North Adams Planners OK New Event Space for Tourists Resort
Tourists' owners say they've been in need of a gathering space for years, based on the number of requests they get.
"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.
The plans presented to the Planning Board on Monday were slightly tweaked from those in the original application posted to the city website. Kerns said the changes were made after conversations with the Conservation Commission. The angle of the building was altered to southeast and pulled slightly back from the river banking.
This sends more stormwater to the street side and gives the building a higher southern exposure, he said.
He was questioned by Planner Peter Oleskiewicz on how environmental groups like Trout Unlimited felt about the structure's proximity to the river.
Kerns noted that the resort partners all the time with the various river groups and that the river is fundamental to the resort.
"For a community that touts itself as being centered around this river, there's never been a place where you can like be next to it," he said. "The woman who runs Berkshire Natural Resources Council always said people can't love something they can't see, and so I think having an opportunity to have more things that are river adjacent are actually going to be beneficial."
Tourists opened on what had been the former Redwood Motel nearly a decade ago and opened Airport Rooms, a lounge with limited menu, in the former farmhouse that had let out rooms to pilots and travelers at the nearly Harriman & West Airport. The resort's owners had initially looked to renovate a vacant church on Massachusetts Avenue for event space or a restaurant but that plan fell by the wayside.
The application states that the resort has 15,000 overnight guests annually from across the United States and abroad, along with another 10,000 annual patrons to the Airport Rooms restaurant. It's also been recognized with a Michelin Two Key distinction in the last three consecutive years.
The timeline for the construction was not provided in the application and the planners did not ask about it.
The Planning Board voted unanimously to approve the project. Oleskiewicz thanked Kerns and his partners for bringing it forward.
"This is something that is needed," he said. "Local people are finding there's less event spaces available. I think it's very good."
Tags: motels, hotels, Planning Board,
