Closing This Out

Hi everyone,

I owe all 1,547 of you a big thank you and an update that is long overdue.

When I started this petition in September 2014, Cafua Management had filed plans to tear down St. Mary the Morning Star Church on Tyler Street to build a Dunkin' drive-thru. Because of you, that plan did not happen. Your signatures, your emails, your calls, and your willingness to take your business elsewhere got attention fast, and in less than three weeks Cafua withdrew its application to demolish the church.

That was only the beginning. A group of us formed the Friends of St. Mary's to keep the building standing and help find someone who would give it a new life. We held tours, shared ideas, brought in experts, and showed up at city meetings so the church would not quietly slip away. In 2016 the Zoning Board of Appeals turned down the zoning change Cafua needed for its drive-thru, and that opened the door for something better.

In December 2017, local developer David Carver bought the whole campus. Today the church, rectory, convent, and school are the Morning Star Apartments, 29 homes in the heart of Tyler Street. The beautiful building still stands, and the altar area has been kept as shared space. In January 2021, David gave me a tour of the finished apartments, and it was moving to walk through a place so many of us were afraid we would lose.

This happened because so many community members cared enough to speak up. Thank you for signing, sharing, and showing that Pittsfield values its history.

With so much gratitude,
Darcie Sosa