Letter: Fitch the Right Candidate for City Council

To the Editor:

Andrew Fitch would be an excellent addition to the North Adams City Council and I am writing to show support for his election to the Council.

Since coming to North Adams, Andrew has demonstrated a strong passion for the city. He has become an active member of several organizations and boards, including First Fridays, North Adams Pride, North Adams Vacant Storefront Window Art, and more. He is a current member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and is co-chair of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Commission.

Andrew brings a diverse background of experience to North Adams. His education in political science combined with his community volunteer work and career in community engagement and DEI make Andrew a highly qualified candidate with the ability to hit the ground running for positive change in our city.

Nancy Bullett
North Adams, Mass. 

Bullett is a former city councilor

North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:19AM / Thursday, May 02, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.

 

"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."

 

The fate of the facility attached to Brayton School has been in limbo since the closure of the pool last year because of structural issues and the departure of the Berkshire Family YMCA in March.

 

The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name. 

 

"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."

 

The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected. 

 

"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...