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Town Manager Gregory Federspiel explains you can go this way or that at the Route 183 intersection to MassRecovery Director Jeffrey Simon on Thursday.

Lenox, Tanglewood Preparing for Road Work

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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The $5.4 million reconstruction of West Street will include an 8-foot wide path to replace the meandering sidewalk.
LENOX, Mass. — Work on the $5.4 million reconstruction of West Street is expected to begin by mid-summer but officials say it shouldn't significantly affect traffic heading to Tanglewood.

Local and state officials met Thursday afternoon to work out any kinks in the plans to reconstruct 2.5 miles of road and sidewalk from the town center to the Stockbridge line.

"We're beginning to work out the coordination to ensure that there's no disadvantage to Tanglewood," said Jeffrey Simon, director of the state's Recovery and Reinvestment Agency. "It's going to really improve access when it's done."

Simon was in the Berkshires to highlight the impact of the federal American Recovery and Investment Act on the region, including the $3.6 million for the Route 183 project that's been more than a decade in waiting.

Town officials want to make sure construction doesn't deter the nearly 350,000 who visit Tanglewood each summer.

"This is the main road to get there," said state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli. "We've also got Kripalu and the de Sisto School down there. ... This is a major corridor."


The confusing center island at the intersection of Routes 183 and 7 will be eliminated.
The summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra pumps nearly $60 million in the region's economy, up to half of that just from visitor spending, said Ryan Losey, Tanglewood's director of government relations.

The project includes straightening out the confusing (for visitors) intersection where Walker and West streets meet Main Street (Route 7), doing some culvert work, and installing an 8-foot wide concrete, handicapped accessible, multiple-use path all the way to the town line.

The path will replace and expand the current sidewalk, which becomes a meandering paved path along some sections of the road and ends before the Tanglewood main gate. The reconstruction will also allow for an extension of the town's sewer lines. Pignatelli said some 18 to 20 homes along the roadway will be able to hook into the town's sewer system, a big benefit because of failing septic systems in the neighborhood.

The project is expected to take two years to complete. It can't come soon enough for Pignatelli, who's been pushing for it for years. "He's really been a bulldog on this project," said Simon.

"This is going to be huge not only for Tanglewood, which is the economic engine of the Berkshires, but certainly to the town of Lenox," said Pignatelli. "This is a project I worked on when I was a selectmen 12 or 13 years ago.

"This has been a long time coming, and long overdue, but with the work of MassDot and Jeff Simon, in particular, we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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