North Adams Receives $200K Gift For Airport

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city will receive a $200,000 gift to fund its share of the construction of a new administration building on the airport.

Mayor Richard Alcombright told the Airport Commission on Tuesday that real estate developer and Turboprop East director Harry S. Patten Jr. has agreed to fund the city's 5 percent share of the nearly $4 million project.

"There are a lot exciting times in the city lately, and we have had a lot of good announcements and none probably as good as this one," Alcombright said. "This is a really good thing."

The federal grant is contingent on the city being able to fund a certain percentage of the entire project. Alcombright said the commission and city have discussed the new building for the past few years, but he has been reluctant to promise funding.

"Through those few years and those discussions it has been very difficult for me to be able to commit to that kind of money to the project," the mayor said. "As much as we wanted to, it was just a difficult decision."

Alcombright said this decision became easier a few months ago after speaking with Airport Manager Bill Greenwald who was in contact with Patten. After Patten showed interest in donating the $200,000, an agreement was written.

The only condition Patten had was that he could have naming rights to the building. The name ultimately will be approved by the commission, but according to the agreement the approval will not be "unreasonably" upheld.  

Turboprop East, established in 1968, is a major Northeast maintenance facility for several lines of aircraft. The Patten Family Companies purchased the Turboprop in 1995.

Alcombright noted that over the past 15 years, nearly $30 million has been spent on airport improvements.

"This administrative building will give us the ability to now look at the proper ways to manage it more efficiently … and grow in the future," the Mayor said. "I think it’s a great thing, a great a footprint, and there will be more to come."

Commissioner Trevor Gilman noted that most of the money used for the infrastructure improvements came through federal grants funded by airline ticket fees. The city's share for individual projects was usually 2.5 percent to 5 percent. This money from the city in most cases was borrowed and paid back through airport fees.

The commission voted to accept the gift, to authorize the chairman to execute the agreement with Patten, and to accept the grant award from the state Department of Transportation for the administrative building.

MCLA Kicks Off Fall Term With New President, Full Dorms

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:41AM / Wednesday, September 09, 2026

President Diana Rogers-Atkinson says she's excited to be at MCLA and impressed by the work done by the college's faculty and staff. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts kicked off the school year last week with fully occupied dorms and its "lucky 13th" president. 

 

Diana Rogers-Atkinson welcomed the gathering of staff, faculty and student representatives in the Venable Hall gymnasium for the traditional convocation breakfast on Tuesday, along with several trustees and Mayor Jennifer Macksey. Theater arts professor Laura Stanley sang the alma mater, starting a new tradition. 

 

"This is a great time of the year. It's a time of new beginnings on many levels for us this year, and I'm really excited," said the college's new leader. "I hope everyone is prepared for an exciting school year ahead. I am constantly impressed by the work that the MCLA staff and faculty do every day. You work tirelessly to provide our students with a fantastic education and a home away from home. I want to thank you on behalf of our board for your dedication, determination, and hard work."

 

The hard work is paying off as the college's enrollment continues to climb out of the hole it dropped into during the pandemic. 

 

The college has 162 first-year students and 89 transfer students, Richard Glejzer, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said, up from 219 last year. 

 

"We also have an additional student pool that we've kept separate in our count because it's a one-time pool," he explained. "As we are serving as a teach-out partner for two [closed] institutions, Anna Maria College and Hampshire College, we have two students coming from Anna Maria, and we have 20 students coming from Hampshire College. That brings us up to 272 new students, up 24 percent when you add all this together from this from last year and 29 percent from the year before."

 

He held up his hand to halt the applause to "add one more thing": looking at a "slice" of graduate student numbers, the college is expecting 105 to be enrolled, up from 92 last year.