Pittsfield Commission OKs Former CYC Demolition
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Against wishes for preservation, the former Catholic Youth Center is set to be demolished.
The Historical Commission begrudgingly withdrew a one-year demolition delay on the Melville Street property, recognizing that the owners were unwilling to save or sell it.
"Very tough vote," Chair John Dickson said during the Monday meeting.
The Boys and Girls Club of the Berkshires plans to demolish the CYC to make way for an expanded playground for its child-care program. The nonprofit purchased the abutting property in 2015 and it has reportedly been out of use since at least 2012.
While the building could be structurally saved, club officials say it would be a multimillion-dollar endeavor and they are not willing to put housing in the space because they feel it would pose a risk to children in their programs.
CEO Joseph McGovern said the board has decided not to put housing next to the front door of the club.
"I wouldn't call the neighborhood unsafe. It definitely has challenges. It's been a challenge making sure that our kids are safe. The number one thing that we do for kids here is make sure that they are safe," he said.
"The neighborhood is mostly, if not all, low-income housing and we've had a tremendous amount of, influx of homeless individuals in the neighborhood behind the railroad tracks, where our playground currently is so we have had some challenges."
Carol Nichols, the only commissioner who upheld her vote to delay demolition, said she saw a NIMBY (not in my back yard) element to this stance. She recognized that affordable housing is a "crying need" in Pittsfield.
Michael Hoffman, a Boys and Girls Club board member, had said housing could result in a person sitting on the front steps with a beer and a cigarette near where 4-year-olds walk by.
"I understand there is a NIMBY component here, but again, I don't think it's necessarily going to be a disaster if it was housing," Nichols said.
"I don't think the challenge would be so great that the children would be put at such serious risk but I know those are your concerns."
Commissioner Matthew Herzberg said the demolition delay was likely to result in a yearlong staring contest before the building was taken down. He is disheartened by this, "a little resentful of the kind of position going forward," and joined the board in not fully agreeing with the position on housing.
On the other hand, he said delaying it would do no favors.
"Given a list of bad choices, I'd rather let the kids have their playground. I am concerned about the nature of the Boys and Girls Club, what it's going to look like, how it's going to feel on the block once the CYC comes down," he said.
"I think, frankly, it's going to be pretty ugly but OK, to me, there's just no benefit that I can see. I mean, we have an applicant who says 'We're done. We're not going to do anything.' Feels like a bit of a shakedown. Like there is no benefit, from my perspective, in dragging this out."
Hoffman said they began looking into the building's future use in 2017 and "spent a lot of time trying to find ways to enhance our ownership of the CYC and continue with what we had."
"I understand exactly what you're saying but don't think we're not wanting to consider options," he said. "We've been considering for four or five years and we had a plan in 2017 that worked. It just doesn't work anymore."
Both of the club's representatives shared sentiments about the former CYC and said this wasn't a light decision. If the demo delay goes in, demolition would be pushed to October 2025 and the building would be demolished in spring 2026.
"We truly appreciate what the dilemma is here and I don't think either way any of us wanted to be in this situation and any of us want to move forward in a way that we don't feel comfortable," McGovern said.
"We've tried to follow the process that you guys have laid out for us and we put our heart and soul into that process and we also understand that you have a job to do so whatever direction it goes in, it's going to go in. We're going to continue to try to work with you as much as we possibly can within the realm of what we feel is safe for our kids."
In August, the panel issued a one-year demolition delay and hoped that the owners would come back with another plan. The more than 75-year-old building is on the commission's list of endangered properties.
In the meantime, commissioners had a tour of the building where they saw it needed a significant amount of work.
"It's a beautiful facade and you all have done a good job maintaining that facade so that it is attractive and it fits well with the rest of your building," Dickson acknowledged.
Tags: boys and girls club, demolition, historic buildings, historical commission,
