A Look Back: July 7

50 Years Ago

■Some area bankers and businessmen are seeking to convert Northampton Junior College into a state community college in order to offset the economic impact of the sudden closing of the 77-year-old private institution.

■City Councilor Vincent J. Lobello, who has represented Ward 4 since 1970, announced today he will not seek re-election in the fall. Citing a change of employment and the possibility he will move out of Ward 4 in the near future, Lobello decided it would be “best not to seek another term on the council at this time.”

25 Years Ago

■Two years after the first new play structure was erected at the Finn Ryan Road School, a second play structure for small children will be put up this summer. A group of volunteers has invested countless hours and some $75,000 in donated money in the three-year project.

■The Salvation Army may lease most or all of the Kellogg Brush Manufacturing building at 122 Pleasant St. in Easthampton within a few months, reopening the 326,000-square-foot building for warehouse space and possibly a future retail store.

10 Years Ago

■Tim Anderson, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been appointed a Distinguished Professor. Anderson was recommended for the honor by UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and Provost James V. Staros, who cited his “stellar record as one of the entire field of chemical engineering’s most outstanding researchers, teachers, and university citizens.”

■Monica S. Curhan recently was named senior vice president and marketing director for Florence Savings Bank. Curhan joined the bank in June, having worked previously Citizens Union Savings Bank in Fall River.

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