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State Reps. Gailanne Cariddi and William Pignatelli met with local arts leaders Monday morning to discuss challenges casinos will bring to smaller venues.

Pignatelli: Casinos Threaten Smaller Arts Venues

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Greg Liakos of the Massachusetts Cultural Council has proposed four admendments intended to support nonprofit and small businesses in the face of casinos.
LENOX, Mass. — The county's Beacon Hill representatives are looking for ways to protect local cultural venues against the likely onslaught of casino gambling.

State Rep.  William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, met with proprietors of smaller and nonprofit performance venues Monday morning to discuss the "grave" threat casinos will bring.

"We're going to make a bad bill better. But it'll still stink," Pignatelli told them. "I think it is a sad day when we have to turn to gambling to pay our bills."

Pignatelli, a member of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, scheduled the roundtable at Town Hall with state officials. He was joined by fellow committee member Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, D-North Adams, and a representative from committee Vice Chairman Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield.

Casinos have been the subject of debate for about a decade and bills allowing them in the state have come to the edge of being signed into law. This year, the executive branch is pushing another bill that is expected to be debated by the legislative bodies in September.

While a casino is not proposed in Berkshire County,  the business model threatens smaller venues' abilities to bring in acts.

According to Greg Liakos, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a casino's business model is based on providing entertainment at very low costs because it generates gambling income. Often, the contracts between the casino and the acts include clauses that prevent the acts from playing other venues in a 100-mile radius of the casino.

"It's a supply-side problem. It's getting those artists," Liakos said. "Our concerns are real, are unique and to be addressed is in the interest of the taxpayers."

For example, about five years ago, the 2,600-seat CityStage in Springfield sold out two Jerry Seinfeld shows and with other events going on in town, the city was booming with energy. Since then General Manager Tina D'Agostino has tried to book Seinfeld eight times but was blocked every time because of shows at Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.

Recently, CityStage booked "Lord of the Dance" but Mohegan Sun booked it the next day. Because the casino has an additional source of income, it was able to sell the tickets for $40 cheaper and D'Agostino's sales plummeted.

"It's frustrating. It hurts our ability to book," D'Agostino said. "We really do need to protect ourselves."


Troy Siebels, executive director of the Hanover Theatre in Worcester, said casinos could put his venue out of business.

"We already feel the impact from the Connecticut casinos," Siebels said. "Our goal is to get as many mitigating things in the bill as possible."


Tina D'Agostino has already seen the effects casinos have on smaller venues while running City Stage and Symphony Hall in Springfield.
As for the Berkshires, Pignatelli pointed to the Colonial Theatre and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. The Colonial sold out two shows in June for Ron White and those type of shows are threatened, Pignatelli said.

"It probably won't be in the Berkshires but it will have an economic impact," Pignatelli said. "When the Mahaiwe is boarded up, we're going to care."

The closest proposed casino is eyed for Palmer, Springfield or Holyoke. The casino bill should include provisions to prevent sinking all other venues and the business community will need to express these concerns to Gov. Deval Patrick, Pignatelli said.

Liakos shared some draft amendments to the bill that include a moratorium on building performance arts venues in casinos, prohibit theaters that hold between 500 and 5,000 people, require licenses to address impacts on smaller venues and dedication of a portion of the tax revenues to smaller venues that can prove hardship from the casinos.

Ideas of regulating the 100-mile clauses or the ticket prices were brought up but quickly rejected by Liakos and Pignatelli because of doubts they could stand up to a legal challenge.

Staurt Chase, CEO of 1Berkshire, added that the impacts will run deeper than just performance arts venues. Restaurants, hotels and art galleries will all be affected while the county loses part of its draw, he said.

"It's bigger than just performing arts," Chase said.

Tags: casinos,   economy,   

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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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