Adams Selectmen Appoint Town Administrator, Designate Blight

ADAMS, Mass. — The Selectmen officially appointed the new town administrator and designated a new blight area in town.

Pending a physical and his signing of the contract, Tony Mazzucco will start Jan. 12.

He has agreed to a three-year contract with a starting salary of $81,000. The board voted unanimously to hire Mazzucco, the assistant city manager of Caribou Maine, after his interview Nov. 22.

"I think the town is getting an excellent bargain with this particular gentleman for this job," Chairman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said. "Time will tell but I have a really good feeling."

Selectman Joseph Nowak said the contract negotiation was a smooth process.

"We were in total agreement … there were some concessions brought from our new town administrator and a few small things, but I think he gave back to us more than we gave him in the contract," Nowak said. "So we did go over it carefully."

The board also accepted a resolution that will designate a new slums and blight area and make it available for Community Development Block Grants.

Mark Maloy of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission also met with the board to present the new area that stretches from Grove Street to Columbia Street.

He said the 533 surveyed properties in the area meet the Department of Housing and Community Development blight standards. DHCD calls for 25 percent of the property to be in fair or poor condition. The designated area has 41.4 percent in fair condition and 4.5 in poor condition. This translates to 264 properties.

"We surveyed each of these from the street," Maloy said. "We looked at the roofs, the windows, doors, siding, porches, the foundation, the parking, and whatever we could asses form the road."

Mark Maloy of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission explains the area being designated as blight.

He said much of the area's infrastructure is in fair condition. He said 70 percent of the six miles of road in the area are in fair condition as well as the sidewalks, curbs, storm drains, parking lots, and sewer.

Selectman John Duval asked if implementing the blight and slums designation would cost the town any money.

Interim Town Administrator Donna Cesan said historically the town has only had to pay small amounts for staff time.

"We have done well over the years in terms of CBDG funding," Cesan said. "The community development staff that would be implementing the projects are also grant funded so if we conduct this as it has been done in the past … it’s basically all grant funding."

Adams last designated blighted areas in 2002. This started the process that lead to the reconstruction of Park Street and Summer Street.

From Empty Storefronts to New Opportunities, Park Street Eyes a Comeback

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:07AM / Tuesday, August 25, 2026

The latest Park Street sale is the 1890 Carlow building, a Queen Ann flatiron, purchased this past spring. The former owners ran Coffee Liberation Front until retiring. 

ADAMS, Mass. — For several years, Park Street has seen a steady stream of businesses open their doors, only to close again after brief operations. Now, some are hopeful of a new beginning, with new businesses bringing fresh energy to the area.

 

Some residents can remember a time when people walked the streets of downtown Adams to shop or eat, whether it was getting your photo taken at Smith Studio, shopping at Schiff Clothing or Groves & Co. Women Apparel, or having lunch or ice cream at The Crest. 

 

Over time, storefronts closed, and the once-bustling street grew quieter, with fewer people on the sidewalks and parking spaces sitting empty.

 

Adams is a very walkable town, said Glen Diehl, who sits on ProAdams Board of Directors.  

 

Diehl highlighted ProAdams' destinations map that sits at the corner of Park Street and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. 

 

The town needs restaurants and businesses he said, and as more move in the nonprofit will update the map. 

 

Small-town retail corridors face challenges from the shift to online shopping and the high cost of renovating historic buildings to meet modern codes, real estate agent Jeffrey Loholdt of Engel and Volkers Wellesley.