Page 12 - BusinessWest May 26, 2025

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
Great Barrington Is a True Destination
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
John Weinstein said the phones started ringing
seemingly within hours after the news broke last
Great Barrington
at a Glance
November.
This was the official announcement that Bard Col-
lege at Simon’s Rock, an institution in Great Barrington
for 60 years, would be closing its campus there and
Year Incorporated: 1761
relocating programs to Bard College’s main campus in
New York for the start of fall classes.
Population: 7,172
The phone calls were — and are (they’re still coming
Area: 45.8 square miles
at a good clip) — from those interested in acquiring and
County: Berkshire
developing all or a piece of the 280-acre campus, with a
wide range of specific intentions, including housing.
Residential Tax Rate: $13.79
“The inquiries have ranged from totality to the
Commercial Tax Rate: $13.79
very granular,” said Weinstein, the school’s vice presi-
Median Household Income: $95,490
dent and provost, meaning everything from the entire
campus to individual buildings to specific pieces of
Median Family Income: $103,135
Healthcare
Women of
Difference
equipment.
Type of Government: Open Town
HEROES
IM IMP P A AC CT T
MA ERS
Interest in those pieces picked up in intensity with
40 Under
FORTY
Meeting
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passage of an overlay zone at the recent town meeting,
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& HEALTHCARE NEWS
Largest Employers: Fairview Hospital;
one that will permit many different uses beyond educa-
Iredale Mineral Cosmetics; Prairie
tion, said Weinstein, adding that some uses — cannabis
Whale
facilities and an amusement park, for example — are
still not allowed.
* Latest information available
The fate of the Bard campus and the prospect of
losing such a large contributor to the Great Barrington
economy are at the top of a long list of storylines involv-
ing this picturesque Southern Berkshires community
and its mostly tourism-driven business community.
DifferenceMA ERS
“This will have an impact on the town in multiple
ways,” said Betsy Andrus, executive director of the
Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, based in
Great Barrington. “We won’t have the influx of students
coming into the town for shopping and eating, and you
also have teachers and staff, an athletic center, and the
Daniel Arts Center; it’s certainly a loss for this area.”
“The inquiries have ranged from totality
to the very granular.”
A loss that is in many ways balanced by anticipation
about what might come next.
As for other storylines, they include everything from
new ownership for several downtown properties — and
reshaping of those properties for retail and office use
(including a new home for the chamber) as well as resi-
dential units — to lingering housing concerns, especially
a shortage of affordable, or ‘workforce,’ units, putting a
burden on both business owners and their employees.
“This whole area needs more workforce housing; our
employees can find places to live, but often at a fairly
substantial commute,” said Janis Martinson, executive
director of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. “It’s a
real challenge; people are coming a long way to get to
40 Under
Alumni
Achievement
FORTY
Award A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
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12 << COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT >>
MAY 26, 2025
Business W est