Blackinton Block Springs Back To Life In A Big Way In North Adams

12:00AM / Monday, March 19, 2001Print Story | Email Story

The view of MASS MoCA across Route 2 from the first of nine townhouse apartments in the Blackinton Block in downtown North Adams could be called striking. One might venture that the success of MASS MoCA and the businesses on its campus have led an economic rebirth which made the renovation of these long-vacant apartments in a historic block on Holden Street a feasible project. David Carver, managing partner of Scarafoni Associates, showed reporters and photographers an almost-finished, two-story townhouse apartment March 12. He was clearly enthused both about the project and of the history of the site. The concept for the project began five years ago as part of a master plan for the entire downtown created by Downtown Development, Inc. The townhouse apartments have central air conditioning and include a laundry room, gas cooking, and washer and dryer hookups, as well as hookups for telephones and cable T.V. Each townhouse will have a metal balcony, which have not been installed yet. The townhouse shown had an original fireplace which will be preserved for decorative purposes only. So far, four of the nine townhouse apartments are under lease. The monthly lease rate will be $1,492 per month. The apartment Carver showed reporters will be completed in March, with the next in April, May, and June â€” one per month. â€œIâ€™ve done some research on what the rents are just in Williamstown and South County. And even though apartments like this donâ€™t exist, when you do find something thatâ€™s even close, or comparable, our rents are not out of line at all,â€ Carver said. â€œAs a matter of fact, Iâ€™ve brought some people through from other parts of the county and out of state, and they walk through and say: â€˜how can you do it so cheap?â€™ â€ â€œAnd Iâ€™ve got other people who say to me exactly the opposite: â€˜what are you, some kind of nut. You canâ€™t rent apartments for that much money,â€™â€ Carver said. Scarafoni Associates has been told that these units would rent for about $4,000 per month in large metropolitan areas. In a prepared statement, Scarafoni Associates indicated that they are pleased with the early marketing response to the project and the first pioneering interest from the initial tenants. â€œWe are also hopeful that we will receive interest in these units from local companies who may have a need for high-quality and conveniently located housing for traveling executives consulting with their companies on a regular basis,â€ the statement says. Carver said he gave the first tenants a slight break on the rent because of their pioneering commitment to the project. He declined to say who the new tenants would be. Preserving historic detail â€œWe tried to keep as much of the historic detail as possible,â€ Carver said, noting that the facility has new plumbing, new electric, and new windows. â€œThe floors are brand new.â€ â€œThese are the original outside walls. This is the original trim, but the windows are new,â€ he said. â€œBecause we have all-new doors and trim, we had Goodrich in Pittsfield manufacture trim that mimics this trim. Itâ€™s not exactly the same, but itâ€™s very, very close. On the outside walls itâ€™s the original woodwork, on the inside it was made to match.â€ â€œThese were nine townhouses â€” this is exactly what was here in 1873. The floor plan was different, but the size is identical,â€ he said. â€œI assume wealthy people lived in the downtown before automobiles and this was a wealthy industrial city at the time,â€ Carver said. â€œSo I assume they had their horse and buggies right out back in barns that used to be out there.â€ Before the renovation, the townhouses had been divided into two apartments each, one upstairs and one downstairs, for a total of 18. â€œYouâ€™ve seen the housing thatâ€™s fallen into disrepair over the last 100 years, and this was no different,â€ Carver said. Daniel Connerton, chairman of the North Adams Historical Commission, came along on the tour and said Carver had been keeping him updated on the project since it started. Carver said the project to remove the back part of Newberryâ€™s as part of the North Adams Financial Center nearby will create nighttime parking for the townhouses and allow for a new transformer to be located that will provide more power to the building and allow the rest of the townhouses to be renovated. He said that if the economy remains good, Scarafoni will start to renovate apartments at 69 Main Street, this will result in about 15 units. Beneath the nine townhouse apartments on the second and third floors of the Blackinton Block are nine storefronts, facing Holden Street. Two new restaurants will be going into storefronts in the spring; four more storefronts are available for stores or restaurants, though they are temporarily being used for other purposes.

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McCann Recognizes Superintendent Award Recipient

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:32PM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Landon LeClair and Superintendent James Brosnan with Landon's parents Eric and Susan LeClair, who is a teacher at McCann.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Superintendent's Award has been presented to Landon LeClair, a senior in McCann Technical School's advanced manufacturing course.

The presentation was made last Thursday by Superintendent Jame Brosnan after Principal Justin Kratz read from teachers' letters extolling LeClair's school work, leadership and dedication.

"He's become somewhat legendary at the Fall State Leadership Conference for trying to be a leader at his dinner table, getting an entire plate of cookies for him and all his friends," read Kratz to chuckles from the School Committee. "Landon was always a dedicated student and a quiet leader who cared about mastering the content."

LeClair was also recognized for his participation on the school's golf team and for mentoring younger teammates.

"Landon jumped in tutoring the student so thoroughly that the freshman was able to demonstrate proficiency on an assessment despite the missed class time for golf matches," read Kratz.

The principal noted that the school also received feedback from LeClair's co-op employer, who rated him with all fours.

"This week, we sent Landon to our other machine shop to help load and run parts in the CNC mill," his employer wrote to the school. LeClair was so competent the supervisor advised the central shop might not get him back.

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