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North Adams Cinemas Planning to Reopen

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The North Adams cinemas are expected to reopen this Friday under new management.

The MoviePlex 8 closed abruptly a month ago when its parent company, Cinema North Corp. of Rutland, Vt., went bankrupt.

At the time, Neil Ellis, owner of Steeple City Plaza where the theaters are located, said he was aware of the company's financial issues and had been working on ways to keep the theaters open.

On Tuesday, Mayor John Barrett III said Ellis had informed him that the theaters would reopen under a management agreement with a Greenfield theater company.

Ellis could not be reached for comment but the cinema marquee was quietly changed on Tuesday with recent and opening films, including the much-anticipated "New Moon" from the "Twilight" series.


On the bottom corner of the marquee for Theater 4, the morbid "Final Destination" was replaced by the more optimistic "Opening Friday."

The listings also include "2012," "Planet 51," "Capitalism: A Love Story," "A Christmas Carol," "The Men Who Stare At Goats," "Blind Side" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

Final details were reportedly being ironed out and a more formal announcement is expected on Wednesday.

Some of Cinema North's seven other properties may also reopen. Several franchises are bidding for the lease to the MoviePlex 9 in Rutland, according to the Rutland Herald, and the MoviePlex 8 in Greenport, N.Y., was purchased by a former Cinema North partner who's looking at a second theater as well, said the Catskill Daily Mail.
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Vermont National Guard Members Depart From North Adams

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff

About 50 people waved flags to the see the Guardsmen off on their bus. The members were staying in North Adams because of a lack of hotel rooms in Bennington, Vt.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Residents came together Friday to see some Vermont National Guard members off.
 
The American Legion Riders organized a send off for a group of 75 or so Guard members who were staying at Hotel Downstreet.
 
"We are going to escort them to the Bennington Armory," Riders President Mike Lewis said. "They are going to gear up there, and then I am not sure where they are going. I don’t even know if they are all going to the same place."
 
Fifty or so people met in the Hotel Downstreet parking lot to show their appreciation. They waved flags and held signs. A bagpiper was also present.
 
The Riders contacted the Fire Department who helped organize the send off. North Adams Police cruisers and Northern Berkshire EMS were also on site to help see the bus off.
 
Lewis said there was not enough rooms in Bennington for the National Guard members. He added because of the trend to use vacant hotel rooms as low-income housing, the group had to look toward North Adams.
 
It's not clear where these Guard were off to, but about 500 members of 3-172 Infantry Battalion were expected to go to the Middle East with U.S. Central Command. According to Vermont Digger, this deployment was scheduled prior to the strikes on Iran. 
 
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