The land in question is on the former campus of General Electric, the corporate giant that once employed thousands in Pittsfield over nearly a century of operating factories on the city’s east side. Downsizing and closures beginning in the late 80s plunged Pittsfield into an economic downturn that the community is still recovering from today. GE’s legacy also includes the pollution of the Housatonic River – Berkshire County’s major waterway – that has been only marginally addressed in the decades since.
“This particular parcel, this 16-acre site, has been a real blight and an eyesore. Really, I would describe it as a scar in the heart of our city. And for a very long time, there has been hope that someone would come and take up the whole 16 acres and do some sort of big development project there," said Mayor Linda Tyer. “Over time, though, we realized that that was not a realistic expectation. So, a couple of years ago, we undertook a master planning process for the parcel, and ultimately decided that we would subdivide the parcel into four smaller parcels, that we would install the utilities and the roadways, and we would green the parcels- The goal being to make the parcels more marketable for development.”
With state funding and grants in hand, Pittsfield was still short of the almost $11 million needed to rehabilitate the desolate acres of cracked concrete known as Site 9. Now, Tyer says three funding sources have come through to close the remaining gap.
“$400,000 will come from the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority foundation fund, $1.3 million is coming from the GE landscaping fund, and $4.5 million from the American Rescue Plan,” she said.
It’s a sizeable allocation from the roughly $40 million Pittsfield received from ARPA – the almost $2 trillion federal pandemic relief bill signed by President Biden in March 2021.
“We really identified two categories that really fit this project," explained the mayor. "First, it fits the category of economic development and economic recovery post-pandemic, but it also fits the category of connecting to the Morningside neighborhood. As you know, this parcel is literally one block, if that, from one of Pittsfield’s most historic neighborhoods. Morningside is identified as a neighborhood, qualified census tract neighborhood of as part of the American Rescue Plan. So, we feel that this is an environmental justice project. This is a project to improve the quality of life for Morningside, and as development occurs, it also provides job opportunities for people who live in the Morningside neighborhood.”
A 2019 public health study showed that Morningside residents had the lowest life expectancy in Berkshire County, which already trails the rest of the state in health outcomes.
As far as how the city goes about attracting developers to Site 9 once it’s restored, Tyer says Pittsfield is ready to be flexible.
“If we have a developer that needs all four parcels, then that's something that we could entertain," she said. "But if we have one developer that only needs four acres, we can also accommodate that. That's the beauty of the flexibility with the plan that we're putting in place. I will say one thing, there's a small parcel that abuts Woodlawn Avenue that will stay at green space. It will remain green with landscaping. And then the other parcels which are much larger will be available for development.”
Tyer is chuffed about how Pittsfield arrived at the long-sought after renewal of one of the most visible reminders of the city’s tortured industrial past.
“It truly is one of the finest collaborations that I have experienced in my time in office, because we literally have tapped into every resource, every expert, every funding mechanism available to us from the state down to the locals, to private investment,” she told WAMC.
The work is set to begin this year.
“At this point, with all of this in place, we anticipate going out to bid this spring with construction starting this summer,” said the mayor.
Tyer announced Friday that she will not seek a third four-year term in this year’s municipal election.
