Letter: Macksey for Mayor

To the Editor:

I moved to North Adams more than a year ago, I lived in Tennessee for a short while after leaving Pittsfield due to an attack on my son.

Within this time of our return, a lot of things in North Adams changed.

One thing seems to be the heart of our fine community. There's some art making its way back to our area and that is wonderful. One change I see fits voting for Jennifer Macksey for mayor. When my family first met her at the Downtown Celebration she was so inviting warm and caring.

My son, who has PTSD issue a from the above mentioned in Pittsfield, went right over and gave her a big hug. He took right to her. Jennifer cares for her community, her voters, for everyone. She is kind and wonderful listener, she will absolutely be a great leader. She is a positive role model for all of us. She is exactly what our city needs for a better tomorrow.

All of my children adore her; my wife and I are amazed how one person can reach so many people. I know in my heart Jennifer Macksey is our next mayor, our leader, our future. I trust in her and her campaign. I urge you on Nov. 2 to vote. for Jennifer Macksey.

Tony Paulyk
North Adams, Mass.

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. ...