Berkshire Communities Awarded Dam Infrastucture Grants

Print Story | Email Story
BOSTON?—The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced over $13.9 million in grants to support the repair of dams and coastal infrastructure across Massachusetts. The funding, provided through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs' (EEA) Dam and Seawall program, will help 23 municipalities and nonprofit organizations to address critical repairs and safely remove outdated structures in their communities. 
  • Egremont was awarded $900,000 for the Prospect Lake Dam Repair
  • Adams was awarded $94,125 for a Fisk Brook Dam Removal Feasibility Study
  • Hinsdale was awarded $115,500 for a Belmont Dam Gatehouse Replacement Plan 
The Dam and Seawall program focuses on enhancing the safety and functionality of essential infrastructure, which protects residents and supports local economies. Prioritizing repairs and removals will help mitigate risks associated with severe weather events and rising sea levels. 
 
"Last year was another reminder of how crucial it is to maintain our dams and seawalls—they are essential to our
safety and infrastructure. That's why I allocated an additional $1 million for dam safety technical assistance in my budget,"?said Governor Maura Healey.?"With the grants we're announcing today, we are empowering municipalities to strengthen their resilience and confidently prepare for whatever storms may come their way." 
 
By restoring and removing aging infrastructure, public safety will improve, and local ecosystems will be protected. This will also increase resilience in coastal areas. The grants will fund fourteen design and permitting projects and nine construction projects to advance designs and permits as well as to construct the projects. Since the program began in 2013, the Dam and Seawall Program has provided $134 million in grants and loans to address deficient dams, seawalls, and levees with these new grants. 
 
 

Tags: grants,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

King and Confidantes Debate Hope and Change in 'American Five'

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Fiction and fact meld in the regional premiere of "The American Five," now playing at the Larry Vaber Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. 
 
The play takes a fictionalized look at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his four closest confidants in the months leading up to the famed March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The quintet, through differing opinions, animated arguments, constant threats of violence and a late-night meal featuring challah bread and wine, become a family as they prepare for the history-making march that galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
 
Most of us know the King saga. It's the second act in which playwright Chess Jakobs' genius shines. Prejudice runs rampant here: Is Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer from New York who shows up in Montgomery to join the fight for racial equality and "to repair the world," viewed as white? Jewish? Both? And march strategist and organizer Bayard Rustin experiences his own fight for civil rights because of his homosexuality. Here, Jakob explores prejudice on different levels.
 
The cast is top-notch with many emotional highs. As King, Rashun Carter (who would look more like his character if he had a full moustache) and Sydney Elisabeth (as Coretta Scott King) are at their best during a scene that bounces between humor and poignancy. 
 
She questions her husband about his meeting with President John F. Kennedy; he is angry and refuses to discuss it. "There is no 'you' out there, without a 'me,' in here," she says, leading King to agree that because of her self-worth and unwavering devotion to him, she is "Coretta Scott Queen."
 
As Clarence Jones, King's personal counsel, Brett Diggs has assurance and dignity; Harry Smith's portrayal of lawyer Stanley Levison, is nothing short of extraordinary. Destan Owens' performance as gay Bayard Rustin is the play's most outstanding performance as he defends his relations with men: "You don't get to judge me!" he tells King. "I'm just trying to find love."
 
"The American Five" is tightly directed by Gerry McIntyre; the historic period projections and footage/designed by Alex Hill remind people that there are dreams, such as hope and change, that are still being fought.
 
View Full Story

More South Berkshire Stories