Community Sessions Will Inform Mohawk Theater RFP
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Residents will have a chance to weigh in on future plans for the Mohawk Theater during two forums in March.
The forums will be held Monday, March 7, and Wednesday, March 9, both at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey said they will be informational sessions on how the request for proposals process works and for brainstorming ideas to inform bidders what the community would like.
"The focus is to engage the community and that they have a voice," said Macksey.
The mayor withdrew a bid recommended by the prior administration just weeks into her term. The proposal by a New York developer to transform the former movie house into an events venue for a planned hotel at 103 Main St. drew condemnation from residents at several City Council meetings.
Many objected that the plans didn't include a long hoped for performing arts venue and that the price accepted was only $21,000 (the RFP also required the winning bidder to restore the marquee.)
The future of the 84-year-old Main Street structure has been in doubt for more than 35 years now. The movie house has been vacant since about 1991 and the interior completely gutted nearly two years ago. The costs and space needs to transform the cinema into a performing arts venue have been daunting.
The city has invested $2,656,435 in public grants into the theater project with $889,000 used for various studies and engineering, including a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant of $30,000 to look into connecting it to the Dowlin Block, where the proposed hotel would be located.
Another $600,000 in borrowing approved by the City Council in 2009 with the supposition that historic tax credits would somehow pay that off. About $52,000 is left on that loan.
Macksey had said her decision to reject the proposal was based the loan debt and that the bidder didn't have enough time to put forth an "adequate" plan.
Veselko Buntic, the sole bidder, told the City Council during a presentation of his plans that he had learned about the request for proposals about a week before it was due and that he would have provided a more comprehensive presentation given more time.
The mayor said she wants to be sure there is more communication and transparency when this next RFP goes out.
"I want to get some community input and in the RFP, it's a little unique, but we're gonna have community comment," she said. "Just thoughts about what people want, but the understanding that we know that the Mohawk can't stay the way it was. We need to get up with current times."
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