Pittsfield's Ward 2 Councilor Petitions to Explore Police Station at Morningside
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Cunningham wants the city to explore turning Morningside Community School, which will not reopen in the fall, into a police station.
He announced on social media that he will file a petition requesting the city to study converting the Morningside Community School building into a new Pittsfield Police Department headquarters and community resource hub.
"Morningside families deserve to feel comfortable and safe in their neighborhood. Converting the building into a police headquarters at 100 Burbank Street could put an integrated, visible public safety presence in the heart of a neighborhood that has asked for an end to this pattern of violence, he wrote.
"Combined with youth programming, violence prevention resources, and community services in the same building, this is the kind of structural change that Morningside needs. The building must not be allowed to sit vacant deteriorating. It's time to use it to make Morningside safer.
Cunningham's petition, which he posted, asks that Pittsfield conduct a feasibility study on the proposal, considering at minimum, considering the building's physical condition and cost of necessary rehabilitation, an estimated cost of relocating the Pittsfield Police Department, opportunities for the co-location of community services, available funding mechanisms to offset costs, and a recommended timeline.
The pattern of violence references a deadly shooting near Morningside last week.
Police are seeking an "armed and dangerous suspect," identified as Terry Martizna, for the murder of 29-year-old Pittsfield resident Justin Crawford.
Crawford was one of two individuals who were shot on Thursday, June 18, near the intersection of Pleasure Avenue and Tyler Street in Pittsfield. The second person, who has not been identified, was treated for a non-life-threatening injury at Berkshire Medical Center.
Cunningham told NewsChannel 13 that the upward trend of violence in his ward over the past weeks and months is unacceptable and needs to stop. The school's property is reportedly less than 200 feet from where the incident occurred.
Earlier this year, the School Committee voted to retire Morningside at the end of the academic year, citing the school's lack of classroom walls as the most significant obstacle, creating a difficult, noisy learning environment that is reflected in its accountability score.
Students will be reassigned to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams elementary schools, as laid out in an interactive map released by the Pittsfield Public Schools.
Pittsfield, along with many other Berkshire communities, has cited issues with outdated public safety facilities; namely, the police station on Allen Street. During conversations about the closure of Morningside, there was support for turning it into a community center rather than a police station, which Mayor Peter Marchetti confirmed is one of the options for the building.
The 1939 building's condition has been a talking point for years, and a feasibility study done in 2014 recommended a facility three times its current size and noted the lack of meeting and classroom space, appropriate processing facilities, and holding cells.
A $55 million price tag was estimated on the proposed project in 2022.
Tags: Morningside, police station,
