image description — Wahconah Park's grandstand is gone and the lot leveled for future construction.

Wahconah Park Grandstand Leveled, Close to Shovel-Ready

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:01PM / Friday, October 23, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wahconah Park is expected to be shovel-ready next month, with just a couple of outstanding permits remaining.

The 75-plus-year-old grandstand was deemed unsafe in 2022 and demolished at the end of the summer. Now, the space where the large structure stood has been leveled, though some accessory buildings, such as the dugouts, remain.

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath reported that the site, which "looks a lot different," will be shovel-ready in mid-November. From there, the city needs to do financial planning and sourcing.

"Again, I sound like a broken record, but it becomes a matter of identifying the funding strategy that will advance the project," McGrath told the Parks Commission on Tuesday.

In the meantime, the city hopes to return baseball to the site in 2027.

Planners determined that starting from square one is the best option with the grandstand; a $15 million design was last on the table.

McGrath reported that all but two permits approved through the Community Development Board and Zoning Board of Appeals remain. One relates to the use because stadiums are not zoned by-right in that area; Wahconah Park is considered "non-conforming" or "pre-existing," and a parking spot waiver.

He does not foresee the boards denying these permits.

"Those two approvals will be sought in the coming weeks through those two boards, so certainly by mid-November, in a month from now, we will have everything shovel-ready with Wahconah Park, ready to go," he said.

The Conservation Commission issued 36 orders of conditions for the reconstruction of the ballpark in September, and on Thursday, the commission issued a complete certificate of compliance for the grandstand demolition.

"The grandstand has been removed. The site has been stabilized," James Scalise of SK Design reported.

"… We still have an open notice of intent and order of conditions on the property. If you have any concerns or questions, I can incorporate that work moving forward."

Commissioners had no questions.

Tags: parks commission, Wahconah Park,

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Pittsfield's This and That Sports Celebrating Six Years

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:34PM / Friday, October 23, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — This and That Sports is celebrating its sixth birthday with a party.

Owner Reggie Davis opened the collectables and card store at 128 Fenn St., pursuing a hobby he has had since he was a teenager.

He started with small card shows and later collected a broad range of items, including sports memorabilia, autographs, Beanie Babies, and Matchbox cars.

"It's been a long time, and it's not just cards. I mean, I collect everything. I love sports memorabilia, autographs," he said.

Originally from Great Barrington, he moved to Connecticut and operated a collectibles store there from 2004 to 2014 before moving back to Berkshire County. He worked for FedEx before opening the new store in 2020.

For the first six months, he balanced the store with his career with FedEx, with help from his wife, Crystal, who worked around her own overnight hospital shifts. He left FedEx to focus on the store full time and works with his son, Bret.

He said it is more than a job and he is happy to open his doors to the collecting community.

"It's like something that I looked at as a pleasure business. It wasn't about the money. It was more like bringing the collecting part of the hobby to Berkshire County," he said.

Davis said he misses live baseball in Pittsfield, recalling Pittsfield Mets games. He said collecting brings him closer to that feeling of watching a local team when he was younger.

"I've always remembered growing up as a kid of the Pittsfield Mets and then the Pittsfield Suns and baseball being here and I was a big sports person, I played a lot of sports, and it's kind of sad and I think I want to continue the sports collecting part, the hobby. You can't go to a baseball game here unless it's like a high school game. So it's kind of continuing the collecting part of the hobby without the actual sports being here," he said.

Davis said the store's customers have become friends. He added that he likes to see the younger generation open packs of cards.

"The amazing part about it is not just the kids, but the customers. Like, I have customers that've been coming in for four, five, six [years] even new ones that just started coming in like a month ago," he said. "We've been out to dinner with these people. We travel. Customers have become friends, even close friends, which is nice."

He said one of the most challenging parts of the business has been to keep everything in stock especially with the surge in popularity of Pokemon cards.

"We have people that stop in all the time, and they're like wow you got a great selection of Pokemon, you have a big selection, and I think that's you know we have distribution for sports and Pokemon, but it sells so quick," he said. "I think the hardest thing is to be able to keep product on the shelf."

Not only does he sell collectibles, but he also purchased a card grading company called Revolutionary Card Grading that he opened next door. The company, based in Georgia, produces specialized color-matched designs but card grading and customer submissions are now handled locally since taking full ownership of the company last year.

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