Adams 2022 Year in Review

Neal was given a tour of the Outdoor Center site on Wednesday, as he announced a $1 million earmark for the building.

ADAMS, Mass. — In 2022, Adams received millions of dollars in aid from local, state and federal sources, funding that will benefit both private and municipal investments in town. 

Several of these projects have been ongoing or ready to begin for several years. Many of them will be complete or have made significant progress by the end of the new year. 

Greylock Glen

Both Governor Charlie Baker and U.S. Rep Richard Neal visited the site of the Greylock Glen Outdoor Center this year, which broke ground in August. 

"For us to have a chance to come out and celebrate this project, given how long people have worked on this and how important it is, to this part of Massachusetts, was important to us," Baker said before an audience of more than 100 local officials and residents when he visited the site in August. 

In January, the Baker administration provided an additional $2.8 million to the $6.5 million in funding when bids for the center came in too high. The state has committed $7.3 million to the center's construction. 

The project also received a $1 million earmark from the federal omnibus spending bill in March. In May, the project got another $2.9 million for water infrastructure. 

When complete, the 9,200 square-foot outdoor center will feature exhibit space, classrooms and a restaurant. 

Also, approved this year was the campsite at the Glen, which, when complete, will create 35 cabins, 19 mirror houses, nine Airstreams and nine regular camping sites. There are also several planned trail improvements throughout the glen. 

Howland Avenue

Howland Avenue, the condition of which residents had complained about for many years, was resurfaced at the end of 2022. The resurfacing was entirely paid for by the state and came at no cost to the town. 

The entire road, from the Adams-North Adams town line to the rotary, was milled and resurfaced by the state Department of Transportation in October and November. The resurfacing, however, is just the start, as the town plans to redesign the roadway entirely, converting it into two lanes. 

Adams officials held an open house for the redesign in March. The project would revamp the road from Lime Street to the Adams-North Adams line, and the town hopes construction would begin sometime in 2028.

Town Meetings

Two town meetings happened this year, held for the first time in the former Memorial School building. Early in the year, the Board of Selectmen dissolved the subcommittee that worked toward the reuse of the former middle school as renovations had mostly been completed.

The annual town meeting in June approved the sale of the former community center, which CMV Construction Services will soon convert into a housing complex and day-care center. CMV expects the estimated $1 million first phase of construction to be complete by 2023. 

The Nov. 15 special town meeting approved an additional $2.37 million in funding for improvements to the wastewater treatment plant. Town meeting gave the OK to just more than $5 million for the plant in 2021, but additional funding was needed, as the lowest bid came above this amount. 

The Adams Fire District also held two meetings in 2022. The annual meeting, held in May, rejected bylaw amendments to the fire protection and street lighting fees. 

The changes resulted from a class-action lawsuit last year against the district, a settlement for which the district's prudential committee signed in October. A second meeting was held in June and approved the bylaw changes. 

Adams Theater

Adams Theater, which has been in the process of renovations, received an $800,000 grant from the state's Underutilized Properties Program. This money came to the theater from a fundraising effort, culminating in a benefit concert by piano group Two Piano Journey on Nov. 11. 

The fundraiser, which was to support design, development, engineering, marketing, programming, legal, insurance, and utility expenses for the theater in 2023, eventually surpassed its $80,000 goal. 

Adams Theater Founder Yina Moore also opened the Adams Incubator with the help of 1Berkshire, funded by a one-time pop-up grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. 

Election 2022

The former Memorial School Building was also the site of this year's elections, instead of the Department of Public Works garage as in previous years. During the town elections in May, residents voted incumbents Joseph Nowak and Richard Blanchard back onto the Board of Selectmen. 

Nowak received 335 votes, while Blanchard received 287. The highest vote-getter on the ballot was Library Trustee Virginia Duval, who received 341 votes.

All candidates on the ballot, whether incumbents or newcomers, were running unopposed in this year's election.

New Pet Food Pantry Helping Adams, Area Pet Owners

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:16PM / Monday, December 22, 2025

Kathy Hynes, right, and Tammy Baker have been collecting pet food for the pantry since October.

ADAMS, Mass. — Santa was at the former Firehouse Cafe on Saturday greeting pet owners as volunteers gave out bags of food for pet owners in need. 

Kathy "Skippy" Hynes and Tammy Baker collected donations to start the pet food pantry in late October.

"I know owning pets and running a rescue how very expensive everything is, and I know that I'm fortunate enough to be able to have money to feed my animals and get what I need and run the rescue. But there's a lot of people that aren't so lucky, and the goal is to never have to surrender your pet because you can't afford to feed it," said Hynes, who runs a dog rescue.

Donations can be dropped off at Town Hall; the pantry will be open once a week for those who need pet food.

"So we're just trying to help, and even if it's only to get them over a hump, they come in once or twice, and then they don't come back for a few weeks," Hynes said. "That's fine, but it's the whole idea of trying to get them over that little hump, because it's giving somebody 10 pounds of food, maybe all it takes, and they can say, now, hey, I got some money for gas."

On Saturday, Hynes was open with help from the Adams Fire Department. Even Santa Claus showed up and greeted kids and took pictures.

Hynes hopes to keep the pantry going until February, and also plans to work with her veterinary team from South Deerfield to bring a low-cost vaccination clinic in the spring.

"Donations are greatly appreciated, and the goal is to keep this going through Valentine's Day, and then our long-term goal is to have our veterinary team do a low cost vaccination clinic late spring," she said.

Hynes is no stranger to helping animals as she runs her own rescue, Got Spots Etc. She donates food to rescues all over the area. She even recalled sending more than 6,000 pounds of feed for animals in North Carolina after it was devastated by floods last year.

A few firefighters brought on of the rescue trucks and had it lighted up out front to let people know they were there as well as helped bring food to some resident's cars. 

Fire Chief John Pansecchi thanked the firefighters for being there as well as Hynes.

"I think it's a great thing she is doing for the animals," he said.

Hynes will post on her Facebook page to let people know when she will be open with the pet food pantry. She said she will try to be open at the former Firehouse Cafe on Wednesdays for an hour but that might change.