CHESHIRE — One of Northern Berkshire’s largest child care providers will soon face a $6,000 monthly rent increase after the Select Board voted to bring its lease closer to market rate.

Monthly rent for Youth Center Inc., located at the former Cheshire Elementary School on Church Street, will increase from $3,500 to $9,500 starting on July 1.

The increase comes as child care options across Berkshire County are shrinking. Recently, it was announced that after four decades as the town's largest child care provider, the nonprofit Lenox Children’s Center will shut down in five months, leaving 21 infants and toddlers and eight staffers scrambling for options in an area already short on care.

Preschoolers sit down to eat a snack at Youth Center Inc. in Cheshire. The center, of Northern Berkshire’s largest child care providers, will soon face a $6,000 monthly rent increase after the Select Board voted to bring its lease closer to market rate.

The decision was made official at the Oct. 14 Cheshire Select Board meeting, where members voted 4-1 to increase the center's lease, with Chair Shawn McGrath voting against, according to meeting minutes. McGrath voted against the increase because he wanted to see a phased-in approach over a multi-year period, he told The Eagle on Thursday.

Cheshire Select Board member Michelle Francesconi made the motion to increase the rent, and recognized that it will impact a lot of families, but also said that she is often approached by taxpayers regarding the low lease amount.

Youth Center Inc. Executive Director Sonia DiSanti declined to comment on the raise in rent and what it means for the nonprofit’s future in the building.

Youth Center Inc. was established in 1974 and provides a range of services and programs for children and families of Northern Berkshire County. The center moved to Cheshire from Adams in 2019 and recently celebrated 50 years.

Cheshire and Adams residents voted in 2017 to close the school as part of a consolidation plan for the two-town Hoosac Valley Regional School District. As a tenant, the Youth Center was in one of the newer wings, which were added in 1961 and 1995, of the more than 100-year-old building. Town officials are set up in the other wing, as the building serves as Cheshire's Town Hall.

Youth Center Inc. Executive Director Sonia DiSanti talks with Logan Dellaghelfa, 8, about astronauts on the Artemis II mission during the after school program on Thursday. Monthly rent for the center, located at the former Cheshire Elementary School on Church Street, will increase from $3,500 to $9,500 starting on July 1.

The center offers before- and after-school care, teen programs, drop-in programs, preschool and day care, among other services. It serves 1,200 to 1,500 children and families yearly in the Northern Berkshire community, according to DiSanti.

Daily, the center serves 115 youth at its Cheshire location and 10 at its Lanesborough location during the school year. During the summer, it serves approximately 135 in Cheshire and 50 in North Adams.

Early education child care at the center ranges from $250 to $450 weekly, and before- and after-school care is $115 weekly, according to the center's brochure. The center accepts vouchers and does not cap how many families can use them, DiSanti said, adding, “We are really trying to help families this summer due to all the rise in cost.”

Cheshire Town Administrator Jennifer Morse confirmed on Thursday the new rent takes effect July 1.

Kids play on the playground during the Cheshire Youth Center’s after school program on Thursday. The organization is facing a rent increase.

In a phone call with The Eagle on Thursday, McGrath said multiple factors contributed to the Cheshire Select Board’s decision, including budget challenges that are affecting small towns like Cheshire. McGrath stressed that the Board appreciates and respects the work that the Youth Center does, but said that the Board needs to do what’s fiscally responsible for the town.

“We want to keep them,” McGrath said, adding that the Select Board is not trying to price the center out of the building.

In a follow-up email from Morse to the Youth Center on Oct. 16, 2025, Morse said that the Board was looking to make “several improvements to the building” and felt that it was not in the best interests of the town to ask for additional funds from taxpayers while simultaneously renting the space at a rate that is significantly below market rate.

Morse also confirmed that the Board has not had a meeting with the Youth Center since the Oct. 14 meeting.

At that meeting, McGrath said that the Youth Center was looking to discuss the lease amount, as its $3,500 per month agreement was set to expire on June 30, 2026.

McGrath shared that Morse had been tasked with contacting Nocher Realty to get a comparable market rate for the space. The agency provided a market analysis and determined fair market rate for the space would be $9,717.50 per month and that similar properties in the area were being leased for more than $13,000 per month.

According to meeting minutes, the Select Board discussed multiple approaches to increasing the lease amount, including member Ray Killeen’s suggestion of a phased-in approach by doubling the current rate to $7,000 and then increasing it yearly for the next two years. Vice Chair Jason Levesque also proposed going to $6,500 on July 1, with a $1,500 increase for the next two years.

Despite voting no on the motion to increase the rent to $9,500, McGrath agreed with the Board that the space needed to get to market rate. Fellow Select Board member Ron DeAngelis also stated that the town needs the additional revenue for building projects.

The Select Board also discussed the potential loss of the Youth Center if the nonprofit chooses not to renew the lease, and it was mentioned that two other schools have shown interest in the space in the past.