Louise Levy To Speak At Ventfort Hall

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LENOX, Mass. – Louise Levy, a lifelong student of American history, will talk about games and activities that brought people together in the Gilded Age at Ventfort Hall on Tuesday, July 1 at 4 pm.

Instead of our traditional afternoon tea a dessert tea will follow along with an ice cream social.

According to a press release:

What did people do for entertainment in the age before TV and cell phones? How did advancements in technology influence the way the leisure class spent their leisure time? Let’s take a look, literally, through the lens of time at stereographs, sports, and parlor games enjoyed by families like the Morgans as well as their working class neighbors. Please join us for an afternoon of community and camaraderie, Gilded Age style, inspired by objects in the Ventfort Hall Museum collection.

Louise Levy is a graduate of Syracuse University with a BA in Art History. She grew up in New Jersey and has made the northwest corner of Connecticut her home for over 30 years. Louise worked as a tour guide at Chesterwood in Stockbridge for 15 years, giving tours and specialty talks ranging from cemetery symbolism to the civil rights movement. She joined the staff at Ventfort Hall over two years ago where she gives lectures on American art and history.

Tickets are $45. Members receive a discount code for $5 off all ticket prices. Students 22 and under are $22. Ticket pricing includes access to the mansion throughout the day of this event from 10 am to 4 pm.

Reservations are strongly encouraged as seats are limited. Walk-ins accommodated as space allows. For reservations visit https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or call  (413) 637-3206. Note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker St. in Lenox.


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Housing Planned for Former St. Joe's High School

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Nearly a decade after the facility last operated as a high school, the former Saint Joseph's is staged for new life as housing. 

Last week, the Community Development Board determined that subdivision approval was not required for a plan of land the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield submitted for 22 Maplewood Ave.

CT Management Group is under contract to purchase the property for conversion into market-rate housing, developer David Carver confirmed on Monday when contacted by iBerkshires. The closing date and related matters are in process. 

In 2017, the then 120-year-old St. Joseph Central High School ceased operations. After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it sheltered people without homes before The Pearl, a 40-bed downtown shelter, was finished a few years ago. 

Brian Koczela of BEK Associates, who submitted the plan on behalf of the diocese, explained to the board that the diocese is conveying out the former St. Joseph's High School. (The bishop is listed as owner on deeds on behalf of the church.)

The high school is comprised of four parcels with different owner in the middle, he said, and they need to be combined for the conveyance. This refers to the transfer and assignment of a property right or interest from one individual or entity to another. 

"At the very southerly end, at the back of the high school, there's a 66-foot-wide strip, I believe, and that strip goes all the way from North Street to Maplewood, and it includes a rectory," Koczela explained.  

"In essence, what we're really doing is just separating out that small parcel from the rectory."

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