NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Police Department expects to be moving into its temporary quarters next month.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday that the renovations at the former juvenile are "about 95 percent complete" and that the furniture will be arriving this week.
"Our hope is to have all the communications and everything run by March 1, but I will say that's a soft date," she said. "We're doing a little bit of a dance with Verizon right now. But we're hoping very soon that we could at least take all of you through."
The relocation is a short-term solution to the deficiencies of the 68-year-old public safety building, including lack of space and access, and general deterioration.
The structure is also under a U.S. Department of Justice order dating back to a 2010 audit of the city's compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act that rose from a complaint about the police station. The city spent more than $1.2 million making upgrades but little of that went to the public safety building, which city officials have expected to completely replace.
The police union had advocated for the Berkshire Plaza space two years ago as a meeting their needs. The location is central to downtown, on one level and accessible, has holding cells and a sally port to allow safe and discrete transfer of those being detained.
Macksey had informed the council in December that she had signed a two-year lease with owner Scarafoni & Associates with an option for a third.
What won't be moving over for now is dispatch services.
"We are in the process of applying for a 911 equipment grant, which not only includes equipment but also the infrastructure improvements that we really need to be done no matter where we are," the mayor said. "Our equipment will not survive a move. So our thought is more to keep dispatching where it is for the moment."
She said the grant application is due in the next month or so and the city will be notified of any awards in July. The hope is to have dispatch set up in the new location with all new equipment by August.
Once the temporary headquarters are cleaned up, she said the councilors will be invited on a tour.
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Mass MoCA Commission Approves Mental Health Practices as Tenants
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Mass MoCA Commission on Thursday approved three new tenants for Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Kimma Stark, project manager at the museum, gave the commission the rundown on each of the new tenants.
Eric Beeman is a licensed mental health counselor who uses art in his therapy. He holds a master's degree in expressive arts and arts therapy from Lesley University, where he's also taught graduate-level practices and principles of expressive art therapy.
He integrates creative arts based interventions into his clinical work including drawing painting, poetry, writing, brief drama and roleplay, movement and sound. Beeman works one-on-one and with small groups and said he mostly works with adults.
He will be operating as Berkshires Expressive Arts Therapy on the third floor of Building 1.
Beeman said Stark has been very helpful. "It's different than just renting a space and she's been very helpful and personable and accessible," he said.
Mary Wilkes, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, works with individuals with severe mental illness, with attachment and relationship issues and needing support navigating major life transitions. She works with teenagers, college and students and adults.
Cory Ahonen, chief engagement officer for the state's Executive Office of Veterans Services, served his country in the Air Force from 2008 to 2014 as a staff sergeant. click for more
The Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies Inc. (BAAMS) has recently garnered significant support from the family of the late Edward J. Noel Jr. click for more
But not enough for Finance Committee member Andrew Fitch, who voted against the compensation and classification plan because it did not include a city planner.
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The Corps of Engineers is in the midst of a three-year, $3 million study of the aging concrete flood chutes that control the passage of the river through the city.
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This weekend, the Berkshires and surrounding areas will have a variety of events, including concerts, comedy, farmers' markets, and more.
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