Dark Days: Sprague Electric Closes

Sprague closed in 1985. The community was devastated. Population fell while unemployment grew. The industrial giant that had defined North Adams was gone. The town was left with increasing financial problems and empty complex of buildings. As it became clear, that those spaces were going to remain unused. Thomas Krens, then the director of Williams Museum of Art, was looking to create a contemporary art museum. His eyes fell onto the abadoned space on Marshall Street.