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North Adams Cinemas Planning to Reopen

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams cinemas are expected to reopen this Friday under new management.

The MoviePlex 8 closed abruptly a month ago when its parent company, Cinema North Corp. of Rutland, Vt., went bankrupt.

At the time, Neil Ellis, owner of Steeple City Plaza where the theaters are located, said he was aware of the company's financial issues and had been working on ways to keep the theaters open.

On Tuesday, Mayor John Barrett III said Ellis had informed him that the theaters would reopen under a management agreement with a Greenfield theater company.

Ellis could not be reached for comment but the cinema marquee was quietly changed on Tuesday with recent and opening films, including the much-anticipated "New Moon" from the "Twilight" series.


On the bottom corner of the marquee for Theater 4, the morbid "Final Destination" was replaced by the more optimistic "Opening Friday."

The listings also include "2012," "Planet 51," "Capitalism: A Love Story," "A Christmas Carol," "The Men Who Stare At Goats," "Blind Side" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

Final details were reportedly being ironed out and a more formal announcement is expected on Wednesday.

Some of Cinema North's seven other properties may also reopen. Several franchises are bidding for the lease to the MoviePlex 9 in Rutland, according to the Rutland Herald, and the MoviePlex 8 in Greenport, N.Y., was purchased by a former Cinema North partner who's looking at a second theater as well, said the Catskill Daily Mail.
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North Adams' New Kimbell Building Taken at Foreclosure Auction

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The iconic New Kimbell Building on Main Street went to foreclosure auction on Tuesday after the owner fell behind on both mortgage payments and property taxes. 
 
Mortgage-holder MountainOne Bank was the only bidder at the auction, taking the historic building for $1,248,000. It was held in the entrance lobby at 85 Main by Daniel P. McLaughlin & Co. Auctioneers LLC. 
 
The New Kimbell Building, better known as 85 Main St., was purchased by PKC Capital LLC for $1.65 million from 85 Main Street Nominee Trust in 2021. 
 
PKC Capital LLC, which transferred to 81-91 Main Street LLC in December, still owed $1,124,316 to MountainOne at that time, according to documents on file with the Registry of Deeds. 
 
As of Friday, the owners owed $133,517.33 in back taxes and interest to the city of North Adams dating back to fiscal 2023. A tax-taking was filed on Oct. 28, 2024. 
 
The city lists the principal as Charalabos Bakalis of the state of Florida. Bakalis, as KCS MATERIALS LLC, also owns 306 Union St., which went into foreclosure last year. Work was done on the exterior of the apartment building some years ago but then halted, and the city filed a tax taking in 2024. A for-sale sign recently appeared on the property. 
 
The block that encompasses 81 to 91 Main St. was built in 1908 by two daughters of Jenks Kimbell, owner of the "old" Kimbell building that had been the city's first commercial livery.
 
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