Letter: Greylock Glen Camping Proposal Aligns with Town's Needs

To the Editor:

For many years, we've maintained our community with little economic growth. It has not been for lack of effort. And now, smart people from many different backgrounds have uncovered what we all knew — Adams is special! The founders of the Project 13 1/2 Grove Gallery and Real Eyes Gallery know it, as does Yina Moore, who has breathed new life into the Adams Theater, a revitalization effort started by our Topia Arts friends.

Our Greylock Glen trail partners DCR and TSR contribute to Adams by maintaining and expanding our trails. The outdoor center is being built, after years of hard work from our Community Development Director Donna Cesan, our town administrator(s) and our state Rep. John Barrett, and [former] state Sen. Adam Hinds, to name a few. We never lost sight of the end game, and now the state has funded further investment in Adams.

The newest developers interested in Adams have proposed an EcoVillage at the Greylock Glen. Not only does the EcoVillage align with keeping the beauty of Adams intact, it is also innovative, attractive, and creates a revenue stream that we have not seen the likes of in Adams. We were impressed by the developer's presentation, and hope other community members will turn out for future outreach sessions.

It is our turn to embrace growth in innovative programs and projects. It is our turn to share in the creative economy and tourism. Shame on us if we are not one voice in that support. We have vetted all the details of the Greylock Glen projects together and will continue to do so with the same goal in mind: To grow our town in a thoughtful manner, while maintaining the quality of life that we all enjoy. This town belongs to all of us.

Erin Mucci & David Bissaillon
co-chairs ProAdams
Carol Cushenette
Adams Finance Committee chair

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. ...