The Tyler Street Lab facilitates services and programs to members of the community in order to demonstrate that a revitalized space can inspire through the arts and engagement and bring new life to Tyler Side. This launch event is a celebration of the space, program partners, and the community. All are invited to share in the food, fun, and festivities!
Bring two dozen of your favorite holiday cookies — one to share and one to swap. We’ll provide the cocoa and boxes to take cookies home. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of extra cookies. While we’re together, we’ll learn more about the great things going on in our neighborhood. Bring your family and enjoy the fun! Learn more about Tyler Side here!
Public input session at the Morningside School located 100 Burbank Street. Can't attend? Share your ideas here!
Morningside Community School, 100 Burbank Street. Come join the fun! Games, prizes, FREE photo booth, and refreshments. Guest entertainment being provided by Kids For Harmony. Businesses or organizations interested in hosting a table should contact Kate Lauzon at The Morningside Intiative FaceBook Page
A celebration and networking event that showcases the new businesses that have moved to Tyler Street.
Construction on the Berkshire Innovation Center begins. For more information about this historic event, Click Here!
Come to celebrate the launch of a pop-up community space where residents, community-based organizations, entrepreneurs, and others can create programming options for our community! Lab Collaborators include Michelle's Boutique, Goodwill Inc., Youth Alive, Roots & Dreams & Mustard Seeds, #Priceless, New Generation Ministries, Berkshire Community College, Working Cities, and City Street Ride. Festivities start at 4:30. Come build, eat, paint, ride, dance, and learn more!
Tyler Street zoning is currently being updated to allow for more flexible use of space to foster a stronger sense of an urban core. Allowable uses will include small-scale manufacturing and conversions from residential to commercial.
After 10 years, the Berkshire Innovation Center, or the BIC is finally slated to break ground. For information about this important anchor project, Click here!l
On Jan.9, Department of Community Development received approval from the Pittsfield City Council for a 20 year Tax Increment Exemption Agreement under the Commonwealth’s Housing Development Incentive Program. The estimated value of the tax exemption is over $300,000.
CT Management Group purchased the St. Mary's campus from the Springfield Diocese for $500,000. David Carver is planning to take all of the buildings and completely renovate the interiors into 29 market-rate rental units. More information on the development, Click Here!
The City of Pittsfield's Department of Community Development and Engineering departments collaborate to create new lighting options for the north side of Tyler Street. Three new street lights on the north side of Tyler Street to address areas that required additional lighting. This came in time for the 2017 Halloween parade. The City plans to install additional lights in FY2019
The City of Pittsfield with the seed funds from MassDevelopment's Small Business Development Program has received an award of $40,000 with a $25,000 match from the GE economic development match to pilot a storefront improvement program on Tyler Street. The fund allows awards business on the street, a minimum of $7,500 and a maximum of $15,000 for each storefront to improve their storefronts, including façade repair and painting, signage, awnings, doors, and windows. Currently, the Department of Community Development is exploring an amendment to the program to allow for waiver of required match for businesses that do not own the property, as well as an expansion of eligible activities to include accessibility and other code violations, as well as large equipment purchases. This will add an additional $40,000 in seed funds from MassDevelopment for an expanded program.
The City in partnership with MassHousing si exploring programs that could be offered for first-time homeowners and for additional housing rehabilitation within the District.
The City Council accepted a $30,000 grant from MassDevelopment's Transformative Development Initiative to pilot a storefront improvement program for property owners and businesss on Tyler Street. The pilot will be providing commercial building owners with an incentive for the improvements such as lighting, windows, and doors. The city will be using $30,000 of 40R funds — funds previously provided to the city through an affordable housing incentive by the state — to match those funds. In the first year, the pool of money is estimated to assist in the renovation of four or five storefronts.
Morningside Up helped secure funding through Cultural Development to place a mural on Tyler Street. TDI, with the support of the fellow and Jen Glockner from Cultural Development, provided logistical coordination and administration for an artist call, community voting process, and early media coverage for the mural to placed on the Goodwill building. The community participated in the painting of the mural through a paint by numbers scheme during the 2017 farmer's market. The unveiling of mural during the 2017 Pittsfield Better Block on August 25. Mural designed and drawn by Kathy Garren, a local artist.
Stakeholders: The entire city of Pittsfield with direct in-kind or monetary donations given by the City of Pittsfield, General Dynamics, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Goodwill, Berkshire Community College (BCC), Berkshire Children & Families (BCF), Central Berkshire Habitat, and the Berkshire Realtors. Residents, businesses, employers and financial institution supported the logistical coordination including, clean-up, build-out, permitting and hosting of pop-up activities in 5 vacant storefronts and 1 active store. The Better Block process engaged over 250 residents in a Community Walk & Talk, Concept Plan, and Build Week activities that created a new vision for an area with high concentrations of vacancy in the district. Outcomes: 1 storefront within area of focus is now being rented and 2 new businesses have opened up in vacant buildings a block away from the area of focus. Over 300 people from all over Pittsfield attended August 26 Better Block day.
Stakeholders: City of Pittsfield Office of Cultural Development, Morningside Up/ FreshLo, Goodwill, and TDI. Morningside Up helped secure funding through Cultural Development to place a mural on Tyler Street. TDI, with the support of the fellow and Jen Glockner from Cultural Development, provided logistical coordination and administration for an artist call, community voting process, and early media coverage for the mural to placed on the Goodwill building. The mural was complete using a paint by numbers scheme during the 2017 farmers market. Revealing of the mural during the 2017 Pittsfield Better Block on August 26.
Free apple cider and stuff!! Come to the Nov 15 Public Safety Pop-Up at Reid Middle School! Meet the Public Safety officials and learn more about: * Safe Route to School * Tyler St District Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) * Public Safety Community Tips and Advice for Morningside Sponsored by the Tyler Street District TDI. All are welcome! For more information Click Here!
Come and learn about the emerging recommendations for Tyler Street and the Morningside neighborhood. Recommendations are based on feedback generated during community meetings and interviews in November 2015 and February 2016. Elan Land Use Consulting Firm will be presenting their findings as well as soliciting additional feedback before the report of findings is finalized. The event will be held at Morningside Baptist Church on Tyler Street. All are welcomed.
For the first time, our region’s nonprofit stakeholders are invited to come together across all sectors from throughout Berkshire County to celebrate the impact of our good works and to consider collaborative opportunities around the region’s challenges. - Keynote address: Jason Schupbach, Director of Design Programs, National Endowment for the Arts - Judge Fred Rutberg, President of the Berkshire Eagle Lisa Donovan, Professor MCLA Roberta McCulloch-Dews, Director of Administrative Services, Pittsfield Mayor’s Office - State Senator Ben Downing - Facilitator: Dolf Berle, President & COO, Dave & Buster’s Board member: Norman Rockwell Museum, National Make-A-Wish Foundation Online reservations available now at: http://bit.ly/2kyvCzG Event to take place at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington
A conversation with Waterstone Developers about the new Walmart proposal. Residents and business owners encouraged to attend! Event will be held at the Morningside Community School.
This event is open to students and parents of Morningside Community School to coincide with parent teacher night. The Morningside Initiative, Berkshire Health Systems, Food Adventures, the City of Pittsfield's community gardener, and Morningside Community School are hosting the dinner in order to promote healthy eating and education, our community gardens and farmers market, and engagement between school, parents, youth and community. Please join us!
The City of Pittsfield engaged Williams College for an environmental planning class in Fall 2016. Students from the class surveyed the conditions of every building/property within the TDI District. The data were joined with the City's GIS parcel data to provide an overview of conditions within the neighborhood.
Come join us for the annual Discover Tyler Street celebration in Morningside. Discover the diversity of our neighborhood. Enjoy live music, a variety of food and drink and much more...For more information, Click Here!
Commonwealth Places provides a creative funding mechanism to advance community placemaking projects throughout Massachusetts. The statewide program will help fund place-based, community-driven projects – art installations, parks, bike trails, markets, and more – that revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. Successful projects must activate a new or underused public or community space, and the program will give preference to permanent physical projects. The program aims to engage and mobilize community members to make individual contributions through a crowdfunding platform with the incentive of a dollar-for-dollar funding match (up to $50,000) from MassDevelopment if the crowdfunding goal is reached within 60 days. To apply for Commonwealth Places, Click Here!
Kresge Foundation announces that the City of Pittsfield is awarded $75,000 in planning funding to support food and art across Morningside. This initiative promotes healthy eating and neighborhood revitalization through foodways-oriented public art, the further development of Morningside as a culturally diverse food destination, and growing access to and knowledge of fresh, local healthy foods through the expansion of existing programming for youth and people of all ages.
Planning and Design of New Gas Station on the Corner of Tyler and 1st Street Stakeholders: City of Pittsfield and property owner As a result of neighborhood planning effort, improvement to the gateways was prioritized. The City of Pittsfield's Department of Community Development worked with the new operator of the O'Connell convenience store and the property owner, to design a much more appealing building and overall site, as well as improving safety for pedestrian and vehicular traffic through building access and reduction of curb cuts. Anticipated grand opening in July 2018
Elan Consulting Group based out of Saratoga Springs, NY holds 22 community meetings with various stakeholders across the Pittsfield TDI
