NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Eighteen years ago, Judith Grinnell asked 30 like-minded people if they wanted to make North Adams prettier. 

 

"Most of them have still been working on it," said the founder of the Hoosic River Revival on Saturday as she touched on the "roller coaster ride" the nonprofit has been on ever since. 

 

The effort to integrate the Hoosic River into the city it runs through while still maintaining the flood control protocols that prevent it from endangering North Adams has been a multistep process that has been tripped up over the years.

 

Tropical Storm Irene, economic upheavals, competing (then disappearing) projects and a pandemic have set the endeavor back. But then politicians and governments and grants (and Grinnell's sheer willpower) have come through and now the revival is working with the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a $3 million feasibility study.

 

"We believe if you will continue to be patient, and we know, continue to be persistent, North Adams deserves a river that keeps them safe and also becomes a community asset," she said. 

 

Saturday's event at the River Street park was both a thank you to Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art's community partnership program for hosting two large billboards touting the river's possibilities and the nonprofit's next steps in "place making" along it. 

 

Spencer Byrne-Seres, an HHR board member and the museum's director of exhibitions, said places important to people have identities and meaning, not just elements like sidewalks or telephones you ignore. 

 

"They are places you go, you congregate, that are part of the identity of a town and a community and a site for shared experiences to happen," he said. "When the river is channelized and concretized like that, we tuned it out the same way we tune out the telephone lines overhead. And so we are trying to elevate the river. The fact that it flows through our town, it divides our town. It also weaves our town together."

 

A subcommittee has been working with the city and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission this past year with support from a Municipal Vulnerability Grant. Berkshire natives Tessa Kelly and Chris Parkinson of Group Work, an urban design firm headquartered in Pittsfield, are the lead designers for this placemaking effort. 

 

On Saturday, they had maps and images of current conditions and possibilities — accessible pathways, parks, lookouts and river access. The focus is on three areas along the riverway at Beaver Mill, Willow Dell and the Berms. They are asking for input on what residents would like to see in those areas, with some suggestions including gathering spots, continuous pathways and accessibility.

 

"I think we've actually really started to hone an ability to connect local community members to larger community, urbanistic environmental priorities," said Kelly, referring to some of the past work. "So really, our hope in beginning to partner with HRR and looking at the Hoosic River is that we can provide some connectivity between all of the groups that Judy mentioned and all the different efforts that have already taken place."

 

Afterward, Grinnell pointed to the importance of Mass MoCA in pushing the venture forward after one of the flood control chute panels fell by Building 6. Now known as the Robert W. Wilson Building, some $65 million including $25 million in state funding was invested to rehabilitate the 130,000 square foot structure.

 

"It's a catalyst. It's the diamond in the necklace," said Grinnell, pointing to its position at the juncture of the North and South Branches. "I see this as a necklace. You see that, and they're the diamonds, and they're the most vulnerable. You can say it's being hugged by the river, or you can say it's being threatened by the river. So safety has to be the primary thing."

 

The designs would not disturb the current flood control chutes but could create points were views or pathways could be cantilevered over them or beside them. 

 

Kelly wants to ensure that aspects of the city's history and memory are significant features of any design. At the Beaver Mill, they're looking at the outlines of long-demolished structures in the parking lot and thinking these industrial remnants could be traced out as landscape features, and at the berms, the old overgrown rail lines could be reimagined. 

 

"One of the things that we felt when we looked at some of the old plans that had been done is that maybe there wasn't enough of North Adams. They felt a little bit they were beautiful, but they felt like they could be on any river," she said. "That's really part of the reason that we're showing these historical maps, trying to say at each of these sites, let's also tell a story that's North Adams specific and site specific about the unique features of each of these spots, so that the river walks can kind of take you through all these different things."

 

Co-President Nancy Bullett credited Grinnell with getting the project to where it is today. 

 

"Hoosic River Revival is continuing to carry the torch to be able to secure a positive future for the river as well as our community, and it's very important, because it's such a big piece of our community," she said. "We've all seen it alive. We've seen it become cement. We've seen it as it is. We have a vision for the future to be able to make it bigger, brighter and safer, and that's what our goals are. And in partnership with the city, we are on that mission to be able to work together to strengthen our river for future generations."