Seymour Street was once a Polish immigrant community but now two of those historic homes are being demolished for parking.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city's Historical Commission raised no objection to the demolition of two dilapidated tenement houses on Seymour Street to make way for a Berkshire Medical Center parking lot.

 

Thomas Romeo, vice president of physician services for Berkshire Medical Center said the institution is preparing to purchase two abutting lots near the former Holy Family Church with the intent to demolish the two derelict buildings on either side of the street.

 

"We don't have any intention of building anything there, so it will probably be parking," Romeo told the commission on Monday.

 

Romeo said the houses, located opposite one another at 118-120 and 125-127 Seymour Street, have been largely vacant for years and are in a serious state of disrepair, one recently condemned by the Board of Health.

 

"They were afraid of the structure itself not being able to carry the load of the house," said Romeo, who explained that the owners were anxious to unload these troubled properties.

 

The former is an eclectic colonial revival built in 1923, with the latter a cross-gabled Queen Anne built in 1896, both historically associated with the Szymanski family in a neighborhood historically known for its close-knit Polish immigrants community.

 

Due to their age of more than 75 years, approval of the Historic Commission was sought under requirements of the City's 2007 Demoliton Delay Ordinance.

 

The commission found no major preservation significance in either the architecture or past ownership of the houses, beyond their being among many examples of a historic neighborhood dynamic which no longer exists.

 

The homes are more than 75 years old.

"It's part of the whole lost Polish community that was there," lamented commission member Kathleen Reilly. "It's a sad fact, but it's a fact that the whole neighborhood is pretty much gone." 

 

The land which the houses occupy at the end of Seymour Street was once owned by prominent resident Henry Kent, for whom nearby Kent Avenue is named.

 

A portion at one time was owned by Berkshire Street Railway, which initially used the adjacent church building before acquiring its larger East Street facility in 1912.

 

 In 1924, that structure became Holy Family Church, serving as an anchor for the evolving immigrant neighborhood around it.

 

"I didn't notice anything glaringly significant," said Todd Burdick of the vacant properties. "There doesn't seem to have any major historical association."

 

Berkshire Health Systems already acquired one adjacent property on Seymour, which now houses cooling equipment for the facility as well as parking, but Romeo said additional lots on either side would further benefit patient access to the hospital and nearby Crane Center.

 

"Our point is to try to get our patients as close to the building as we possibly can," Romeo said.