Bascom Lodge to Open Memorial Day Weekend

ADAMS, Mass. — Bascom Lodge will open to overnight guests and visitors on Memorial Day weekend.

Manager Peter Dudek told the the Mount Greylock Advisory Council on Wednesday that the lodge has overnight reservations starting on May 24. Park roads are scheduled to open on May 18 and the War Memorial Tower on May 25.

John Dudek and Brad Parsons retired from the Bascom Lodge Group last year, 13 years into the group's 25-year lease with the state. Peter Dudek, John's brother, is running the operation this season.

"We're opening on Memorial Day weekend and want to have the usual assortment of the cultural programming every Sunday," he said, adding that the historic building is booked for weddings and other events, too.

Built in 1930, the lodge sits atop the state's highest mountain and offers nine rooms for boarding at different privacy levels, dining, and special events. It has accommodations for about 34 people and has hosted popular dinners and an array of programming. 

Dudek said it has full lodging staff but needs additional employees in other areas.

"When we first started it was really easy to find help. They just came to us automatically," he added. "But over the years, you have to advertise more and more and that seems to get very little."

He said the operating hours, as usual, will be just on the weekends to start and then move to five or seven days a week during the summer. It will be closed on most Mondays and Tuesdays but reservations won't be refused on those days, Dudek added, though dinner may not be available.

In the coming week, a program will be added to the Bascom Lodge website. There is Sunday programming starting on opening weekend into early September and some on Wednesdays as well.

Special Minerals Agrees to Pay Adams, River Groups Over River Discharge

Staff ReportsiBerkshires
02:58PM / Friday, May 03, 2024

Adams plans to use the $50,000 it will get in the consent decree toward the removal of the Peck's Road Dam. 

BOSTON — Specialty Minerals is expected to pay $299,000 for a discharge of calcium carbonate into the Hoosic River nearly three years ago in a consent decree with the Attorney General's Office. 

 

The river turned visibly white from Adams to the Vermont state line from the mineral that leaked out from the plant's settling ponds on Howland Avenue in November 2021. 

 

Calcium carbonate, also known as chalk or limestone, is not toxic to humans or animals. However, the sudden discoloration of the water alarmed local officials and environmentalists and prompted an emergency session of the Northern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee. 

 

"We allege that this company violated its permits, disregarded federal and state law, and put the Hoosic River — a resource cherished by the Adams community — at risk," said AG Andrea Campbell in a statement. "I am grateful for this collaboration with our state agency partners and committed to holding polluters accountable and working to bring resources back to communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harms."   

 

If approved by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the consent decree will require Specialty Minerals to pay a total of $299,000, which includes payments to the town of Adams and three community groups in Northern Berkshire County that will be used to benefit water quality and prevent stormwater impacts. 

 

Once approved, most of the settlement would fund multiple projects to benefit water quality, including infrastructure improvements and native plantings to mitigate stormwater impacts in the Hoosic River Watershed. Specifically, the proposed settlement provides for: 

• $50,000 to the town of Adams for infrastructure improvements in a tributary of the Hoosic River
• $50,000 to Hoosic River Revival for stormwater mitigation projects  
• $50,000 to Hoosic River Watershed Association for a native plant garden and other projects to mitigate stormwater impacts and benefit water quality 
• $50,000 to Sonrisas to fund invasive plant removal and native plant habitat establishment at Finca Luna Búho, a community land project that centers the voices and prioritizes the decision-making of those living in marginalization. 

It will also provide $30,000 in civil assessments to the state's Natural Heritage Endangered Species Fund and $20,000 in civil penalties for violation of state law, as well as $49,000 to offset the costs of the AG's enforcement efforts.