The Gordman's sign is still up on the largely empty department store building off Main Street. A realty company has purchased the entire plaza for $2 million.
Former Kmart Plaza Sold to Connecticut Realty Company
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Steeple City Plaza was sold last month to a Connecticut realty company for $2 million.
NRT Realty LLC of Avon, Conn., closed on the parcel on April 28, according to records at the Registry of Deeds. The manager is identified as N. Robert Trigg of Avon; a phone number listed for Trigg was not in service.
Thomas Krens had indicated interest in purchasing the former the Kmart plaza as a site for his Extreme Model Railroad and Contemporary Architecture Museum. The offices for the proposed museum are located on the Main Street side of the L-shaped mall.
The potential for using that location had been part of a presentation to downtown business owners and the mayor more than a year ago but it's not clear if that is still in the works. EMRCAM had initially been planned for Western Gateway Heritage State Park and there had been talk about it shifting southward toward the old Sons of Italy and the now closed Apkin scrapyard.
The more than 7-acre site on Main Street includes the L-shaped mall along Main and American Legion Drive and the former 93,000 square-foot Kmart building, which currently houses V&V liquors, a Rent a Center and a Planet Fitness.
First Hartford Realty of Manchester, Conn., bought the plaza in 2005 for $10.58 million, three years after Kmart had closed its operations there. The realty company deals in commercial development, shopping centers and multifamily housing.
First Hartford brought in a number of stores to fill the vacant department store, including Peebles, Olympic Sports, a small Sears store and Staples. The company's owner Neil Ellis had been interested in commercial development of North Adams since urban renewal in the late 1960s.
Over the past decade, Staples moved out and the liquor store moved in, Peebles was briefly replaced by a Gordmans that closed in 2020 only a few months after opening, Olympia and Sears shuttered and the North Adams Cinemas closed earlier this year. Ellis had kept the movie theater afloat for years after it moved into the east end of the building.
The L-shaped mall has had a number of tenant changes over the years and it currently houses longtime tenant Papa Gino's, a dollar store, Label Shopper, T-Mobile and an H-R Block. A Greylock Federal Credit Union drive-up and Burger King are located in separate buildings.
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North Adams School Finance Panel Reviews Fiscal 2026 Spending Plan
By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance & Facilities Committee took a deeper dive this week into next year's school spending plan.
The draft proposal for fiscal 2026 is $21,636,220, up 3.36 percent that will be offset with $940,008 in school choice funds, bringing the total to $20,696,212, or a 2.17 percent increase.
Business and Finance Director Nancy Rauscher said the district's school choice account would be in relatively good shape at the end of fiscal 2026.
As a practice, the district has been to trying not to exceed the prior year's revenue and to maintain a 5 percent surplus for unexpected special education expenses. However, this year's revenue would be about $500,000 so the amount used would be significantly more.
"But given our current balance, we could absorb that in the net result of what we're anticipating in the way of revenue next year," Rauscher said. "Relative to committing $940,000 to school choice spending next year, that would leave us with a projected balance at the end of FY 26 of a little over $1.2 million, and that's about 6 percent of our operating budget."
But committee members expressed concerns about drawing down school choice funds that are projected to decrease in coming years.
"I think mostly we're going to go through this and we're going to see things that this just can't be cut, right? It's just, it is what it is, and if we want to provide, what we can provide," said Richard Alcombright. "How do we prepare for this, this revenue shortfall?"
Ashlyn Lesure scored 18 points, and Regan Shea and Emma Meczywor added 15 and 11, respectively, as the Hurricanes successfully defended their 2024 state crown and won the program’s fourth state title in a run that has seen Hoosac Valley go to the state final nine times since 2014. click for more
The draft proposal for fiscal 2026 is $21,636,220, up 3.36 percent that will be offset with $940,008 in school choice funds, bringing the total to $20,696,212, or a 2.17 percent increase.
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Two members of the family, an adult and a minor, sustained serious injuries; two members of the family, an adult and a minor, sustained minor injuries; and one four-year old child died inside the residence. click for more
Mayor Jennifer Macksey had hoped to gain immediate approval on the purchase-and-sale agreement with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation but councilors balked at approving a document they'd had for only a few days.
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Moresi & Associates is moving forward with housing in the former Notre Dame School and the Williamstown Theatre Festival is planning performances in North Adams.
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