Built in the mid-19th century, Springside House sits on a promontory above downtown Pittsfield in the park of the same name, the city’s largest. Until 2007, it housed the city’s parks department before it was closed due to disrepair. Since then, it’s been vacant. Ahead of next week’s city council meeting, Mayor Linda Tyer held a closed-door press conference Tuesday to reveal a possible path forward for the structure.
“The Springside House and the restoration of this historic home has been long part of the city's master plan, and we have identified it as an important historic gem in the city of Pittsfield and have already spent $1.5 million on exterior repairs," she said. "And we are really pleased to tell you that we received a $500,000 Save America's Treasures grant. With the support of Senator [Ed] Markey and Senator [Elizabeth] Warren, we received this really important grant award. And the grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match. And so, our proposal is to submit a request to the city council for a $500,000 appropriation from free cash.”
Rehearsing her pitch to a city council often skeptical of spending, Tyer said using Pittsfield’s rainy-day funds to secure the grant would save taxpayers money in the long run that a borrowing order might incur.
“This is a historic home, it's the oldest home in the city of Pittsfield, it is on the National Register of Historic Places," said the mayor. "It is a gem in the massive parks property that we that we manage here in the city of Pittsfield. There is great potential for that house to be the cornerstone for Springside Park. So, I would say that this is something of great value, historically to the community, and for the future use of the house and Springside Park. So, there is a lot of value in this request.”
Even if Tyer manages to secure the half-million-dollar federal grant, it’s still a long walk to Springside House being functional.
“The estimates for the full interior renovations, which, when we submitted our request to Senator Markey and Senator Warren, was $3.5 million," she said. "So, we have a ways to go. But this is going to get us quite a quite a ways down the road.”
WAMC asked Tyer where the remaining $2.5 million might come from to finish work on the property.
“We don't know yet," she admitted. "We have been, for all these years, pulling together this jigsaw puzzle of funding. So, we don't have a plan for the next two and a half million, but we are committed to finding it just as we have been throughout this whole process.”
Park, Open Space and Natural Resource Program Manager James McGrath explained some of the hurdles Pittsfield has to overcome to successfully restore the building.
“The Springside House is under a preservation restriction which, there are certain categories of projects which require Mass Historic Commission review and approval," he explained. "And certainly, major interior renovation is the type of project that would require their involvement. So, we'll also be seeking a historic preservation architect, someone who does this kind of work and who understands historic homes and historic homes in New England. So that will be part of our bidding package.”
Pittsfield last held community forums on potential uses for Springside House in 2007.
“We heard that nature education and interpretation was really a critical part of what folks like to see," said McGrath. "So, with so many rooms up at the Springside House, there really is an opportunity to do that, whether it's displays, or sort of museum quality exhibits set within the house. But there's also, would appear to be enough room for a lot of these environmental organizations and park stewardship organizations that we work with regularly at Springside, for them to have some space to operate out of, so. There's a real combination of opportunities, and over the coming year or so will really help define what those could be.”
McGrath says some concepts are already baked into the house’s unrealized future.
“There'll be community space, there will be space for historic interpretation and to really tell that story of the Pittsfield park system and Springside Park," he said. "And we really see this Springside House as the front door of the park. It's where you'll begin your visits. It's where you may attend some community meetings. And it's really an opportunity to see this city celebrate an important historic asset that is set in just an amazing, wonderful ecosystem that is Springside Park.”
The Save America's Treasures grant, should Pittsfield secure it with matching funding, expires in fall 2025. The city estimates that Springside House would be fully open to the public within six to eight years. Tyer will make her pitch to the city council at its next meeting February 14th.
