It was announced in 2020 that artist Gaia was commissioned for the mural that will be installed on the north side of the high-rise building. The mural was influenced by the input of more than 200 survey responses by building and community residents. The mural is also inspired by horticulturalist Lue Gim Gong, a Chinese immigrant who, after moving to the state of Florida from North Adams, developed the Valencia orange in 1911. The mural is part of of the Ashland Street Initiative, a project to enhance and beautify the area between downtown North Adams and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Inspired by the Eagle Street Initiative, the citizens group behind that project, NAMAzing, teamed with Common Folk Artist Collective, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, and the city to bring some of the same placemaking and artistic touches to the Ashland corridor.
Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre said the owners of the 65-year-old scrap yard may be held liable even though the fire has been ruled an industrial accident. We are working with the DEP, the health inspector and myself as well as the owners of Apkin, we will be having multiple meetings with them to discuss how we can prevent this from happening in the future, Lefebvre said. They can be held liable. . Obviously, there s a lot of departments that were taken out of service to come down here and we have a lot of equipment. So far, minimal equipment lost but there will be there s money involved in all of this. So we will attempt to recuperate what we ve been through.
NORTH ADAMS All city residents are being asked to stay indoors because of the heavy smoke coming from the fire at a junkyard near downtown, as crews continue a
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Firefighters from around North County are battling a massive fire at a scrapyard off State Street. The blaze at George Apkin & Sons was started.
NORTH ADAMS â Firefighters have contained the junkyard fire in North Adams that sent a black plume of smoke shooting into the sky Tuesday morning.
City residents were asked to stay indoors for several hours as the fire burned a pile of scrapped cars that sat about two stories high at George Apkin & Sons on State Street. About 40 firefighters fought the blaze around the junkyard and railroad tracks.
The cityâs advisory was removed by 4 p.m., as firefighters contained the flames and state agencies reported âno significant air quality risks.â
At a news conference on Tuesday evening, North Adams Fire Chief Brent Lefebvre said he hoped the firefighting would be able to wrap up Wednesday.