Demolition to go as planned for new Berkshire Place nursing home in Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD -- The $10 million, 54-bed Berkshire Place nursing home facility planned for adjoining lots at 276 and 290 South St. has passed muster with the city Historical Commission.

The commission voted 5-1 this week, with Kathleen M. Reilly opposed, not to delay the demolition of a house built in 1894 on the site. The house and an addition built around 1979, which faces South Street, has been used for medical offices in recent decades.

James Scalise of S-K Design Group Inc., representing the developer, Berkshire Retirement Home Inc., said research showed the architecture of the home was not considered historically significant and the architect's identity could not be determined.

The two-story home does have "a limited connection" to a historical Pittsfield family, the Colts, because members lived in it early in the 20th century for several years, he said.

The building was later a boarding house and used for apartments before being used for medical offices for about a half century. The interior of the original house has been divided and renovated for offices. It is not listed on lists of historical significance, Scalise said.

Reilly said that because the home is not listed doesn't mean it could not be listed if such a designation were sought. "This is a significant neighborhood in Pittsfield history," she said.

While other commissioners appeared reluctant to approve the razing, they didn't believe there was enough historical significance

Scalise accepted a suggestion to consider that, if someone came forward soon and wanted to move the original home to another lot, an agreement would be considered. The developer is also open to allowing salvage of historic aspects of the building for reuse elsewhere and to encompassing a piece of the original house into the nursing home complex.

However, he said designers

A rendered image of the nursing home complex is part of the package to city planning officials. (Photo submitted by S-K Design Group Inc.)

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Demolition to go as planned for new Berkshire Place nursing home in Pittsfield