NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire County cultural venues were awarded more than $9 million in U.S. Small Business Administration funding to alleviate the impacts of having to close during the pandemic.
Grants ranged from $2.7 million for Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and $1.5 million for Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket to $124,765 for Images Cinema in Williamstown and $15,187 for Athlone Artists in Lenox.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal on Monday announced $20,010,864 in grant funds for the 1st Massachusetts congressional district from the Shuttered Venues Operation Grant program. The congressman was at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield with the museum's President and CEO John Doleva; the Hall of Fame received $3,740,728 in funding.
"These funds are incredibly instrumental to operations like the Basketball Hall of Fame who suffered greatly because of the pandemic," said Neal. "For the safety of the American people, the government forced these agencies to close their doors. And now, it is the government again stepping in to make sure that they are able to get back on their feet."
Doleva said the grant commitment "means the Basketball Hall of Fame can stabilize its business operations that were so severely impacted over the last 15 months and allow us to better position ourselves for long term survival and future growth. Without the SBA's SVOG many venues, like ours, would have struggled to regain footing and suffered long term consequences that for some may have been permanent."
The pandemic that began in March 2020 caused disruptions throughout the county's cultural and entertainment industry. Many museums closed completely at first and then opened for limited access for nearly a year. Mass MoCA has been forced to cancel its featured performances, including the three-day Solid Sound Festival, and theater companies struggled (and continue to) to put on outdoor performances.
SVOG was established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, and amended by the American Rescue Plan Act. The program includes more than $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues, to be administered by SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. Eligible entities include live venue operators or promoters; theatrical producers; live performing arts organization operators; museum operators; motion picture theater operators (including owners); and talent representatives.
Institutions and companies can use the funds for regular payments for utilities, mortgages, debt and leases; payroll, insurance and worker protection; and a range of administrative, advertising, business and capital costs.
Across Massachusetts, there have been 244 grants awarded totaling $194,408,323. There are 33 in the First Congressional District that total $20,010,864 and include:
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Becket: $1,492,373
Stationery Factory Events, Dalton: $132,652
Berkshire Choral International, Great Barrington: $525,735
Berkshire International Film Festival, Great Barrington: $47,713
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington: $296,530
Shaw Entertainment Group, Great Barrington: $99,114
Athlone Artists, Lenox: $15,187
Edith Wharton Restoration, Lenox: $184,493
WAM Theatre, Lenox: $43,383
HiLo Holding Co., North Adams: $116,523
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation, North Adams: $2,636,094
Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield: $608,989
Berkshire Theatre Group, Pittsfield: $923,619
The Egremont Village Inn, South Egremont: $257,720
Triplex Management Corp., South Egremont: $396,099
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime.
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather.
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5.
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure.
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
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