Jiu Jitsu Studio Approved in North Adams

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
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The empty space had been the Green, used by a church and for community events.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A former worship space at 85 Main St. will be now be home for a martial arts studio. 
 
The Planning Board on Monday approved an application for Steeple City Jiu Jitsu to set up shop in the former Green, a community and event space operated by Terra Nova Church. 
 
The church, which has branches in Albany and Saratoga, N.Y., closed in North Adams last fall, and the Green along with it. The space had been used for community forums, farmers markets, and other events. 
 
"I currently own a space that's part time, and my business partner does in Williamstown, and we're going to combine efforts and start a jiu jitsu studio in 85 Main St.," Timothy Stys told planners. "We're pretty much done everything up to this point except for this, and we're going to sign the lease and potentially start in August, having a vibrant kids program and adult program."
 
Stys operates RGS Underground, a jiu jitsu and kickboxing studio in Readsboro, Vt., and his business partner runs Jon Manley MMA in Williamtstown. They each have about 30 students but expect that number to climb once they have a full-time dedicated studio. 
 
"We are combining our efforts, assets, skills, and experience to bring an already established product to the local community on a bigger scale with full-time class offerings each week," Stys wrote in his application. 
 
Stys said he has a purple belt earned under Manley and has nearly eight years experience in jiu jitsu and a year in kickboxing. He also has owned and operated the Readsboro General Store for nearly five years. 
 
Manley has a black belt in jiu jitsu and is a wrestler and professional mixed martial arts fighter. He has nearly 20 years experience in those disciplines. 
 
The studio will occupy suites 105, 107 and 109 and hours will range from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
 
The board also approved signage for Wheeler & Taylor at 466 Curran Highway, the old WNAW (WMNB) radio station. 
 
Northern Berkshire Broadcasting Co. Inc. sold the building to Curran Memorial Properties LLC, with principal Chad Yonker, for $200,000 in 2023. Yonker is chairman & CEO of GoodWorks Financial Group, of which Wheeler & Taylor is a member. 
 
The insurance agency has offices in Great Barrington, Stockbridge and Pittsfield. This will be its first in North Berkshire. 
 
A representative from Saxton Sign of Albany, N.Y., said the signage would include an electronic message center to promote their products and services. 
 
"They also would like the board to know that they will donate generously on the sign for public service events and serve civic organizations, community events and such, and then the sign will not flash or animate," he said. "It will not change more than I would say every maybe 30 seconds."
 
The sign will also dim at night so it won't be too bright.
 
Board Chair Brian Miksic said the board's main issue with electronic signs has been their "volatility" and didn't see a problem with 30 seconds. 
 
The board also approved short-term rental applications for Craig Ferris for property at 37 Watson St., and Greta Gacchetti for property at 202 Furnace St., Apartment 1.  

Tags: martial arts,   signage,   

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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