Haddad Subaru House to Be DemolishedBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
06:13PM / Sunday, March 02, 2025 | |
 The former residence had been turned into offices, and in September 2023, a fire destroyed the wall of an adjoining two-car garage. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The house hiding behind Subarus on East Street will soon be demolished.
On Monday, the Historical Commission voted to approve the demolition of 676 East St pending a site visit and additional interior photos. The 1938 single family on Haddad Subaru's property had a fire two years ago. It will now be used for inventory space.
"Well, for starters, there was a fire in the wall of the garage, which made it so that repairing it and using it was somewhat costly," explained Bryan Siter of Foresight Land Services.
"But also as a car dealership, it's just not a very useful building for the dealership so they're looking to demolish it and then expand car storage, parking area, essentially."
The former residence had been turned into offices, and in September 2023, a fire destroyed the wall of an adjoining two-car garage. The damage could be seen around the one-story garage, which connects to the two-story Dutch colonial.
"It's gone through a number of owners until it was eventually part of Pete's Motors as their rental office and now it's been sitting pretty vacant for quite a while," Siter said.
Chair John Dickson observed that it looked like a "pretty healthy building" and commissioners wondered if there were any salvable historical elements inside. While Siter will have to check with the owner, he said a tour and additional photos of the interior will likely be feasible.
Commission members pointed to the building's "interesting" architecture and its modernity for its time.
"It's a sweet house but in the current context, it doesn't really have much purpose," Matthew Herzberg said.
In other news, the century-old building on Berkshire Medical Center's property has been demolished after the commission's approval last month.
The commission approved the demolition in 2015. The first floor has been in limited use since, but it is now unoccupied because it is "inhabitable." Coupled with surrounding changes, BMC decided it had no use for the structure.
Work is being done on both sides, as the hospital is undergoing renovations and the state Department of Transportation is overhauling the intersection of North Street and First Street. Attorney Vicki Donahue explained that the state project will widen the road, encroaching farther to the front of the building and requiring "some significant regrading" and a change of the entrance.
The building hasn't been a home in 70 years and BMC has owned it since 1974.
Dr. Martin Dobelle, father of former Mayor Evan Dobelle, purchased the home in 1947 when he returned to Pittsfield after World War II. He lived and kept his practice there until renovating it in 1955 as a suite of doctor's offices. It was variously known as the Doctors or Physicians Building after that and became BMC's West Side Neighborhood Health Center in 1976.
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