Berkshire Carousel Project Handicapped Again

Berkshire Carousel's opening may be delayed because of handicapped accessibility issues.

DALTON, Mass. — The opening of the Berkshire Carousel is handicapped again, this time because of accessibility issues.

The date of the grand opening of the attraction — about eight years in the making — was initially projected as June 21 by the group's leadership earlier this year. However, representatives of the non-profit organization said they believe the project's start date will be delayed to install a pair of handicapped accessible bathrooms.

Director Maria Caccaviello told the Select Board on Monday night that the Berkshire Carousel will be ready for the public sometime later in the summer, with no certainty as to exactly when.

"There might be a slight delay, because we're putting in handicap bathrooms. But we really don't know how far along in the process that is. We're working forward to make that happen," Caccaviello said.

The Berkshire Carousel has moved multiple times to different towns in Berkshire Count during its construction period, in search of a permanent residence. Though group and town leaders expect the project to be permanently located in Dalton, no formal agreement has been reported.

The carousel is currently housed in a former Crane & Co. stationary factory at 63 Flansburgh Ave., with tentative plans for a $1.6 million facility to be constructed on the property as an amusement and multi-purpose facility. The project was being slated for a grand opening in June with the amusement ride under a tent outside the former Flansburgh factory.

What once was a hard-and-fast date is now a relative uncertainty, given knowledge of the accessibility issues learned late last week.

"Our goal was to do something this summer, but we're just not sure what date, until we get the full plans for the bathrooms under way and we just got that information," Caccaviello said.

She said the carousel will "definitely" be ready for its unveiling this summer; and if only for a short time, it will be displayed for the public.

"I'd like to be open at least 30 days, sometime, because I'd like to put it out for people to see what it's going to look like, but until I see a timeline, I don't know," Caccaviello said.

Caccaviello said the operating mechanism for the carousel will be delivered on March 7, delayed from its reported date of sometime in January because of weather issues among others. All of the horses set to be mounted on the carousel are complete. Additional work is being done to ready the chariot features.

The Select Board, functioning as the town's Licensing Board, approved a petition on Monday granting an entertainment license for the Carousel to open from June 21 to Oct. 20. Operating hours are scheduled daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., except for Sundays, when it opens from 1 to 5 p.m. The board also reserved the right for Town Manager Kenneth Walto to grant additional operating hours when necessary for yet unforeseen special events.

Select Board members also provided positive commentary supporting the approval of a special permit by the town's Zoning Board of Appeals for the erection of a tent in the parking lot of the stationary factory. If the ZBA receives comments from all necessary boards by March 4, the topic will be discussed at its April 1 meeting.

Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing. 

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said. 

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today." 

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback. 

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director. 

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care.  Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires. 

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs. 

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said. 

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.