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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

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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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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Retiring Superintendent Named to North Adams' Women's Hall of Fame

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
 NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Superintendent Barbara Malkas last week was inducted into the Women's History Hall of Fame in North Adams. 
 
The honor was established several years ago by Mayor Jennifer A. Macksey to recognize women who have played important roles in the city's history. 
 
At the end of last week's School Committee meeting, Macksey asked if anyone knew who Julia Dewey was. 
 
"No? She was the first female superintendent that served from 1893 to 1895 and another fun fact, did you know that Dr. Barbara Malkas is the second female superintendent serving from 2016 to now," the mayor said.
 
Malkas, who is retiring at the end of the school year, "is a true testament of a community leader for her stewardship and volunteer work within the city and beyond," said Macksey.
 
She listed the awards the superintendent has been presented, including the Against the Tide Award from the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, of which Malkas is president, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents' 2019 President's Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education, the Unsung Heroine Award during COVID-19, Commonwealth Superintendent of the Year in 2024, and the Zonta Club of Berkshire County award for building a better work for women and girls.
 
"Dr. Malkas, you've been a mentor, a trusted colleague and a friend to many of us over the years," said the mayor. "I see it most fitting as you prepare for your retirement to honor you for your unwavering commitment to education, to our students in this great city of North Adams. ... 
 
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