MCLA, an anchor institution in the city, saw the potential to become the main tenant of the theater and adjoining mixed-use space through its Fine and Performing Arts Department (including a growing major in Arts Administration). Since the building is owned by the city, it allowed the team to pursue public subsidies for the theater’s redevelopment. The primary lead on the project was MASS MoCA, which worked closely with the City of North Adams and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). ![]() ![]() “Any major impact downtown will have ripple effects- the town is small enough,” said Benjamin. With a vibrant downtown, employers in the retail and tourism sectors would be more attracted to the area and could help catalyze other businesses and attract future residents. “The project is about enlivening the downtown for everyone and this will help to create economic development for everyone as well,” said Blair Benjamin, Director of Real Estate and Community Development at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation. VISION:Īt the heart of the project was the city's desire to build the core of downtown and strengthen the tax base through building collaborative partnerships with other area organizations. They decided that the building needed to be activated with additional uses and programming. There were many other theater venues in the area, including one in Pittsfield, 30 minutes away, and the existing performance venues at MASS MoCA. At the same time, they realized that it was not sustainable as a typical arts-presenting theater. Community leaders identified the Mohawk Theater as a potential anchor. With many vacant or underutilized properties, the downtown area was in need of investment and a major anchor point that would help draw people in. These challenges are made all the more difficult when population decline is taken into account. However, as these funds have been cut for most municipalities, the city is challenged to find new ways to generate revenue, particularly in light of its low tax base and lower real estate values. North Adams has historically been dependent on state aid. The arts, as a total percentage of employment, is small, though city officials see it as a strategic sector to develop both for what it can do for the community and the overall economy. Today, the health care and education sectors are the largest employers. Besides some printing and other small manufacturing companies that remain, those industries have long since gone. North Adams used to be a one-company town, first as a center of the textile industry and later as a center of electronics manufacturing for the Sprague Electric Company there were thousands of jobs based in the city. Without a critical mass of shops or attactions to draw people to Main Street, museum goers have tended not to leave the MASS MoCA campus for a two-minute walk into town. With the construction of MASS MoCA in a former manufacturing space nearby, the city is reinventing itself as a destination and as a home for the arts and artists with affordable housing and live/work spaces. As a former mill town, North Adams was never much of a draw with summer visitors seeking music and the outdoors. Until twenty years ago, North Adams was an outlier in the Berkshires, the far western county of Massachusetts known for outdoor recreation and for Tanglewood, Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home. ![]() Faced with severe population loss over many decades, it is also one of the poorer cities in the state. North Adams is the smallest city in Massachusetts, with a population just over 13,000. To help add vitality to the area, the MASS MoCA Foundation, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and the City of North Adams embarked on developing plans to turn an unoccupied downtown theater into a future teaching, performance, and community activity center. ![]() Photo courtesy of MASS MoCA How can a former theater building be brought back to life as an anchor for the downtown community?Įven though the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is only steps away, the North Adams downtown area has struggled to attract visitors.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |