Letter: Vote Lynette Bond for Mayor

To the Editor:

I write today to urge North Adams voters to support Lynette Bond for mayor. I believe a vote for Lynette will keep the city moving in the right direction. Lynette is incredibly active in North Adams and has the experience, foresight, and fortitude to do the job that needs to be done. Sure, she has never been a Facebook warrior, soapbox avenger, or ego maniac, so perhaps her deep investment and commitment to the city hasn't hit everyone's radar, but the positive impact of her work has likely touched each and every one of you in some way.

The city of North Adams has always had to work a little harder than other places to succeed. Lynette gets that and spends her time putting in that effort, not just talking about it or reminiscing about what once was.

I've known Lynette for years and when she announced her candidacy for mayor, I was thrilled. Lynette and I volunteered on the Planning Board together and I always found her inquisitive, mature, educated on the subject matter, able to make decisions -- and all around, just a great person. All necessary qualities in a mayor!

Lynette Bond will be proposing new, creative solutions (and she already is) -- and won't fall back on the same old same old. As mayor she can see a path forward to advance North Adams and help it realize its potential.

Paul Hopkins
Boylston, Mass.

Paul Hopkins is a former member of the North Adams Planning Board and former president of the North Adams City Council. 

North Adams Planners OK New Event Space for Tourists Resort

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
05:34AM / Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Tourists' owners say they've been in need of a gathering space for years, based on the number of requests they get. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Tourists Welcome resort was approved on Monday for construction of a building to serve gatherings and the Airport Rooms.

 

"This is our first opportunity to like fix the biggest thing we screwed up in building Tourists, which was not making a big room," said representative Eric Kerns. "The first year we opened, we got 1,200 event requests the first year, and we've continued to have almost 1,000 event requests every year."

 

The 140-seat event building will be constructed adjacent to the Airport Rooms on the east end of the State Road property, which operates at Blackinton Operating LLC. The 91-foot-long structure will include a kitchen to serve both the event space and the Airport Room, which will be connected via an enclosed corridor. Overflow parking will be at the Blackinton Mill, also owned by the partnership, with shuttle service for events. 

 

The new building will be set on piers to minimize excavation and will include a deck that will extend behind the Airport Rooms. The building also will utilize an all-electric mechanical system with high-efficiency heat pumps and energy recovery ventilation.

 

Kerns noted the resort has been erecting tents on that space for events — this will just make the use of the space permanent. He described the trailer being used as a "kitchen" for the Airport Rooms "a very clever two-year solution that has lasted seven years."

 

"It's just been a a real struggle to find a building that we can build that makes the math make sense given current, you know, construction costs we have come across," he said. "We've come upon a design that works for us, and it's really a continuation of the business that we've been doing. This site is where you've probably seen us put up a tent before, so we already have events of this size on the site."

 

Tourists was built as a minimalist resort, with the rooms facing the Hoosac River; the new structure will continue that aesthetic with a blank wall facing the road and large windows looking out on the river.