NORTH ADAMS — For two snowy weeks in February 2005, 23 miles of pathway in New York's Central Park were lined with 7,503 bright orange steel gates. Hanging 16 feet high from each gate and blowing in the wind was a matching orange flag.

“The Gates” were designed by married artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The installation drew about four millions visitors to the park, generated millions for the local economy and is remembered as a monumental example of how public art engages people with public space.

Chris Parkinson and Spencer Byrne-Seres hold the protypes of flags that Hoosic River wants to use to plot a river walk route along the river to show the public. Parkinson, an architect at Arcade, built the protypes to debut to the public at the final of five river walks Nov. 30.

Twenty years later, Hoosic River Revival wants to take inspiration from those gates and line a proposed riverwalk along 5 miles of the river running through the city with giant blue flags. At the end of the group's final river walk Nov. 30, architect Tessa Kelly revealed the flag design to the public and Mayor Jennifer Macksey expressed her support for the project.

After leading the final river walk of the year, husband and wife duo Tessa Kelly and Chris Parkinson from Arcade design firm presented their design for giant flags as a guide along Hoosic River Revival's river walk route. Arcade and Hoosic River Revival worked since March to create a design that wasn't permanent but could show people where a potential river walk could go along the Hoosic River in North Adams.

Since March, Kelly and Chris Parkinson from the Arcade design firm have worked with Hoosic River Revival to design a way to bring public attention to the river while also leading monthly walks along its path through the city. About 50 people have turned out for each walk.

“The public river walk series was so fun and everyone was enjoying them so much that we wanted to figure out a way that people could use and find the riverwalk without being led by a guide,” Kelly said.

About 30 people walked the final section of the riverwalk route from Heritage State Park to the river berms behind Joe Wolfe Field. Kelly and Parkinson, her husband, brought two prototypes of the blue flags to Sunday’s walk for people to envision while walking the route.

Tessa Kelly, left, walks with participants in the Nov. 30 river walk from Heritage State Park to the berms past Joe Wolfe Field. Kelly, who owns the design firm Arcade with her husband Chris Parkinson, helped Hoosic River Revival host monthly river walks since March that culminated Sunday in the announcement of a design to post giant flags along the river to make a route.

Afterwards, people gathered inside Hotel Downstreet to see Arcade's renderings of the flag project and hear Macksey officially announce city support for the flag design and a permanent riverwalk to dozens of cheers.

River walk participants reached the end of the planned river walk route on the berms behind Joe Wolfe Field Sunday Nov. 30. Since March, Hoosic River Revival has led monthly walks through five different portions of where the group envisions a path and spots for recreation along the river. About 50 people have turned out for each walk.

“I think it provides an opportunity for us to create a different recreation space, enjoy North Adams and the river and learn about our history," Macksey said. "All of you who have worked so hard I can’t thank you enough. This is what North Adams is about — we want to create new opportunities.”

Hoosic River Revival board members cheered after North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey showed support for the group's proposed river walk plan. Announced that day, Nov. 30, the organization revealed the next phase of its plan to connect the public with the river through a river walk.

The next step for Hoosic River Revival is finding the funding to build the design. Macksey said she would support the project and host a ribbon-cutting for each section of the route as it is constructed.

Kelly and Parkinson called an exact timeline of when the flags could go up “TBD.”

Kelly said the flag project is not intended as a permanent fixture, but a short-term installation that could gauge public interest in future projects along the river.

“Maybe in a longer-term iteration there could be a more finished path, but for the immediate term we didn’t want this to be a 10-year project,” said Kelly. “We didn’t want it to be something where millions of dollars have to be raised. We wanted to do a quick installation that would draw people’s attention and invite them to get closer to the river.”

“Everybody is behind it but the exact mechanics are still evolving,” said Parkinson, who said it was too early to estimate how much making and building the flags would cost.

"In 2026, [Hoosic River Revival] could galvanize energy and acknowledgement around the Hoosic with a vertical element of flags that is continuous and visible throughout the city," said Arcade design firm in its presentation Nov. 30. "The flags follow the path of the Riverwalk, linking the North Branch, Downtown, and the Berms into a continuous experience centered on the Hoosic."

Hoosic River Revival envisions a 5-mile loop for a river walk, stretching from northeast of the city at Natural Bridge State Park to directly south at Joe Wolfe Field. Most of the route is on state-owned land but it will have to work with a few private land owners to make it happen, said founder Judy Grinnell.

Dan Berger has been following Hoosic River Revival’s work and came to the final walk to show support for the effort to reconnect the city with the river.

“The Berkshires are too precious to let the paved-over industrial remains be the only story that is told,” he said.

The flag design was the culmination of work that Arcade did with Hoosic River Revival through a state Municipal Preparedness Vulnerability grant. Now that the flag designs have been made public, Hoosic River Revival must figure out how to fund the next phase of the project. Before installation happens, it also wants to make "micro-improvements" to the ground along the path to make it more accessible.

A rendering of what Hoosic River Revival's flag river walk path would look like along a proposed path at Beaver Mill in North Adams. Hoosic River Revival and Arcade design firm envisioned a five-mile loop for a river walk, stretching from northeast of the city at Natural Bridge State Park to a stretch of berms directly south of Joe Wolfe Field. Most of the route is on state-owned land but it will have to work with a few private land owners to make it happen, said founder Judy Grinnell.

"There are a lot of big projects being worked through but we'd like to see if we can make this a walkable riverwalk in a year or two,"  said Hoosic River Revival Vice President Tim Caffrey.

For 17 years, Hoosic River Revival has been advocating to representatives at all levels and has secured millions of dollars in funding for research exploring how to improve the river's health and reconnect it as part of North Adams' identity after decades of heavy industry.

A rendering of what Hoosic River Revival's flag river walk path would look like along a proposed path near the Willow Dell neighborhood in North Adams. Hoosic River Revival and Arcade design firm envisioned a five-mile loop for a river walk, stretching from northeast of the city at Natural Bridge State Park to a stretch of berms directly south of Joe Wolfe Field. Most of the route is on state-owned land but it will have to work with a few private land owners to make it happen, said founder Judy Grinnell.

In 2020, Hoosic River Revival and the city submitted an application for a three-year $3 million Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study of the city’s aging flood control system. That was authorized in 2022 and is currently taking place.

Hoosic River Revival and Macksey said the flag design was flexible enough to work not only with what the Corps recommends but also other ongoing projects like the Adventure Trail, the Route 2 Overpass Study and the Grey to Green initiative.

“We have a lot of work to do on the project with the Corps," Macksey said. "What this provides is an opportunity to showcase the river while we’re working on that. The efforts of HRR should not be stalled ... we need to show progress. To me, this is a late lift to show how important the bigger project is. This is great this is exciting news and were going to need all of you to help build this is out. My team is excited to support the efforts.”

Caffrey envisioned the community stepping in to make the flag walk a reality, like engaging local talent to make the flags or creating an "adopt-a-highway" concept where businesses or sponsors are responsible for a section of the riverwalk.

"The river is why North Adams is where it is and why it was so prosperous because of the water power it provided," said Caffrey. "It's time to take another look and take advantage of it and see how we can make it an asset to the community."

A map of Hoosic River Revival's river walk route can be viewed at the Hoosic River Atlas website.