North Adams Year in Review 2025
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll was at Mass MoCA on April 13 for 413 Day.
This fall's election also saw a reconfiguration of the City Council, with voters placing women in the majority for the first time in the city's history. Come Jan. 1, Mayor Jennifer Macksey will be inaugurated for a third term and Ashley Shade will pick up the gavel to lead the City Council for the next term. She is joined by newcomer Alexa MacDonald, Marie McCarron and Lillian Zavatsky, and fellow incumbents Lisa Blackmer, Keith Bona, Peter Breen, Andrew Fitch, Bryan Sapienza.
It remains to be seen how this new council and the mayor will work during what may be a difficult budget year. While the council has largely supported the mayor's actions, they butted heads this past year over appointment authority, kicked off by the drama in the Airport Commission the previous fall. The mayor insisted she didn't need council approval to make appointments to the commission — or any other boards — based on the charter. Some councilors pointed to conflicting state law and opposed losing control over a right they'd exercised for decades. A compromise by the majority recognized the mayor's authority with the caveat that she keep them apprised of appointments.
As for the Airport Commission, it has new members, a new airport manager and seems to have righted itself, at least for the moment.
The City Council did take a stand on rights, declaring North Adams a sanctuary for the LGBTQIA-plus community, and, in the spirit of 1776, declaring monarchs and dictators anathema.
Big Projects
The results of a nearly yearlong study of the Veterans Memorial Bridge by Stoss Landscape Urbanism were presented in December, although the recommendation to remove the span did not come as a surprise. As early as April, the consultants were leaning toward that conclusion after months of research and listening to public feedback.
The city partnered with Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to apply for a $750,000 federal grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act's Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, one of only two communities in Massachusetts that qualified.
Connecting the city's massive museum and its struggling downtown has been a challenge for 25 years. A major impediment, all agree, is the decades old Central Artery project that sent a four-lane highway through the heart of the city in the 1960s. The 171-foot span was deemed "structurally deficient" the state Department of Transportation and its midsection was narrowed by jersey barriers for months.
It's currently undergoing a $19 million repair to keep it functioning until more funding can be acquired for its removal — a multimillion-dollar project that will include reconfiguring intersections to keep traffic flowing east and west. Officials see promise in "restitching" what's now a desert of parking lots and multi-lane roadways to open up land for public use and private development.
Congressman Richie Neal helps celebrate $17 million in federal funding toward bike path design and engineering.
U.S. Rep. Richie Neal was in the city last January to announce $17.3 million in federal funding for the "Adventure to Ashuwillticook Trail," a 9.3-mile section that will run through North Adams. The collaborative grant administered by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission will cover the entire preparation phase — planning, design and permitting — to emerge in "shovel-ready" status.
A completed trail would connect North County from Syndicate Road (Route 7) in Williamstown to Merrill Road in Pittsfield, around 25 miles. This will eventually link up to a proposed bike path in Lee, years down the road.
And thirdly, the new Greylock Elementary School has moved into the bidding stage, with general contractors' bids due on Jan. 14. Voters approved a debt exclusion for the city's nearly $20 million share of the project back in 2024, so the past year has been all about the design. Subcommittees consisting of staff, faculty, designers and officials have been meeting regularly to pin down design aesthetics, mechanics and functions for the prekindergarten to Grade 2 school. It will be 2026 before the physical work begins — a groundbreaking for the school and the demolition of the old school — with an anticipated opening in fall 2027. See all our articles here.
In other news, there were some highs and a few lows. The Brown Street Bridge's two-year closure ended after $350,000 in repairs; a $2 million MassWorks grant will allow reconstruction on the collapsing Walnut Street and another $1 million in grant funds will go toward downtown infrastructure and Western Gateway Heritage State Park; the landmark Church Street mansions were finally acquired by the city after years lingering in Land Court and sold into private hands (and are already looking better); lots of paving and street reconstruction were completed near the college, and the library's historic belvedere is in the midst of a restoration.
The Department of Public Works spent a frigid weekend fixing broken water pipes, a reminder of the city's aging infrastructure; and Starbucks took a time out, leaving the redevelopment of the former St. Francis property in limbo.
People in the News
The year saw departures and personnel changes with Barbara Malkas ending her nine-year tenure as the city's superintendent and the appointment of Timothy Callahan to replace her, and the city made its acting Police Chief Mark Bailey permanent.
Retiring Superintendent Barbara Malkas, left, poses with the new North Adams schools new administrators — Assistant Superintendent Annie Pecor, left, Superintendent Timothy Callahan and Director of Professional Learning Kimberlee Chappell.
The city mourned the passing of Robert Davis, longtime McCann Technical School teacher, musician and civic and community activist; Daniel Connerton, a professor emeritus of history at MCLA who served on city boards and commissions; and Robert LeClair, a retired elementary schoolteacher best known for his more than 30 years of coaching football and basketball at local high schools.
Two fires claimed three victims this past year. Four-year-old Ensley Lacosse died when her West Shaft Road home caught fire in March, and two other family members were seriously injured. In November, fire claimed the lives of Donald Hazard, 83, and Venture Hazard, 76; their son, Darius Hazard, 44, has been charged with murder and arson in their deaths.
Business in 2025
The business community saw quite a few changes: Greylock Bowl and its restaurant changed owners after more than a decade; a new dentist opened a practice in the city; the Blackinton Mill started cabin production; Grazie moved down the street; Village Pizza closed after more than 40 years in business; Door Prize restaurant opened in Downstreet Hotel; Main Street got a bagel shop and a popular new bakery/lounge; and a local clothing thrift store got a community boost to make it through the winter.
Creative Economy
In the arts, Williamstown Theatre Festival took a step west, opening a blackbox theater in the former Price Chopper; the Hatchlings lit up the downtown, providing a favorite backdrop for taking photos; the Friends of the Public Library celebrated 50 years with a picnic and talk by author Joyce Maynard; City Hall is hosting a sculpture by Peter May; MCLA held a groundbreaking for the new Kleefeld Arts Center on campus; and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll kicked off "413 Day" at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
North Adams also played host in September to the Rural Innovation Network Summit, a national gathering of policy leaders and rural economy innovators. The Berkshire Innovation Center and 1Berkshire partnered in bringing the sixth annual summit to North Adams.
In November, the Western Massachusetts Arts Economic Impact Summit brought creatives from the nonprofit, for-profit and governmental worlds together at Mass MoCA to talk housing, energy, grants and funding, training and retaining, partnerships and sustaining with state officials.
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