Thursday, April 22, 2021, NewEnglandSkiIndustry.com
Though the ski season ended just weeks ago, Blue Chair Properties and Mill Town Capital are already pushing into another major project. Demolition of the aging base lodge commenced this week so that a new structure can be built in its place.
The 15,400 square building likely dates back to 1941, when snow trains brought thousands of skiers to Pittsfield during Clarence Bousquet's ownership. Later, under the ownership of his son Paul, a 2,500 square foot addition was constructed on the east side of the building in 1972.
In its place will be a slightly larger 15,800 square foot lodge, designed to better handle skiing and non-skiing operations (including a proposed lift-served mountain bike park). Town approval was granted last month.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Bousquet stated, "We are thrilled to begin construction of the new Bousquet base area lodge, slated for completion by the start of the 21/22 season. The structural and safety challenges of the old Bousquet lodge finally grew too large to overcome. We’ve carefully saved photos, beams, and other nostalgic components of the old lodge and look forward to incorporating some of those pieces in the new design. Cheers to the many memories made in this building and to the many more that will be made in the next chapter of this historic ski area’s story!"
Blue Chair Properties, a subsidiary of Mill Town Capital, purchased the 155 acre ski area from Tamarack Ski Nominee Trust for $1,071,000 in May 2020. Mill Town Capital was founded by Dalton native Dave Mixer in September 2016. Pittsfield native Tim Burke serves as CEO of the company, which owns a variety of commercial and residential properties in the area. Schaefer Resort Management, owners of Berkshire East and Catamount, serve as managing consultants.
Since purchasing the ski area last spring, Blue Chair Properties has installed a refurbished summit chair and overhauled snowmaking and night skiing.
