ADAMS, Mass. — More than 100 years of history came crashing down on Monday morning as the former Commercial Street School was demolished.
The building was owned by Commercial Street School LLC, which purchased the nearly one-acre lot at 87 Commercial from Aladco in 2014 for $125,000. The manager of the LLC is David Desmarais, owner of Aladco. The property was being used for parking for the laundry company across the street and warehousing.
The three-story building hadn't been used as a school in nearly 40 years. The structure was built between 1882-3 along with two other grammar schools accommodate the town's burgeoning population.
"It's always regrettable when a historic structure is demolished especially a school that may have fond memories for many former students and faculty," said Eugene Michalenko, a member of both Historical Commission and Historical Society. "Considering that new uses were found for the other former neighborhood schools, losing one to a wrecking ball leaves a bitter twitch in our community's memory."
Michalenko said the neighborhood around the school had grown up very quickly the year before its construction because of the opening of the Jacquard Mill, built by Renfrew Manufacturing Co. on Harmony Street. The now vacant mill had later been home to Dewey & Almy, W.R. Grace and MacDermid Corp.
The Commercial Street School was similar in structure, he said, to Renfrew School "but it was more graceful in architecture."
There were eight rooms serving children up to Grade 6 and it was designed for 350 students although in 1924, Michalenko said, only 229 were enrolled. When the new high school opened in 1969, Commercial and two other schools became kindergarten through Grade 3 and Renfrew was closed. When Proposition 2 1/2 was enacted in 1981 and severe budget cuts resulted, those three schools were closed.
While the school is now gone, its bell is on display at Hoosac Valley Elementary School.
Adams Excavating Co. made short work of the building on Monday and by afternoon it was mostly leveled. The demolition permits were filed in early April.
Aladco has no official plans on file for the soon to be open area and nothing has yet gone before the Planning Board.
This is the second large structure to be removed from the highly trafficked Commercial Street. A vacant building at 50 Commercial St., built in 1921 as an automotive garage, was demolished by the town last year because of its deteriorating condition.
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Suspect in High-Speed Adams Chase Arrested
ADAMS, Mass. — A suspect test-driving a pickup truck who led police on a wild high-speed chase on Tuesday was arrested in Adams early Wednesday morning.
The incident began at about 11:41 a.m. on Tuesday when an officer conducted a motor vehicle stop on Howland Avenue. During the stop, the operator was positively identified and was determined to have a suspended license. When ordered out of the vehicle, he fled, said police, leading law enforcement on a multijurisdictional pursuit toward the town of Florida.
A number of people posted about seeing the black pickup truck enter the Walmart parking lot; a video shows the driver surrounded by cruisers as they try to exit the parking lot at the light. Witnesses say the pickup backed into cruiser to get around the block.
The driver headed up West Shaft Road and toward Florida with Adams and North Adams Police in pursuit. The pursuit was called off at the city line.
The suspect was able to elude police but his vehicle was found abandoned in a remote location in the Savoy State Forest. It was later learned this vehicle was being test driven from a local auto dealer. With the assistance of the State Police Airwing, K9 Unit and drone unit, officers canvased the wilderness for the suspect but were unsuccessful.
Officers received information at about 3:14 a.m. on Wednesday that the suspect was in the area of Glen Street. Police say he fled on foot as officers secured a perimeter.
K9 Adam and his handler Sgt. Curtis Crane began an area search. K9 Adam was able to locate the suspect hiding in a back yard, but the suspect again ran — straight into officers on the perimeter who took him into custody.
The suspect faces a litany of charges pending from the previous day's encounter as well as the early morning contact with officers. Additional charges are pending as well from North Adams Police Department and their involvement in the apprehension.
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