NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — U.S. Sen. Edward Markey pledged his support as the city and its partners embark on an ambitious plan of refashioning the downtown, the Hoosic River, the bike path and the connections to the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

"A vision without funding, that's an hallucination," said the state's junior senator as he got the rundown on the studies underway during a tour of Mass MoCA on Thursday. 

 

North Adams and MoCA received a $750,000 grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program for a study focused on the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge.

 

The Hoosic River Revival and the city are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a  $3 million, three-year engineering and feasibility study for the 70-year-old flood control system.

 

And the North Adams Adventure Trail is in the works to run a bike path from Williamstown through the downtown. 

 

"There's a really unique moment in all these projects converging in North Adams and on the Mass MoCA campus and to really think creatively about how to combine those things to create a force multiplier between those different projects  rather than piecemeal," said Andy Schlatter, director of facilities and campus planning, as he pointed out areas of interest on a model of the museum's campus.

 

Steve Jenks, vice chair of the Mass MoCA board, likened it to the Big Dig that transformed the center of Boston into in green space.