A delay for cinema project

The delay in North Street’s Beacon Cinema project by the National Park Service, of all organizations, highlights the project’s fragility. Funding comes from a variety of sources, and $900,000 in federal tax credits have been held up because the service believes the design does not retain enough historic elements of the facade and entryway to the Kresge-Kinnell building in downtown Pittsfield. The Service’s concerns aren’t frivolous and the project may be better for their being addressed, but any delay is worrisome with this complex a project. The state-of-the-art, six-screen complex will draw people back downtown and play a key role in its renaissance, but residents may have to wait until 2009 for it to become a reality. It would be best to assume that other pitfalls will emerge along the way.