Brothers Want To Turn Old Town Garage Into Vintage Car Museum

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Sometimes history repeats itself. A pair of brothers — local businessmen and avid car collectors — want to convert Williamstown’s old town garage into a museum for vintage cars and related automotive memorabilia. Michael and Peter Shanley, who own and operate Berkshire Ivy Gardens, said in a recent interview that they hope to renovate the brick garage building on Water Street in vintage style. The Shanleys said they hope to house cars from their collection, and perhaps some on loan for special exhibitions. This function would be a return to the building’s first incarnation, as a car dealership and, until the early 1950s, Bacon’s Garage. “We’re looking to restore the building to that vintage motif,” said Peter Shanley. “It was a Model T dealership from the early 1900s to the mid-1920s.” “We’re trying to acquire some of the locally produced cars, such as the Berkshire, produced in Pittsfield about 1910. We want to focus on local automotive history, so maybe we’ll get to bring a little bit of history back. We want to gather some local memorabilia, such as things from Tom McMahon’s car dealership. We have a book published in the early 1920s, the original edition, Motoring in the Berkshires, with tours you could take. “We right now have about 20 different showable cars. But this wouldn’t be just to showcase ours. We’re looking to showcase historical stuff that’s significant and interesting. We’d rotate it, do themes. There are a lot of vintage car clubs that tour the Berkshires,” he said. The Shanleys have acquired, just to give a sampling, a 1927 Franklin roadster, a Plymouth “woodie” station wagon, and a Rolls Royce shooting brake, imported from France now in storage. “What we buy is the interesting stuff,” said Peter Shanley. “We have Fords to Franklins.” Said his brother Michael, “We range from a 1912 International truck to a 1996 Winston Cup race car.” With, for example, a 1928 Chrysler four-door sedan, a 1926 Model T touring car, a 1929 mail truck, a bright red 1955 Thunderbird and a red 1946 Ford truck — a truck depicted in vintage advertisements framed on their office wall. They moved to Williamstown in 1990 from Pennsylvania. “We’ve been collecting cars since we could drive ’em,” said Michael Shanley. “It’s led to a real diversity of cars, and we continue to add to the collection.” “We did restore them when we were kids, and that taught us how to buy and sell them.” Despite the Rolls Royce, they concentrate on American cars. “American cars are easy and plentiful,” he said. Said Michael Shanley, “Our passion derives from the stories and from what you grew up with. If you drove a 1965 Mustang when you were in college, when you see one the memories come back. It’s sort of a rolling history lesson. The cars of the 1950s were pieces of art. The designers had to make them new and different every year. “You will never meet anybody who doesn’t have a story about a car,” said Michael Shanley. “Someone will say, ‘My father used to have a car like that.’ It’s a lot of fun to be able to tie into those memories.” They are particularly fond of Franklins, manufactured in Syracuse starting in 1903. They have a vintage photograph of a line of Franklin’s in front of Grundy’s taxi, or perhaps Bates Livery, on Water Street. To give a visitor the real flavor of the experience, the interview included a ride in the 1928 Chrysler, with fittings of German silver, and windshield wipers attached at the top. Because the wipers are operated by vacuum, “When you need them most they stop,” said Peter Shanley. They plan to call they’re museum the Olde Town Garage. “People will call it that anyway, so why rename it?” they said. They know the building will require substantial work, with a substantial price tag. “The building is in rough shape,” he said. “It has to be looked at by experts. It won’t be done overnight. We also want to do enough research so that if we change the facade at all, for instance; we want it to be done correctly for the period.” “We have an architect working on drawings, and we’re working on site plans,” said Michael Shanley. “We’re not at a very detailed stage yet.” They know their plans will involve the planning board, zoning board, conservation commission and sign commission. The building has some unusual features. For example, the large pipe carrying Christmas Brook to the Green River goes through the basement. The building was condemned by the town Building Inspector Michael Card, for its former use as the town garage, as the concrete floor was considered inadequate to support large trucks. Town Manager Peter Fohlin confirmed yesterday that he has talked with the Shanleys about their plans. Town Meeting voters on May 18, 1999 declared the building and site surplus property and authorized the Selectmen to sell it. The town’s department of public works moved its operations to the new town garage off Simonds Road three years ago. Fohlin said, “The property has to be subject to a competitive sale process to as to reap the greatest benefit to the real owners of the property, who are the residents of Williamstown.” Fohlin said he will be preparing, with town counsel, a proposed process by which the Selectmen will determine the ultimate owner and ultimate reuse of the property. That process, he said, is likely to be a Request for Proposals, which would allow the selectmen to evaluate the compatibility and desirability of competing proposals, rather than an invitation for bids, which would consider only the price. That Request for Proposals would allow selectmen to consider more than price in deciding on the highest and best use of the property, he said. Two restrictions apply — that some public parking be located on the parcel, and that a right of way be preserved for a walkway from Water Street to Spring Street. Said Fohlin, “The Shanleys are known for their high quality environmental and socially responsible operations. Certainly Berkshire Ivy Gardens is an asset to the town.” Dagmar Bubriski of Hoxsey Street, who has long been interested in the fate of the old town garage, was enthusiastic about the Shanley’s plans. “I’d be very much in favor of it,” said Bubriski. “It’s a great building, and I think it’s a fine idea. I’ve been hoping to see that place used in some kind of a public way. It’s a good building, and it has a history. If we can possibly encourage interesting and useful uses, I think that’s all to the good.” “I had advocated some other uses but this is better,” said Bubriski. “I’d be happy to see that happen.” “I think that would make quite a few people happy,” said Bubriski. “It’s sort of a new avenue, and it’s certainly antique, but not old rocking chairs.”
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McCann Recognizes Superintendent Award Recipient

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Landon LeClair and Superintendent James Brosnan with Landon's parents Eric and Susan LeClair, who is a teacher at McCann. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Superintendent's Award has been presented to Landon LeClair, a senior in McCann Technical School's advanced manufacturing course. 
 
The presentation was made last Thursday by Superintendent Jame Brosnan after Principal Justin Kratz read from teachers' letters extolling LeClair's school work, leadership and dedication. 
 
"He's become somewhat legendary at the Fall State Leadership Conference for trying to be a leader at his dinner table, getting an entire plate of cookies for him and all his friends," read Kratz to chuckles from the School Committee. "Landon was always a dedicated student and a quiet leader who cared about mastering the content."
 
LeClair was also recognized for his participation on the school's golf team and for mentoring younger teammates. 
 
"Landon jumped in tutoring the student so thoroughly that the freshman was able to demonstrate proficiency on an assessment despite the missed class time for golf matches," read Kratz.
 
The principal noted that the school also received feedback from LeClair's co-op employer, who rated him with all fours.
 
"This week, we sent Landon to our other machine shop to help load and run parts in the CNC mill," his employer wrote to the school. LeClair was so competent the supervisor advised the central shop might not get him back. 
 
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