NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- There was a palpable thrill in the air when MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States officially opened its doors to the public May 30.
Thirteen years after near-death experiences and a variety of potential incarnations played themselves out, the dream of having a world-class art museum to revive the fortunes of the former mill town of North Adams is beginning to come true.
Among those who spoke at the opening ceremonies were Joseph Thompson, the museum director who stuck with the project since the beginning and navigated it with grace; John Barrett III, the Mayor of North Adams, former state senator, now Massachusetts lieutenant governor and North Adams native and Jane Swift and Governor Paul Celluci. The former workers at Sprague Electronics, the company that filled the 27 factory buildings from the 1930s until the mid-1980s and was the heart of the local economy, were among those given special notice; many former Sprague employees came to the event.