Since the mid-20th century, the Hoosic River has been shunted through a concrete flood control system when it traverses the city of North Adams. Completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1961, the chutes that channel the waterway have been gradually crumbling and decaying.
“They are 70 years old and aging. Five have fallen, eight are leaning. There are issues with the actual floor of the chutes. So, we want to improve the flood protection for the city, we want the river to be healthier right now as it flows through downtown," said Judy Grinnell, founder of the Hoosic River Revival. “Because of the design of the flood chutes in the 50s, nothing can live in the river. And there are now options, which we have learned about from other cities across the country, to maintain or improve flood control, and at the same time have a flood control system that becomes a community asset, a river that's healthy, in some places accessible. So that is our second main major goal. But we also, more than anything, want to protect our city.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers returned to North Adams in 2023 to kick off a four-year, $4.5 million feasibility study to explore modernizing the Hoosic River’s flood controls.
With increasingly common climate change-driven extreme weather battering the chutes and estimated costs of the project in the hundreds of millions, there are many unanswered questions about the river’s fate. The re-election of President Trump and his zealous bid to slash federal funding have introduced new ones.
“We are in touch with our federal representative, [Democratic Congressman] Richard Neal, as well as our senators, and they have assured us they are going to do whatever they can to provide us – well, actually the Corps – with the funding it needs to proceed," said Grinnell. "The reason I say the Corps is the city and the Corps of Engineers share 50-50 the cost of this feasibility study. The city has already made available to the Corps, it's $1.5 million in a bond. Congress, on the other hand, will allocate, on a year-by-year basis the funding that is required. So, this is why we are concerned, and we're working very hard to convince our representatives that this is a crucial study and the funding should not cease.”
On Saturday, the HRR is celebrating a new push to communicate its efforts to the wider world.
“We have been the very fortunate recipient of a gift from MASS MoCA, which has a community partnership program," Grinnell explained. "And the gift is the design, production, and placement of two billboards on River Street across from the Porches Inn.”
Contemporary art museum MASS MoCA occupies a former electric factory campus in the heart of North Adams. Exempted from the tax rolls, it serves as the city’s major tourism magnet.
“One billboard shows a picture of our river with walls, a parched bottom, the three-sided concrete, a chain link fence on the other side, and then the other really explains what our goals are as a community, as a community project, which are threefold,” Grinnell told WAMC.
The first billboard depicting the flood control system as it exists today is in black and white, while its companion is in the vibrant colors of Berkshire County: blues skies and waters, rich emerald foliage, and the HRR’s goals spelled out in a goldenrod yellow.
“We have three short phrases on that billboard: Together we can, one, improve our flood chutes, two, restore the river, three, protect North Adams’ future," Grinnell continued. "It is a onetime gift from MOCA, so there is nothing more long-term vis-à-vis the billboards. However, we are working closely with many of the buildings, businesses, individuals whose homes or businesses are right along the river, because the safety of those aspects of our downtown is the key reason we're doing this.”
Grinnell says the kickoff at the corner of River Street and Houghton Street will be an interactive opportunity for city residents.
“We will have members of our board who are working on placemaking there to answer questions, and there will be a table where people can write down the thoughts or the dreams they have for making the river more accessible and enjoyable for them," she told WAMC. "And we have another committee, the feasibility study committee, the people who are working with the Corps of Engineers, and they will be there also.”
The Hoosic River Revival’s billboard unveiling celebration and public placemaking brainstorm session starts at 11 a.m. Saturday.
