NORTH ADAMS ARTICLES, PAGE ONE

Here is a collection of my articles about North Adams, most of which appeared in Bytes From The Bean, a Web and newspaper column I wrote from 1999 to 2004. They are listed in order from oldest to newest.

My routine is always the same. I am awake at 4:30 a.m. and in my car by 5:15. With my bottle of Nantucket Nectars Iced Tea and my favorite CD (Revival, by Gillian Welch), I head up Route 8, cross the Conn/Mass line by 6:00, and watch the sky brighten over the quiet rural villages of Otis, Becket, and Hinsdale.

"Let me tell you something about Mass MoCA. The entire area will change. Some say it will be two years, some say it will be three, but I’m going a bit further. I think it’s going to be four or five years. It will benefit North Adams, Adams, Pittsfield, Troy, and Albany. Mass MoCA is going to benefit the entire area."

The first time I traveled to North Adams to give it a serious look, I took a walk around town and happened upon a door that led up to some apartments. I walked in. Why? I was curious. My curiosity was rewarded. I immediately noticed a skylight that illuminates the landing at the top of the second staircase.

"When I was a teenager, we had three dance places that we could go to: the Blue Haven, the YMCA, which was still in town on Summer Street, and the dance hall on Main Street where the bowling alley was. That was up over Cutting’s Department Store."

"My father’s shoe store was called Siciliano’s Climax Bootery. When I got out of high school, a thought came into his mind that this was such a sweet area, that he ought to go into the ice cream business."

"There's new life in the city, but there's still a struggle on the street."

As the last band made the turn and disappeared down Ashland Street, I could almost feel the chill of an oncoming winter lurking behind the mountains. Once again, the Fall Foliage Parade brings the summer to an abrupt end.

The end of Daylight Savings Time is a welcome change for me. When I left my house for North Adams at 6:00 a.m. on Veterans Day, the sun was on its way up behind me, and I could once again see the mountains and the strange orange glow on the bare trees. I had to stop and take a few pictures.

The word around town lately is that all the houses on River Street from Houghton to Brown may be demolished within a year or two to make way for hotels, motels and other commercial ventures.

For my new book, Disappearing Into North Adams, I have been pouring over the documents for the south side urban renewal project that took place from 1968 to 1974. I have learned a lot, but it has not been a happy experience.

Several weeks ago, a most welcome announcement was made. That row of beautiful but deteriorating houses on River Street, across from Mass MoCA, will be saved and turned into an inn.

When I discovered North Adams, I started taking lots of pictures. I saw beauty in the old mills, the railroad bridges, even the multi-colored walls hidden in the alleys behind the buildings on Main Street.

The recent warm weather has once again allowed me to comfortably walk around aimlessly with my camera and find new subjects to photograph. With the trees still bare, it’s a perfect time of the year.

On May 16, the Bean will be four years old. When I visited North Adams for the first time in July of 1996, I saw potential up every hill, down every street, and around every corner, but I didn’t run into very many persons who seemed to recognize it. One of those who apparently did was Audrey Witter.

"Four weeks into my job (January 1991), we got a fax from Governor Weld. Joe and Jennifer were out of town. It basically said that Mass MoCA was finished, and we could pack our bags."

"Success can be a dangerous thing. Fortunately, I haven’t had to deal with it."

Some people think that big money is all a community needs to grow and prosper. Unfortunately, big money without good ideas serves to enrich only those who already have big money. When you have good ideas first, big money follows them.

"All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening."

I was talking with my friend Eric Buddington the other day at the Bean. The subject turned to what is often called street art. Eric said he likes to create spontaneous art in public places.