image description — The Berkshire Carousel also began spinning again over the summer with a new patio and volunteer effort behind it. The ride has been closed since 2018.

Pittsfield 2025 Year in Review

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:37AM / Tuesday, December 30, 2025Print Story | Email Story

After the Wahconah Park Restoration Committee completed its work with a formal recommendation in 2024, news about the park was quiet while the city planned its next move.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city continued to grapple with homelessness in 2025 while seeing a glimmer of hope in upcoming supportive housing projects.

The Berkshire Carousel also began spinning again over the summer with a new patio and volunteer effort behind it. The ride has been closed since 2018.

Founders James Shulman and his wife, Jackie, offered it to the city through a conveyance and donation of property, which was met with some hesitation before it was withdrawn.

Now, a group of more than 50 volunteers learned everything from running the ride to detailing the horses, and it is run by nonprofit Berkshire Carousel Inc., with the Shulmans supporting operating costs.

Median and Camping Petitions

Conversations about homelessness resumed in Council Chambers when Mayor Peter Marchetti proposed a median standing and public camping ban to curb negative behaviors in the downtown area. Neither of the ordinances reached the finish line, and community members swarmed the public comment podium to urge the city to lead with compassion and housing-first solutions.

In February, the City Council saw Marchetti's request to add a section in the City Code for median safety and pedestrian regulation in public roadways. In March, the Ordinances and Rules subcommittee decided it was not the time to impose median safety regulations on community members and filed the petition.

"If you look at this as a public safety issue, which I will grant that this is entirely put forward as a public safety issue, there are other issues that might rate higher that need our attention more with limited resources," said former Ward 7 councilor Rhonda Serre.

The proposal even ignited a protest in Park Square.

Protesters and public commenters said the ordinance may be framed as a public safety ordinance, but actually targets poor and vulnerable community members, and that criminalizing activities such as panhandling and protesting infringes on First Amendment rights and freedom of speech.

In May, the City Council sent a proposed ordinance that bans encampments on any street, sidewalk, park, open space, waterway, or banks of a waterway to the Ordinances and Rules Subcommittee, the Homelessness Advisory Committee, and the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Task Force.

Several community members at the meeting asked city officials, "Where do unhoused people go if they are banned from camping on public property?"

It was referred back to the City Council with the removal of criminalization language, a new fine structure, and some exceptions for people sleeping in cars or escaping danger, and then put in the Board of Health’s hands.

Housing

Some housing solutions came online in 2025 amidst the discourse about housing insecurity in Pittsfield.

The city celebrated nearly 40 new supportive units earlier in December. This includes nine units at "The First" located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. A ceremony was held in the new Housing Resource Center on First Street, which was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

These units are permanent supportive housing, a model that combines affordable housing with voluntary social services.

Terrace 592 also began leasing apartments in the formerly blighted building that has seen a couple of serious fires. The housing complex includes 41 units: 25 one-bedrooms, 16 two-bedrooms, and three fully accessible units.

Pittsfield supported the effort with $750,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds and some Community Development Block Grant funds. Hearthway, formerly Berkshire Housing Development Corp., is managing the apartments and currently accepting applications.

Allegrone Construction Co. also made significant progress with its $18 million overhaul of the historic Wright Building and the Jim's House of Shoes property. The project combines the two buildings into one development, retaining the commercial storefronts on North Street and providing 35 new rental units, 28 market-rate and seven affordable.

Other housing projects materialized in 2025 as well, including a proposal for nearly 50 new units on the former site of the Polish Community Club, and more than 20 units at 24 North St., the former Berkshire County Savings Bank, as well as 30-34 North St.

Wahconah Park

After the Wahconah Park Restoration Committee completed its work with a formal recommendation in 2024, news about the park was quiet while the city planned its next move.

That changed when it was announced that the city would bring outdoor ice skating back with a temporary rink on the baseball park’s lawn. By the end of the year, Pittsfield had signed an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Pittsfield Suns baseball team.

The ice rink was originally proposed for Clapp Park, but when the project was put out to bid, the system came back $75,000 higher than the cost estimate, and the cost estimates for temporary utilities were over budget. The city received a total of $200,000 in donations from five local organizations for the effort.

The more than 100-year-old grandstand’s demolition was also approved in 2025. Planners are looking at a more compact version of the $28.4 million rebuild that the restoration committee recommended.

Last year, there was $18 million committed between grant funding and capital borrowing.

The Parks Commission recently accepted a negotiating rights agreement between the city and longtime summer collegiate baseball team, the Pittsfield Suns, that solidifies that the two will work together when the historic ballpark is renovated.

It remains in effect until the end of 2027, or when a license or lease agreement is signed. Terms will be automatically extended to the end of 2028 if it appears the facility won't be complete by then.

William Stanley Business Park

Site 9, the William Stanley Business Park parcel, formerly described to have looked like the face of the moon, was finished in early 2025, and the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority continues to prepare for new tenants.

Mill Town Capital is planning to develop a mixed-use building on the 16.5-acre site, and housing across Woodlawn Avenue on an empty parcel. About 25,000 cubic yards of concrete slabs, foundations, and pavements had to be removed and greened over.

There is also movement at the Berkshire Innovation Center as it begins a 7,000-square-foot expansion to add an Advanced Manufacturing for Advanced Optics Tech Hub and bring a new company, Myrias, to Pittsfield.

The City Council voted to support the project with a total of $1 million in Pittsfield Economic Development Funds, and the state awarded the BIC with a $5.2 million transformation grant.

Election

Voters chose new City Council members and a largely new School Committee during the municipal election in November. The council will be largely the same, as only two councilors will be new.

Earl Persip III, Peter White, Alisa Costa, and Kathleen Amuso held their seats as councilors at large. There were no races for wards 1, 3, and 4. Patrick Kavey was re-elected to Ward 5 after winning the race against Michael Grady, and Lampiasi was re-elected to Ward 6 after winning the race against Walter Powell.

Nine candidates ran to fill the six-seat committee. Ciara Batory, Sarah Muil, Daniel Elias, Katherine Yon, Heather McNeice, and Carolyn Barry were elected for two-year terms.

Katherine Nagy Moody secured representation of Ward 7 over Anthony Maffuccio, and Cameron Cunningham won the Ward 2 seat over Corey Walker. Both are new to the council.

In October, Ward 7 Councilor Rhonda Serre stepped down to work for the Pittsfield Public Schools.

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BRPC Exec Search Panel Picks Brennan

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:11AM / Thursday, March 12, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Executive Director Search Committee voted Wednesday to move both finalists to the full Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, with a recommendation that Laura Brennan was the preferred candidate.

Brennan, BRPC's assistant director, and Jason Zogg were interviewed by the committee on Saturday.

Brennan is also the economic development program manager for the BRPC. She has been in the role since July 2023 but has been with BRPC since 2017, first serving as the senior planner of economic development.

She earned her bachelor's degree from Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania and earned a graduate-level certificate in local government leadership and management from Suffolk University.

Zogg is vice president of place and transportation for Tysons Community Alliance, a nonprofit that is committed to transforming Tysons, Va., into a more attractive urban center.

He previously was the director of planning, design, and construction at Georgetown Heritage in Virginia, where he directed the reimagining of Georgetown's C&O Canal National Historic Park.

They each had 45 minutes to answer a series of questions on Saturday, and the search committee said they were both great candidates. Meeting virtually on Wednesday, the members discussed which they preferred.

"In my own personal opinion, I think both candidates could do the job and actually had different skills. But I do favor Laura, because she can hit the ground running and with the time we have now, I think she is very familiar with the organization and its strengths and weaknesses and where we go from here," said Malcolm Fick.

"I would concur with Malcolm, especially because she was the only candidate who could speak directly to what's currently going on in the Berkshires, and really had a handle on every aspect of what BRPC does, could use examples, and showed that she actually understood the demographic information when that information was clearly available on the BRPC website, and through other means, and she was the only candidate who was able to integrate our regional data, our regional demographics, into her answers, and so I find her more highly qualified," said Marybeth Mitts.

Brennan was able to discus the comprehensive regional strategy the BRPC has worked on for Berkshire County and said she made sure they included voices from all over the region instead of what she referred to as the "usual suspects."

"That was an enormous priority of ours to make sure that the outreach that we did and the input that we gathered was not from only the usual suspects, but community groups that were emerging in a lot of different corners of the region and with a lot of different missions of their own, and try to encompass and embrace as many voices as we could in that," Brennan said in her interview.

Member Sheila Irvin said she liked Brennan’s knowledge of Berkshires Tomorrow Inc.

"I think that her knowledge of the BTI, for example, was important, because that's going to play a role in the questioning that we did on funding. And she had some interesting insights, I think on how to use that," said Irvin. "And in addition, I just thought her style was important.

"She didn't need to rush into an answer. She was willing to take a minute to think about how she wanted to move on and she did."

In her interview, Brennan was asked her plans to help expand funding opportunities since the financial structure is mainly grants and the government has recently been withdrawing some interest.

"With Berkshires Tomorrow already established, I would like to see us take a closer look at that and find ways to refine its statement of purpose, to develop a mission statement, to look at ways that that mechanism can help to diversify revenue," she said. "I think, that we have over the last several years, particularly with pandemic response efforts, had our movement to the potential of Berkshire's Tomorrow as a tool that we should be using more, and so I would like to see that be a big part of how we handle the volatility of government funding."

Member John Duval said she has excelled in her role over the years.

"Laura just rose above every other candidate through her preliminary interview and her final interview, she's been the assistant executive director for maybe a couple of years and definitely had that experience, and also being part of this BRPC, over several years, have seen what she's capable of doing, what she's accomplished, and embedded in meetings and settings where I've seen how she's responded to questions, presented information, and also had to deal with some tough customers sometimes when she came up to Adams," said Duval.

"She's done an excellent job, and then in the interviews she's just calm and thought through her answers and just rose above everyone else."

Buck Donovan said he respected all those who applied and said Zogg is a strong candidate.

"I think both and all candidates were very strong, two we ended up were extremely strong," he said. "Jason, I liked his charisma and his way. I really could tell that there was some goals and targets and that's kind of my life."

The full commission will meet on Thursday, March 19, to vote on the replacement of retiring Executive Director Thomas Matuszko.

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