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Amequsika 'Sika' Sedzro outlined the plan for the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority Wednesday morning.

'Better Block' Approaching The Build Stage For Tyler Street Project

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's time to build the better block.
 
MassDevelopment brought in Team Better Block to run the economic development exercise on Tyler Street. The plan is to completely revamp the section between Smith Street and Cortland Place, filling up the storefronts, improving mobility, slowing traffic, and sprucing up the aesthetics. 
 
"This is not a block party, this is an economic development demonstration," Amequsika 'Sika' Sedzro, who is the city's fellow through the MassDevelopment Transformative District Initiative.
 
In June, Better Block met with dozens of residents to get ideas of what they'd like Tyler Street to look like in the future. A plan was crafted to bring those ideas to life in one section, for one day. The effort takes the ideas and concepts and puts them into reality for a single day to show what is possible, and spur more life into redevelopment efforts.
 
"That has helped facilitate new conversations with the property owners and we are hoping it will lead to new activation and leases," Sedzro said. 
 
That section has a number of vacant store fronts now and includes the former Cafe Reva, Fin and Feather, the Hess Gas Station, and the Tyler Street fire house.
 
Better Block's conceptual plan is to bring vendors into the spaces, install bicycle lanes, create a beer garden at the closed fire station, transform the gas station into a mini-golf course, add parklets, paint crosswalks, bring in more plants and more art. Sedzro said about 22 people from the community submitted applications to fill up spaces.
 
"We went through a rapid planning process. That usually takes a year and we took two months to make it happen," Sedzro said.
 
And now comes build week: next Wednesday building it all out starts. The full plan is available below.
 
"Right now we are in the final stages. We are out there cleaning up storefronts. We are still looking for volunteers," Sedzro said.
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On Wednesday from 5 until 7 p.m., murals will be added, new wayfinding signs put in place, and storefronts cleaned. That night, from 7 until 9 p.m. planter boxes will be built and storefront facades worked on.

On Thursday, the 5 p.m. session will feature setting up the pop-up shops, building a stage for music, and creating parklets. The 7 p.m. build continues setting up the shops, builds a fence for the beer garden, and mini-golf and a lemonade stand constructed.

 
On Friday, there will be five different build sessions throughout the day starting at 8 a.m. The work includes building a cycle track, a street median, painting crosswalks and bump outs, creating transit stops and a ramp, building bicycle parking, and continuing with the pop-up shops.
 
"We are focused on both the right of way and the storefronts," Sedzro said. "We are trying to see what it needs to actually do activation."
 
And the group is still looking for volunteers to help with the building — particularly a couple who own trucks to help transport material. Sedzro said right now there are 60 people signed up to help and some local companies are planning to bring in teams of employees as well.
 
On Saturday, Aug. 26, the Morningside Community will get a taste of what is possible throughout the entire street. The one-day event goes from noon until 7 p.m. That day will also feature the unveiling of a new mural on the wall of the Goodwill building. 

 

Pittsfield Better Block Build Plan by iBerkshires.com on Scribd

 


Tags: better block,   tyler street,   

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EPA Lays Out Draft Plan for PCB Remediation in Pittsfield

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Ward 4 Councilor James Conant requested the meeting be held at Herberg Middle School as his ward will be most affected. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric have a preliminary plan to remediate polychlorinated biphenyls from the city's Rest of River stretch by 2032.

"We're going to implement the remedy, move on, and in five years we can be done with the majority of the issues in Pittsfield," Project Manager Dean Tagliaferro said during a hearing on Wednesday.

"The goal is to restore the (Housatonic) river, make the river an asset. Right now, it's a liability."

The PCB-polluted "Rest of River" stretches nearly 125 miles from the confluence of the East and West Branches of the river in Pittsfield to the end of Reach 16 just before Long Island Sound in Connecticut.  The city's five-mile reach, 5A, goes from the confluence to the wastewater treatment plant and includes river channels, banks, backwaters, and 325 acres of floodplains.

The event was held at Herberg Middle School, as Ward 4 Councilor James Conant wanted to ensure that the residents who will be most affected by the cleanup didn't have to travel far.

Conant emphasized that "nothing is set in actual stone" and it will not be solidified for many months.

In February 2020, the Rest of River settlement agreement that outlines the continued cleanup was signed by the U.S. EPA, GE, the state, the city of Pittsfield, the towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, and Sheffield, and other interested parties.

Remediation has been in progress since the 1970s, including 27 cleanups. The remedy settled in 2020 includes the removal of one million cubic yards of contaminated sediment and floodplain soils, an 89 percent reduction of downstream transport of PCBs, an upland disposal facility located near Woods Pond (which has been contested by Southern Berkshire residents) as well as offsite disposal, and the removal of two dams.

The estimated cost is about $576 million and will take about 13 years to complete once construction begins.

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