Berkshire Athenaeum
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_-_Pittsfield,_Massachusetts.JPG)
The original Berkshire Athenaeum, now known as the Bowes Building, is a nineteenth century building that still stands on Park Square in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in the Berkshires. Like many New England libraries, the Berkshire Athenaeum started as a private organization. The private Public Library Association was founded in 1850. The group's name was later changed to the Berkshire Athenæum. Later still, Thomas F. Plunkett, Calvin Martin and Thomas Allen, were "instrumental in forming it into a free library".
The Berkshire Athenaeum is now also known as the Pittsfield Public Library at 1 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield, containing a collection of more than 150,000 items. The library's special collections on local history, genealogy, author Herman Melville and other local authors are some of the best in the northeast.
1874 - Construction begins:
"In 1874, by means of a bequest from Phineas Allen, and the gift of [the 1876] building from Thomas Allen, the Berkshire Athenaeum was placed upon a firm foundation." [1] Thomas Allen joined a group of investors in purchasing the land in 1868 on Park Square for an eventual library building. Within five years, Allen made known his willingness to donate $50,000 for the construction of the new library. His uncle, Phineas Allen, bequeathed in his will another $50,000 for the library which did not become available until the construction of the new addition, completed in 1897.
1876 - September 23: Dedication of the new library [2]
1903 - The Berkshire Athenaeum assumes responsibility for the newly created Berkshire Museum, housing the public library and museum until 1932 when the museum is spun off.
1964 - Pittsfield Historical Commission formed
1975 - The Pittsfield Public Library moves to its current location
1976 - State of Massachusetts takes ownership, a critical step in saving the building[3]
1980 - The original 1876 building opens after renovations and houses the Berkshire County Probate & Family Courts and the Middle District Registry of Deeds. It was renamed the Bowes Building in honor of James Bowes, the County Commissioner who had been instrumental in trying to save the building. Bowes died in May 1980.
2014 - $4.3 million eighteen-month preservation project, "Life, Safety, Exterior & Accessibility Improvement," to stabilize bulging masonry on front façade
- Architect: William Gillen, Ford-Gillen Architects
- Contractor: Mike Mucci, Allegrone Masonry
Design
Designed by New York architect William Appleton Potter, the original Berkshire Athenaeum building was erected in 1874-1876 as a gift from railway magnate and native son Thomas Allen. It is in the High Victorian Gothic style, constructed of dark blue limestone from Great Barrington, red freestone from Longmeadow and red granite from Missouri.
