Bashevkin Leaving After 29 Years With Northern Berkshire Community Coalition

NBCC Executive Director Alan Bashevkin, seen here after being presented the Downing Award, is stepping down after 29 years leading the coalition.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The founder of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition is stepping down after nearly 30 years of leading the agency.

"It's time," Executive Director Alan Bashevkin said on Wednesday, shortly after the announcement. "I've been thinking about this for a year, and really talking to the board about it for awhile. This is not a surprise to anyone here.

"It's time to let the world know changes are coming."

In the announcement, the board of directors, under Chairwoman Courtney Shapiro-Van Dusen, has enlisted the services of Executive Transitions Program of Third Sector New England, to aid in the search for a new executive leader. Transition consultant Nancy Jackson will lead this process with the NBCC's nine-member transition team.

Bashevkin anticipates staying on through the end of the fiscal year in June as the budget for the next year is set and the board goes through its nominations and elections. And he'll work with transition team to ensure a smooth transfer of leadership.

He's not sure what's next but he will take some time for himself and his family.

"Al is more than a good citizen. He's a community champion," said District Attorney David Capeless in presenting the Gerard D. Downing Award to Bashevkin last year.

The agency from its beginnings has focused on collaboration and empowering community members to take action to make their lives better.

"The Coalition way is to build it with others," Bashevkin said at the agency's 20th anniversary event. "It may take a bit longer,it may be a bit more difficult, but it's better for people to build it themselves than have it built for them."

NBCC has promoted initiatives to strengthen neighborhoods and community health, support social agencies and parents, and encourage volunteerism and empower youth. The goal is to provide a healthy and supportive community for children to grow up in.

"I've outlasted a lot of people ... but I'm not just one person here," he said on Wednesday. "This is a wonderful way of doing business in the community and we do it with a great staff."

North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Thursday, May 02, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.

 

"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."

 

The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.

 

The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name. 

 

"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."

 

The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected. 

 

"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...