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Superintendent James Brosnan, right, points out items of interest to the School Committee during a tour of the new HVAC building on Thursday.
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The School Committee takes a tour of the new building after its Thursday meeting.
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The building includes a classroom as well as shops.
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Brosnan said much of the equipment will be reorganized before the state inspection next week.
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Students will practice installing the air conditioning units outside.
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Students will not be allowed in the storage area.
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Students can work on natural gas and oil-burning units.
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Students can work on installing thermostats and other components on the modular wooden units.

McCann Awaits Inspection For HVAC Building

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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The building has different types of heating and air conditioning systems for the HVAC program that started this fall. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Superintendent James Brosnan led the School Committee through the new HVAC shop building that the state Department of Education will inspect on Sept. 19.
 
"The Department of Education will come and review and approve the site to meet the criteria of Chapter 74," Brosnan said Thursday after the committee meeting. "If they approve everything officially, the program can continue. They will go through everything and make sure the building meets their requirements."
 
In 2022, McCann was awarded a $3,110,000 Skills Capital Grant to construct the 5,580-square-foot building to implement the new heating, ventilation and air conditioning program. This would include the new building on the school's campus as well as equipment for the program.
 
The school has hired staff to run the program and, currently, has been running an HVAC exploratory program for interested students. Being able to use the building is the last piece of the puzzle.
 
Brosnan brought the committee through the building's foyer, pointing out the two single unisex bathrooms underlining that the building isn't designed to hold a lot of students.
 
"This is the capacity of the building," he said adding that the individual shops' capacity is around 15 students. "This is all we will need."
 
Down the hall there are lockers and Brosnan said once students are in the building for class, they are there for the duration and their shop theory and CTE (career and technical education) classes will be held in the building's classroom.
 
He said if students need to go back to the main building, they will sign out and walk immediately to the building which will be unlocked briefly for them. 
 
"If they need to go to the nurse, guidance, the office they have access to the building the door opens right after so they can't do anything else or go any place," he said. "They can't go anywhere else they can't go anyplace so we have that structure." 
 
Brosnan walked into the first shop noting many units and workstations would be moved before the inspection.
 
The shops are outfitted with different units students can work on. Students will work on oil burning and natural gas units as well as air conditioning. Wooden moveable workstations are set up for students to work on installing thermostats, control panels and other components.
 
Shops have fume hoods for soldering and all the required safety gear and implements.
 
Brosnan walked through a storage room that will remain locked and inaccessible to students.
 
"These are locked doors and students have no access to this," he said. "This is where your mechanical and the electrical is. Supplies will be kept here, too. Students are not coming in and out of here."
 
He then proudly pointed to the wall of breaker boxes noting the building requires a lot of electricity.
 
"There is a lot of power going through this building," he said. "The electrician did a great job." 
 
Outside, students can actually install air conditioning units.
 
"They will take it out, they will assemble it, balance it, level it and get that experience moving it, connecting it," he said. "Those are all lock-out, tag-out switches so they will do the work with no electricity. The instructor takes the lock off, does the inspection. It is very safe."
 
He said the building is designed so that students can do a complete install, giving them real-world experience.
 
"If they just worked on a set station they would not get to appreciate that they have to take the unit off the vehicle, they have to move it on the location, balance it, level it, plumb it," he said. "Those are skills we want."
 
Brosnan ducked his head out to the portico facing Hodges Cross Road pointing out the hookups along the building. He joked that the portico is also where the superintendent's rocking chair will be placed.

Tags: HVAC,   McCann,   vocational program,   

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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