BCC Offers Info Session on Free Community College

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) will hold an information session on how you could attend community college for free on Wednesday, April 2 from 6-7 p.m. 

The session will be held at North Adams Public Library, located at 74 Church Street, North Adams. 

To register by April 2, visit www.berkshirecc.edu/freecollege.  

The free college information session provides an overview of how the Commonwealth's financial assistance programs allow all Massachusetts residents who have not yet earned a bachelor's degree to attend BCC for free — no tuition and no fees. The programs also include an allowance for books and supplies for eligible students.  

Applications to BCC are open all year long, and there's never an application fee. For more information, contact the BCC Admissions Office at admissions@berkshirecc.edu or (413) 499-4660. 


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Community, Investment Keep Silver Screens Lit in the Berkshires

By John TownesSpecial to iBerkshires
This is the second of three articles in a series on the evolution and current status of movie theaters in Berkshire County. Read Part I here. 
 
In the wake of the 2020 COVID pandemic and its disruptions to the film industry, the county lost its two largest multiplex cinemas.
 
The 10-screen Regal Cinema in the Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough closed in 2022. Then in 2023, the eight-screen North Adams Movieplex in the Steeple City Plaza closed.
 
As a result, there are currently three full-time multi-screen movie theaters in the county — Images Cinema in Williamstown, the Beacon Cinema at 57 North St. in Pittsfield, and the Triplex Cinema at 70 Railroad St. in Great Barrington. These three surviving theaters in Berkshire County are totally separate operations and have their own individual histories and roles in their communities.
 
Nevertheless, there are also connections and common themes, including their downtown locations.
 
For a number of years, both the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington and the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield were siblings. Both were founded and originally owned by Richard Stanley, a South County real estate developer and investor who is also active in community-revitalization initiatives. Both theaters were established as vehicles to stimulate their local downtowns.
 
In Great Barrington, the primary destination for movies for most of the 20th century was the historic downtown Mahaiwe Theater. However, in 1988, it was facing potential demolition. That triggered a long community campaign that successfully saved and restored it as the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
 
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