PITTSFIELD — Over 18 months ago, Alex Regen came up with the idea to bring a refrigerable ice rink to Clapp Park.
Now, the hard part is out of the way. This week, the project met its $200,000 fundraising goal.
“It’s super gratifying. I’m really grateful that the mayor took this on and championed this from the beginning,” Regen said. “He took my phone call and … made it a part of his vision for the city. I had a lot of help from Jim McGrath, too.
“I’m just super thrilled that all these funders and politicians have worked together. It’s great, it’s really rewarding and I’m very excited.”
Regen worked on fundraising with McGrath, Pittsfield’s parks, open space and natural resource program manager. The Fitzpatrick Trust was the first to donate, committing $50,000, while the Feigenbaum Foundation pledged $125,000 in January.
The Mill Town Foundation and Berkshire Bank each pledged $10,000, and Pittsfield Cooperative Bank pledged $5,000.
“It’s a good project,” said Feigenbaum Executive Director Emil George. “We were impressed that the Fitzpatrick Trust was [the] first money in. We thought that was impressive. We thought that this project made sense for the community.
Excerpt from The Berkshire Eagle. Read the full article here.