SOTTILE PARK

The Berkshire Eagle -- Eagle off North @ Columbus

	Adapted from Wikipedia...   The Berkshire Eagle, "The Eagle" as it is called locally, is a daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  The paper's circulation covers all of Berkshire County, which is the western-most Massachusetts county bounded on the north by Vermont. the south, Conneciticut, and the west by New York.. For many "hilltowns" residents, The Eagle is their defacto pulp daily news source.   Founded in the early 1890s by Kelton Bedell Miller, The Eagle has been owned since 1995 by MediaNews Group, which publishes three other daily newspapers in Massachusetts and several others in western New England, including the other leading newspaper based in Berkshire County, the North Adams Transcript.   History...   The Eagle's last independent publisher was Michael G. Miller, grandson of Kelton, Michael was president of The Eagle Publishing Company which owned The Berkshire Eagle -- Pittsfield MA -- Daily The Middletown Press -- Middletown, CT -- Daily The Bennington Banner  -- Bennington VT -- Daily The Brattleboro Reformer -- Brattleboro VT -- Daily The Journal in Manchester -- Manchester VT -- Weekly   Brother Mark C. Miller was editor of The Eagle, while brother Kelton B. Miller II was publisher of the Vermont newspapers. Sister, Margo Miller, a writer for The Boston Globe, was a on Eagle Publishing's Board of Directors.    Expansion...   In the early 1990s, in need of more space due to the purchase of multi-million dollar four-color printing presses, the company moved from it iconic  and eponymous "flatiron" building on Eagle Street to the former Shaeffer-Eaton paper mill building about one half mile away.    Rather than build new, the Millers chose to renovate a nearby former Sheaffer-Eaton stationery company paper mill. The cost of the entire project—at $23.5 million for presses, land and renovations.   Bad timing...   Unfortunately, by the time the new headquarters construction was complete, with staff moved in, and 'bugs' worked-out from the new presses, the regional economy was feeling the effects of recession.  Moreover, City of Pittsfield was imploding with the loss of the General Electric Transformer Division that had required about 10,000 jobs.   Obviously, The Eagle's circulation and advertising revenues plummeted. Worse, the local real estate went bust.  therefore, the extra office space that the Millers had built into the renovated structure -- space intended for renting out to help service company debt -- was not attracting tenants.   The result was a severe cash crunch: Revenues were insufficient to service the eight-year, $17.9 million mortgage, taken to finance the presses and renovation, which was held by State Street Bank & Trust Company in Boston,   The Millers sought an investor who would help them weather the current fiscal storm.  This was their preferred option. Optionally, the Millers sought a buyer for the entire publishing group to keep the company intact so that they would not have to sell assets piecemeal.   In 1995, the Millers  accepted an offer from MediaNews Group, a company founded by William Dean Singleton of Denver, Colorado. Singleton, the publisher of the Denver Post and owner of a string of daily newspapers throughout the country, was in the business of acquiring publishing properties at firesale prices.   Singleton agreed to purchase the assets of the Eagle Publishing Company, including all its newspaper and publishing properties and debt, but conditioned his investment on absolute control.  The Millers became "retired."   The transaction closed on September 1, 1995. Simultaneously, MediaNews Group sold the Middletown Press to the Journal Register Company. The following year, MediaNews added the North Adams Transcript to its western New England holdings.   Advertising     Advertising     Advertising Pittsfield, MA Historical Newspapers 1788-1922; 1998-Today By Tom Kemp | Posted on April 14, 2009 GenealogyBank has set up a handy site for searching Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ archive of historical newspapers: 1788-1922, 1998-Today. Pittsfield, Massachusetts Newspapers  Click here to search Pittsfield, MA newspapers 1788-1922 Click here to search Pittsfield, MA obituaries from 1998-Today Or click on the individual titles below to search a specific Pittsfield, MA newspaper: Berkshire Chronicle 1788-1790 Berkshire County Eagle 1826-1828 Berkshire County Whig 1841-1849 Berkshire Eagle 1998-Today Berkshire Gazette 1798-1800 Berkshire Reporter 1807-1815 Pittsfield Sun 1861-1873 Sun 1795-1922 TIP: Other Handy Massachusetts Sites: Search over 275 Massachusetts newspapers:  Click Here to Search Massachusetts Newspapers 1690-1975 Click Here to Search Massachusetts Obituaries 1985-Today Massachusetts Death Records Click Here to Search Massachusetts Deaths 1937-2009 (Free)     ****************************   About The Berkshire evening eagle. (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1892-1955 Pittsfield, Mass. (1892-1955) About | Libraries that Have It | MARC Record Title: The Berkshire evening eagle. : (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1892-1955 Alternative Titles: Eagle Evening eagle Place of publication: Pittsfield, Mass. Geographic coverage: Pittsfield, Berkshire, Massachusetts  |  View more titles from this: City County, State Publisher: Eagle Pub. Co. Dates of publication: 1892-1955 Description: Vol. 1, no. 1 (May 9, 1892)-v. 64, no. 205 (Dec. 31, 1955). Frequency: Daily (except Sunday) Language: English Subjects: Pittsfield (Mass.)--Newspapers. Notes: Published as: The Evening eagle, Feb. 13, 1896-Feb. 20, 1897. Weekly ed.: Berkshire County eagle, May 11, 1892-June 24, 1953, issued also as the Wednesday ed. of the Berkshire eveing eagle. LCCN: sn 85033227 OCLC: 11774122 Succeeding Titles: The Berkshire eagle. (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1956-current Related Titles: Berkshire County eagle. (Pittsfield, Mass.) 1853-1953 Holdings:  View complete holdings information SOTTILE PARK In the Heart of The Berkshires In the Heart of Downtown Pittsfield MA WHITE 750