’m going to have to watch very, very carefully,” he said. “And something that we should do every year anyway is very careful maintenance, and double checking that we’re not leaving windows or doors open. “At Drury we want to make sure that the area of the building where the construction is going on is effectively sealed off from the rest of the building so we don’t lose any heat there,” Rogge said. “It’s going to be a long winter that I’m concerned about in terms of expenses.” Grogan honored The superintendent also awarded a Certificate of Academic Excellence to Kelly A. Grogan. This honor is conferred annually on the highest ranking senior at Drury High School. “I could go on and on about all of the wonderful things that Kelly has done, not only at Drury High School but going back to her earlier days at Conte Middle School,” Rogge said. “And she is a wonderful, wonderful ambassador for the North Adams Public Schools ... a wonderful, wonderful student and a wonderful, wonderful person.” Grant awards Rogge said the school district was recently awarded three grants: Technology Literacy Challenge, $30,000, written by Sheila Cooke; $5,000 for the School Safety Initiative, written by Anne French; and $40,000 for After School Programs, written by James Montepare. Rogge noted that the Technology Literacy Challenge grant is a competitive one-year grant and may not be received every year. “What that did allow us to do is to provide training for language arts teachers at Conte in the use of a computer device called Alphasmart — it’s like a word processor ... tying into our language arts curriculum,” Rogge said. “It doesn’t mean we’re changing our curriculum. It means that we’re using this as a tool for writing in the curriculum.” The device comes with a storage cart, which allows it to be safely stored and not easily stolen, he said. Assistant Superintendent Montepare said the After School Programs grant is a competitive grant, but this is the district’s second year of funding. Said Rogge, “There’s an effort going on in our community to look at after-school programs, not just by the North Adams public schools or grant funding.” “The YMCA is looking towards expanding after-school programs,” he said. “The United Way has made a focus of looking at youth in the community in trying do to everything they can.” Rogge noted that city Mayor and School Committee Chairman John Barrett III has said frequently that he supports youth programs in the city that are not just school-based. “The essence of what I’m saying is that the city of North Adams is committed to trying to come up with programs for youth that take place before school or after school and are not simply just academic in nature,” Rogge said. Barrett, “The strategy’s simple — we like to keep them busy basically from 2 to 6 o’clock ... so that they can do something productive and hopefully then they go home and have some quality time,” he said. “It seems to be working.”
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Northern Berkshire United Way: 1970s Has Its Ups and Downs

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff

The Northern Berkshire United Way sets its highest goal yet in 1979, and the first time going over $200,000. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Over three decades, the Northern Berkshire United Community Services had raised some $3 million for its affiliated agencies. 
 
That number was announced that the organizations "fifth" annual meeting in 1974, marking the time since Adams had joined, and counting the funds raised by the North Adams Community Chest and the North Adams and Adams United Funds and Northern Berkshire United Fund. 
 
The report that year was dedicated to past 24 volunteer campaign chairs, of whom 17 were still in the area and three — Russell Lanoue, George Higgins and G. Churchill Francis — had since died.
 
The amount of money raised seemed significant for the time, but the united fund found itself struggling in the early '70s as the economy dipped and its the need for its services grew. 
 
The campaign in 1970 saw an ambitious goal of $184,952 to support 16 agencies, with Northern Berkshire Child Care as the latest addition. The drive kicked off that goal at the Midway with Chair George Bateman, but it reached only 80 percent of its goal by the end. 
 
Batemen said it might not be a financial success but "I believe it was a spiritual success" because of the hard work and enthusiasm of so many drive volunteers.
 
But President Henry Pierpan said there would be allocation cuts for 1971 despite "a substantial sum" voted from reserve funds.
 
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