North Adams Master Planning Process Seeks Input

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city's set to wrap up its first master planning process in 40 years by December and will be looking for a part-time planner to help it follow the new roadmap.

"We identified just a lot of things over the last 12 or maybe 15 months that give us great potential and great hope," said Mayor Richard Alcombright. "It's going to be our road map to growth and growth initiatives as we move forward as a community."

The mayor, Michael Nuvallie of the city's economic development office and Amy Kacala, a senior planner with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission met Monday morning in the mayor's office to provide an update on the planning process so far in hopes of encouraging more residents to take part.

The city embarked on a master plan in 2011 in conjunction with the BRPC's Sustainable Berkshires project. The countywide plan is being funded by a nearly $600,000 grant; North Adams and Great Barrington are both completing their master planning by "piggybacking" on the county plan.

The process, dubbed "Vision 2030," has so far included broad visions of what the city (and county) should consider priorities — such as green space and economic development — and what assets already exist.

The latest discussion will take place Thursday, Feb. 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 49 Main St. with a focus on recreation and conservation.

Kacala said residents are encouraged to come in and stay as long as they want. Getting people involved "is a perpetual problem," she said, and new ways of getting people to meetings are being tried. This time, for instance, fliers were sent home from schools to engage parents and the meeting is being held in a downtown storefront for easier access.

"If you haven't had a plan in 40 years it's not necessarily something people are used to talking about," said Kacala. Particularly with the plan now turning toward neighborhoods and land use, "we really want to make sure we get broad public involvement."

Even so, she said many of the previous groups have had a diverse mix of people. Alcombright said the representation in terms of sectors — tourism, arts, business, environmental — has been good but more would be better.

"We're really coming into the final stretch and we'd like to get whatever we can before we finalize this thing," he said.

The conservation and recreation will look at community, well-being and health as well as ways to capitalize on the city's natural and recreational sources for economic growth.

The conversation may be about better signage for the trails in the area, the future integration of Mount Greylock State Reservation, the development of a walking loop and, a consistent theme Kacala said, of the extension of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail to and through North Adams.

The mayor said one aspect of the plan may be the concept of "complete streets," in that street reconstruction will go beyond paving to considering bike routes and better sidewalks.

"How do you use our streets so they're not just car friendly, but bike friendly, pedestrian friendly, moms with baby carriages friendly?" said Alcombright. "A lot of this stuff were starting to think about more globally."

That will include hiring a part-time planner within the next 30 to 60 days to work in conjunction with the planning process so the individual will have a good grasp of what the city has and where it wants to go.  

The mayor expected the job to be posted within the next few weeks once a job description had been worked out. The post would be funded in part by a $20,000 line item in the budget and in part by Community Development Block Grant Funds. How part time the job will be has not yet been determined.

The planner will be tasked with reviewing the city's zoning and ordinance and how they align with the goals of the master plan. Some of that will require updating antiquated or obsolete ordinances.

Nuvallie said he could see the plan "being used very significantly" to apply for different funding sources.

"I can't even imagine the kinds of dollars we're going to get back in return," he said. "It's going to be used as a way to better compete for various pots of money.

"But when you have a comprehensive master plan, you have to make sure you're existing zoning and bylaws and ordinances are up to date. There is an evident need to bring the antiquation back up to today's standard so the master plan and all this other stuff works harmoniously together."

Alcombright said the master plan would become an important part of the city's future growth by helping bring so far dislocated efforts together. Even if it was discarded, the discussions over the past year or so have brought up positive ideas that already have their own momentum, he said, such as the Berkshire Scenic Railway proposal, Mass in Motion and the privatization of Western Gateway Heritage State Park.

"It will not sit on a shelf," the mayor vowed. "I think it's broadbased enough and certainly modular that the groups that are driving these ideas will continue to push these things forward."

Kacala cautioned that it will take time for elements of the master planning process to move forward. "It's not a silver bullet," she said.

Why the Massachusetts Art Community Is Worth Continued Investment

By James BirgeGuest Column
10:41AM / Tuesday, April 21, 2026

How do we quantify the value of art on society and culture? Even eye-popping figures, like the $100 million estimate for the jewels stolen from the Louvre, or the record auction last fall that saw a piece by Gustav Klimt sell for more than $236 million can't fully account for the value of the history, stories, and emotions behind the creations themselves. But beyond that, there is a measurable financial, cultural and social benefit of the arts that is often taken for granted. 

Closer to home, arts and cultural production in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts totals nearly $30 billion annually, representing more than 4 percent of the state's economic output, according to the Mass Cultural Council. All told, more than 130,000 jobs are spread across the commonwealth creating a vibrant and thriving artistic community for us all to enjoy. 

Despite the obvious impact, these figures are under threat. A recent survey by MassCreative compiled recent federal cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services and identified 63 grants canceled and $4.2 million in grant funding rescinded across New England so far this year. 

The dollars, of course, are important. But they also only scratch the surface on what they bring to the community. Today, we risk losing part of the culture and identity many now take for granted. 

While others choose to look past these less tangible, but just as vital benefits, we're doing the opposite. Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is all in to ensure the next generation retains their access to works of art, while also being empowered to create themselves. 

Last fall, MCLA officially broke ground on the new Campagna Kleefeld Center for Creativity in the Arts, which will serve as a new hub for the campus and the local community for arts programming. When complete in fall of 2027, our students will benefit, but so will all of Berkshire County and artists in the surrounding area. 

This exciting new facility is just one of the many forthcomings our region can enjoy in the coming years. Just a few miles away, anticipation builds for the Fall 2027 anticipated opening for the Williams College Museum of Art. Years in the making, the museum likewise grows from an enduring commitment to the arts, both in curriculum and in practice. Exciting times are also underway for the Clark Art Institute with the construction of a new facility to house a collection of 331 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, drawings and other works. Their wing is scheduled for completion in 2028. And listeners will no doubt enjoy the sounds and melodies from Mass MoCA Records, the latest endeavor to foster creativity and artistic pursuits through music launched in October as well. Of course, many are also awaiting the reopening of the Berkshire Museum anticipated this summer, after a tremendous renovation process to rejuvenate the experience for visitors. 

So much time, energy, and yes, dollars, have already been invested in taking these facilities from ideas and sketches and making them reality. But they represent much more than new buildings. They represent new opportunities to cultivate and accelerate the thriving arts community in Massachusetts and the northern Berkshires. 

Art, regardless of the medium, is a reflection of who we are, where we've been, and what we aspire to be. It can be inspired by hopes or fears and chronicle collective triumphs as well as tribulations. The goal of art is not only to document history, but to inspire those positioned to change it and to feel something new or even to provoke us to revisit our own assumptions or misconceptions. 

As unfathomable of a number as $30 billion can seem, boiling down the impact to any number inherently discounts the unknowable downstream effects our graduates will bring to the community and the broader world after they leave our institutions. Likewise, rescinding $4.2 million now removes a huge chunk of that growth potential.  

Justification for making these investments today when simply boiled down to dollars and cents still places us on solid ground strictly from a financial perspective that forgoes all of the intangible, but no less valuable, benefits as well.  

The arts are still worth our support. And our community will be richer for it. 

James Birge, PhD, is president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams.