NORTH ADAMS — As Harriman-and-West Airport moves forward with projects including a new hangar and restaurant, it is also landing the newest location of an Albany-based flight school.

Maura Hewison, of Hewison Aviation, announced at Tuesday's Airport Commission meeting that the company will bring its flight training operations to North Adams — its fourth location and first in Massachusetts.

“I've made a lot of connections, can't say who they are yet because a lot of things aren’t written in stone,” said Hewison, the company’s chief of operations. “But we plan on having an open house and I'd love to do something like a pancake breakfast …things other airports do that bring in people and make people happy about aviation.”

Maura Hewison, left, operations manager at Hewison Aviation, announced at Tuesday's airport commission meeting that the company would bring its Albany-based flight training school to the airport.

Hewison did not provide a timeline of when the flight school would begin operating, but said more details would be unveiled in a month or two.

“You will see people in the airport, classes going on, things happening on Saturdays, possibly ground school, to liven up the airport because it needs some joy brought in,” she said.

The flight school comes as the airport commission oversees several other projects including a new hangar, signage and restaurant, all aimed at livening up airport activity and connecting it with the community.

Hewison said the company is hiring a flight instructor and plans to begin as a Part 61 flight school, which offers more flexible, personalized training than the more structured Part 141 model.

Hewison Aviation took over Harriman-and-West operations in September and hired manager Andrew Franklin in October. Hewison would fill in should Franklin be unavailable and according to its website, Hewison has a staff of about 25 people.

Hewison also said the company will base some of its aircraft at Harriman-and-West, with more expected once the new hangar is operational.

“We're going to keep one plane here right now, grow the flight school organically like at our other locations, start offering discovery flights and things like that, so stay tuned,” she said.

Renewed activity at the airport comes as it rebounds from a long-running local dispute tied to a hangar demolition in 2020 — a conflict that led to multiple commissioner and airport manager resignations and disrupted day-to-day operations throughout 2024 and 2025.

Peter Enzien, the airport’s engineer from Stantec, said that plans are completed for the $1 million six-unit 147-foot T-hangar that would be funded through state and federal funds.

One last-minute design change, made after a MassDOT review, adds a multi-meter electrical system. Each unit will be metered separately, with its own breaker panel and a central house meter.

The project went out to bid March 25, but no contractors attended pre-bid or question meetings — a “little concerning,” Enzien said, noting that two or three attended similar meetings for the northeast hangar project completed in 2024.

However, two electrical sub-bids came in at the engineer’s estimate.

A new roof for the run-down and currently closed Shamrock hangar was also included as an alternate in the general contractor bids. Enzien said that once bids are opened Thursday, the project team will have a better idea of where it stands.

Commissioner David Hooper also shared early designs for potential new signage, recommending that it become larger, include signage for whatever the new restaurant becomes and that it highlights the community's personality.

Airport commissioners, from left, Robert Grandchamp, Dean Bullett, James Haskins and Rita Sporbert, at Harriman-and-West Airport in North Adams created an advisory board for reviewing restaurant vendor proposals on Tuesday. The board will include Sporbert and Bullett, city procurement officer Thomas Peterson and Director of Community Development Marya Kozik.

In an effort to bring a restaurant vendor to the airport’s administrative building, the city also put out a request for proposals that are due May 8.

Tuesday night, commissioners created an advisory board for reviewing the proposals. The board will include Commissioners Rita Sporbert and Dean Bullett, city procurement officer Thomas Peterson and Director of Community Development Marya Kozik.

Hewison complimented the airport space, saying it had “untapped potential” and thought the restaurant idea would complement the flight school.

“I look forward to seeing what we can do for North Adams, the kids, the high school, the college, the dad who is 40 and started training at 16 and life happened, but now he's got money," she said.