Adams is known for its Victorian architecture, with 70 homes on the National Register of Historic Places. Above, a close-up of Karen's Dance Studio, located on Park Street, an example of period design. Photos by Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff

Sunday, January 14
ADAMS

Some might call it the town that time forgot. Much of Adams still looks like it did decades ago, though there have been significant improvements in parts of the downtown area, with more on the way.

Much more dramatic change for the better is expected, and there is a sense of optimism at Town Hall as the latest version of the Greylock Glen project gears up.

Although the Greylock Glen Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Education Center is costly ($44 million) and long-range (15 years to anticipated completion), its current scenario focuses on outdoor recreation, nature, art, education and a 170-room lodge by the year 2022. The project

Park Street is the town's main thoroughfare. Home to several restaurants and commercial businesses, the street now links to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail via The Armory Court, a refurbished walkway.

also promises to bring Adams a lucrative slice of the tourism pie without a significant impact on the town's strapped taxpayers.

'The downtown has good bones'

Other upgrades also are helping improve the town's image and its reality. "The approach we have taken to the downtown is a comprehensive strategy that involves many projects," says Community Development Director Donna Cesan. Revitalization efforts have been funded largely by federal community block grants.

"The downtown has good bones, if you will," she points out. "There are beautiful structures from the 19th century. The town center is relatively intact, but it's gotten a little shabby over the years, so we wanted to have a facade improvement program."

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number of buildings on Park and Summer streets and around Armory Court have been restored, and more work is scheduled. Total funding for facade improvement — a program Cesan describes as "very popular," especially with business owners — has approached $1 million.

Renovations and creations

The town has taken some hits in recent years, including the closing of Curtis Fine Paper and the departure of the Donovan & O'Connor law firm, "a very important downtown business," Cesan

The Quaker Meeting House, located in the Maple Street Cemetery, is open occasionally for public tours. Quakers settled in Adams in the late 18th century.

points out. Also, a wireless Internet business, Betterway.net, quietly left town, apparently dooming the nascent Adams Technology & Venture Center.

All this heightens the importance of projects such as the restoration of Armory Court, a $1.2 million endeavor designed to transform what had been a dirt alley into an attractive public walkway connecting the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail with the downtown business district.

Another major project was the creation of the $2.5 million, state-funded Discover the Berkshire Visitors Center on Hoosac Street. The facility, headquarters of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau which was formerly in Pittsfield, has drawn thousands of visitors each year from as many as 72 countries.

The transformation

The Miss Adams Diner, situated in an old Worcester dining car, serves up vintage fare on Park Street.

of the former Plunkett Hospital into high-end condominiums has also helped fuel the gradual transformation of Adams; Cesan reports all but one of the 16 units have been sold. "To be a balanced community, we need a diversity of income types, and we need to provide residential opportunities for that diversity of population," Cesan says.

A historic building on Park Street, the Jones Block, is also undergoing renovation after years of delay following a devastating fire in 1996. Polonia Architectural Restoration of Astoria, N.Y., is proposing high-end residential apartments for the upper floors, with a mix of commercial and retail uses at ground level, a glass-walled lobby and a spiral staircase leading up to observation decks on the roof.

St. Stanislaus Church, at the corner of Hoosac and Summer streets, is one of the most elegantly appointed places of worship in the Berkshires.

The building, constructed in 1896, is on the National Register of Historic Places. A bleak adjacent alley is also targeted for an upgrade. The entire project has a two-year time line, according to Cesan.

A 'bike-friendly' community

Plans for the Armory Building, auctioned by the state to a private owner, remain murky. But One Commercial Place, a prime office space downtown, is now the home of the Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter School, which owns the building. And the Adams Cooperative Bank's decision to demolish the decrepit Sadlow Building behind the bank on Depot Street in favor of a parking lot is seen as another positive for the town.

The Renfrew Field renovation project is in high gear, along with a stormwater

A poster of the newspaper page is available.

management plan to comply with federal EPA requirements and to cure chronic flooding from Hoxie Brook because of streetbank erosion. The longer-term goal is to turn Hoxie Brook into a more attractive amenity in the vicinity of the new Visitors Center.

The enhancement and a northward extension of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, along with a spur to the Greylock Glen area, is also a priority, Cesan says. The goal is to reduce the local reliance on vehicles and make Adams a "bike-friendly" community for residents and visitors.

Meanwhile, the owners of the planned Topia Arts Center have shifted their focus to the renovation of a Pleasant Street bed and breakfast, located along the bike trail, and slated for an opening next spring. Talks are planned with the new owners of the Susan B. Anthony birthplace on East Road to discuss potential funding for development of the site as a tourist attraction.

"There is a lot of effort and things that really aren't seen by the public, but at some point, as long as we're aggressive and keep shaking the tree, things will happen," Cesan declares.