NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Porches inn owners are planning to tear down the former Harvest Christian Ministries building on River Street to build a new restaurant that will take up the block between Crossey Place and Veazie Street.   

 

The new dining establishment has been rumored for some time as a complementary addition to the 20-year-old hotel across from Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. 

 

"The project constitutes a significant improvement over the vacant lots and existing building, while making efficient use of the site and is an overall improvement on the current conditions," according to the plans submitted for the Planning Board's May meeting. 

 

Parent company Berkshire Hills Development Co. LLC will use the lots it owns on the west side of Veazie Street and plans to purchase an adjacent lot on Veazie. Parking will be on Veazie and the lots to the west, with the restaurant near the corner of Veazie and River. 

 

The two-story brick building housed a soup kitchen that operated for more than 20 years until the Bennington, Vt., ministry sold it to Berkshire Hills in 2018 for $235,000. The two lots adjoining it on River Street are a parking lot and the fourth has a two-story apartment house on just over half an acre owned by David Carver. 

 

Preliminary plans show a long modern structure of about 3,900 square feet along River Street that is screened from the street by trees and plantings, with an outdoor patio and parking in the rear. It will include a partial basement for storage.

 

"The Restaurant will add jobs and continue to add vibrancy and promote further economic development in the neighborhood and the City as a whole," according to the application, which also states the eatery will be open five days a week from 5 to 9 and lunch during the busy season from noon to 3, with hours subject to seasonal variation. 

 

The lots are in a business 2 zone in which restaurants are permitted by rate. The applicant also will appear before the Conservation Commission (because of the proximity of the Hoosic River) and the Zoning Board of Adjustment before returning to the Planning Board with final plans.  

 

The Porches, a set of reconfigured Victorian apartment buildings, does not have a restaurant. It was given permission in 2017 to tear down two buildings on the east side of Veazie Street for studio and reception space (the grand opening of the domelike structure was upset by the pandemic) and so that guests could be served a light breakfast.