To the Editor:
It is really wonderful there is so much attention being focused on saving the school. Unfortunately, it is the wrong school. While Monument High School spirals into disrepair, certain members of our community seem more concerned about “saving” Searles School instead of improving the educational environment for our students.
On the surface, they seem totally unrelated but they are distinctively linked to the economic vitality of Great Barrington and Berkshire County. Without a modernized high school, our students will not have the competitive advantage other schools have in our state for their future. We, the citizens of Great Barrington, are now faced with funding a minimum of $11 million from an already stressed town budget.
The solution seems very simple in order to order to save the real school. Allow the Mahidas to build The Berkshire Hotel. A luxury hotel will bring desperately needed tax revenue from its guests and the many businesses that will benefit. If a 95 room hotel has 60 percent average occupancy, it means over 25,000 guests on the streets of Great Barrington, shopping at stores, going to movies and concerts, drinking coffee, eating pizza and other fine dining. A percentage of them may want to relocate here or invest in a second home.
We should give the benefit of the doubt to experienced hoteliers that their projections are accurate. After all, they are putting up several million dollars and the bank is financing over $20 million.
The “backup” proposal for building condos seems like a good solution on the surface, but talk to another development group that has tried to do the same thing. They will tell you it is not economically feasible with ADA code, asbestos and other environmental cleanup. And why should Jane Iredale and Bob Montgomery accept $350,000 less than the Mahida’s offer of $850,000?
If the Berkshire Hotel initiative fails to pass the town selectboard, we will all be faced with a broken down, graffiti laced structure for another ten years serving as an eyesore and more importantly, a safety hazard to our youth.
I’ve followed this project for months as this community has debated every aspect of the proposal. However, I fear the complexity of the debate may be clouding the simplicity of the decision. This project is ultimately a choice between our investing in our future or chasing away true economic development without any legitimate alternative. For the sake of our beloved town, I hope we choose wisely.
Dan Lipson
Great Barrington
