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The former Johnny's Beach Club on Wahconah Street in Pittsfield was hit by a pickup truck on Wednesday, severely damaging the building.

Truck Crashes Into Former Johnny's Beach Club

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A pickup truck crashed into the former Johnny’s Beach Club on Wednesday night, taking down the front of the building.

The crash into the empty building at 87 Wahconah St. occurred at about 9:50 p.m. 

Two people who were in the vehicle were taken to Berkshire Medical Center for minor injuries and the city's building inspectors were notified.

A photo posted to Facebook by a resident showed a white pickup with its front end in the building and its back end on the sidewalk.

The brick addition on the front of the building where the accident occurred was destroyed and surrounded with caution tape. It had previously been in disrepair. 


Johnny’s Beach Club has been closed for a number of years and in 2019, the owners opted to put it on the market.  The bar, which was sold to new owners in 2017, faced multiple sanctions in the past from the Licensing Board for various incidents.

In 2015, a 20-year-old man was shot in the foot at the establishment and it was forced to close at midnight.

Last month, attorney Jeffrey Lynch told the board that a plan to demolish the building to make way for a mixed-use structure was not moving forward. He said the owners were now trying to sell the liquor license. The owner is listed as 87 Wahconah St. LLC and the 1910 building and property were assessed at $176,000.

The owners were given two months to make a sale or the liquor license will be rescinded.

The accident is being investigated by Sgt. Marc Maddalena of the Traffic Division. Anyone with information is asked to call 413-448-9700.


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PHS Air and Water Quality Within Accepted Levels

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Air and water quality testing at Pittsfield High School came back within acceptable levels, and the administration is open to additional testing. 

Last week, the School Committee accepted test results on the facility that has sat on East Street for nearly 100 years.  The report was done in collaboration with Atlas Technical Consultants and the Pittsfield Water Department. 

Readings were "acceptable" in all tested locations, and there are recommendations for monitoring humidity, replacing equipment, and additional air monitoring when needed.  Some retesting needed to be done, and a couple of sink faucets were removed in the process. 

"If you want every room sampled, we can do it," Mayor Peter Marchetti said in response to Ciara Batory's concerns about air sampling in only a handful of rooms. 

"This is the report that came back, and this report does not show that children are in danger."

Limited indoor air quality readings were done in rooms 102, 103, 104, and 116 on June 31.  Air quality testing was also done two years ago. 

Humidity levels were slightly above American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers guidelines in rooms 103 and 104; monitoring and dehumidification are recommended. 

The report says that mold spores captured in rooms 103 and 104 likely originated from an indoor source.  Custodial deep cleaning was done right before samples were taken, and a retest showed levels within an acceptable range. 

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