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Mayor Linda Tyer, Councilor John Krol, and others tested out the new seats on Friday.
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Former Manager John Valente and Mayor Linda Tyer.
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The reclining seats were installed throughout the theater.

Beacon Cinema Cuts Ribbon On Cushy New Seats

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Former Beacon Manager John Valente and Councilor John Krol discuss the partnership between the city and the theater.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On Nov. 20, 2009, Eugene Mamut of Lee leaned back in the deep plush red seats the day the Beacon Cinema opened, and said, "I don't want to get up."
 
The $23 million project to bring an independently-owned movie theater had taken years to finally come to fruition. Former Mayor James Ruberto had the crowd celebrating the opening chant his favorite saying, "it is a great day for Pittsfield."
 
But it was the new stadium seating that was the talk of the town. Since then, things have changed in the movie theater industry. Those seats are now considered outdated.
 
"Everybody kept saying how comfortable they were, how fantastic these seats were. Well, you know, nothing is more constant than change," former Beacon Manager John Valente said on Friday.
 
"Just as digital standard for a modern movie theater, audiences have shown a clear preference for big comfy recliners and reserved seating."
 
As times change, the Beacon Cinema is looking to stay right with it. On Friday, the downtown theater showed off its new recliner seats, which cut the number of seats it has about in half. The theater has now revamped the seating in all six of its theaters and implemented reserved seating.
 
But one thing the former manager says hasn't changed is the foundation on which the Beacon was built. 
 
It was back in 1997 when city officials determined that a downtown movie theater would become a vital piece in the puzzle to bring people back downtown. After seven years of work, eventually Richard Stanley agreed to develop it. It became a piece, tied with fellow anchors Barrington Stage and the Colonial Theatre, of what became a decadelong effort to revitalize North Street. By 2015, the company had spent more than $20.2 million on the project and created 39 total jobs.
 
"It was a true relationship between the private sector and the city that made this happen, a true partnership," said City Council Vice President John Krol. "It was the Beacon Cinema that was the centerpiece of that to bring families downtown."

The Beacon is lowering its prices at a time when the industry is going the other way. 

Since then, millions of private sector dollars have been invested on North Street. A number of new restaurants and shops have opened. The state helped fund a massive streetscape project.

Mayor Linda Tyer said she knows the efforts worked because now there is an array of market-rate housing developments happening, showing that people now want to live downtown, not just visit.

Tyer actually still keeps a chunk of brick from the movie theater's facade, a gift from Ruberto, in her office.
 
"I keep that on my bookshelf as a symbol of what renaissance is and how we have to keep moving forward, just as we've done on North Street, in other parts of our city," Tyer said.
 
But over those years, the Beacon began to struggle to keep up with the changing industry. That wasn't going to deter Stanley and staff. The company planned a half-million turnaround plan, which included the new reclining seats. But, the finances behind that new money going to the venture still didn't match up.
 
Last May, Stanley asked the City Council for an extension of the Beacon's tax incremental financing package and the council agreed. The agreement puts off taxing the value of the new investment for another five years. In total, about $72,000 worth of tax money will be forgiven during that time in order to allow the new investment to move forward.
 
"This council and this mayor worked together to make sure we are able to support the Beacon Cinema make this happen," Krol said.
 
Those from the Beacon recognize that role as being a community partner. So while the seats are an effort to keep up with the changing times, the Beacon isn't going to stay with the pricing trends. On Friday, Manager Lydia Shulman announced a reduction in many of the ticket prices. 
 
"Most theaters are going the other way. They are raising their prices when they put these seats in. Theaters near Boston are $25, $30 for a ticket. I remember the days when you could walk down the street and spend $4.50 to see a movie. Movies used to be accessible entertainment. It was affordable. And it has been moving away from that. This is our opportunity to bring that back," Shulman said.
 
As of Friday, prices for a 2D movie or a 3D matinee will be $6; evenings for children and seniors will be $6 and for adults, $8.75; and 3D evenings will be $11.75 for adults and $9 for children and seniors.
 
"This project started because we really wanted to do something to make downtown Pittsfield go and we've never lost that commitment," Valente said.
 
Eight years ago, the cinema cut a strand of the 35-millimeter film, a symbol of the cinema ridding rid of the old style films and moving to all digital. And on Friday, a ribbon was cut on the newly revamped seats, positioning an anchor of North Street to survive for years to come.
 
"This is a great day for the Beacon," Tyer said.

Tags: beacon cinema,   business improvements,   movie theater,   ribbon cutting,   

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Pagliarulo, Strout Win Seats on Dalton Select Board

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

The election saw about a 20 percent turnout of registered voters.
DALTON, Mass. — Voters returned one of two incumbents to the Select Board and one newcomer on Tuesday. 
 
Antonio "Tony" Pagliarulo won one of the two seats in the four-way race with 577 votes for the board, outpolling the other three candidates by 107 votes. Coming up second was incumbent Marc Strout with 486. 
 
William Drosehn, chair of the Finance Committee, was 13 votes behind at 473. 
 
Robert Collins, who won a seat by 13 votes in February's special election found himself out of the running this time with 459 votes. 
 

Pagliarulo expressed his gratitude to the voters and hopes that he and the board can do a good job by them.


"Everybody's going to be in office, even though the other two candidates didn't make it. We have a Finance chair and we have a person on the Planning Board, so hopefully we'll work in harmony together," he said. 


Collins holds a seat on the Planning Board; Pagliarulo is a member of the Green Committee and the Public Safety Facility Advisory Committee.


The elections saw above-average voter turnout, with 1,001 individuals voting in person at the Senior Center, and 83 mail-in ballots were counted after the polls closed, for about 20 percent of registered voters. 


Residents lined Field Street with signs in support of their preferred candidates as some played lawn games to pass the time. 


When the unofficial results came in, several of Strout's supporters cheered as they left the Senior Center. 


Strout said he looks forward to serving on the board for another three years and will do so with honesty and integrity. 


This will be Strout's fourth term. When running for Select Board nine years ago, he didn't think he would ever get to this point. 


"But when you get in here and you're able to serve the people and look out for them and take care of the small things for them, whether it's a pothole on their street or the street light out, those are the things that are important to people," Strout said. 


"We got a lot of work ahead of us and bringing people together to get things done, and that's what's going to take for all of us to work together." 


Although losing this race, Collins intends to stay involved in the town, continuing his work on the Planning Board and Storm Water Commission. 


When asked whether he would request a recount given the close results, Collins said he does not intend to and emphasized his trust and faith in the town clerk’s office and the volunteers who handle the counting process. 


Drosehn said he does not believe the results reflected the true vision of the town’s people, feels there was an "anomaly" in the results, and plans to call for a recount.


He said town voters prefer to have someone on the board, "one in particular," that he thinks doesn’t approach the issues.  


Unofficial results for other contested races were: 


The Planning Board had three candidates for its two open seats. Voters elected Dennis Croughwell, who had 729 votes, and Donald Davis with 456. David Martindale had 434 votes. 


The Library Trustees had five candidates for its four available seats. Voters elected Anne Ronayne, who had 1,263 votes, Thomas Condron with 710 votes, Leonardo Quiles with 623 votes, and Sherri Belouin with 576 votes. Michael Jamrog had 356 votes.

 

 

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