NORTHAMPTON — The owner of the vacant St. John Cantius Church wants to apply for Community Preservation Act funds to preserve and restore the structure that, for about a year, it has been seeking permission to demolish.
O’Connell Development Group filed a form, made available by the city on Tuesday, asking for an eligibility determination for an unspecified amount of taxpayer money “for the repair and rehabilitation of the damaged exterior and overall building structure … to support the redevelopment of the former St. John Cantius Church into a for-rent multifamily property.”
The new plan is a notable departure from the Holyoke developer’s previous insistence on demolishing the structure — built on Hawley Street by Polish immigrants in 1904 and vacant since 2010 — to make room for five townhomes. O’Connell is in the process of constructing townhomes on the next-door site of the church’s former rectory and parish hall.
Matthew Welter, O’Connell’s vice president of development, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Wayne Feiden, the city’s planning and sustainability director, said that starting the CPA process does not prevent O’Connell from continuing to pursue demolition.
“They’re totally, in good faith, looking at all the options and trying to save the building if they can,” Feiden said. Improvements that serve a private financial purpose are not eligible for CPA funding, but “sealing the envelope” of a damaged historic building can be eligible, he said.
When Deborah Henson, who has spent months organizing against any plan to knock down the old church, heard about O’Connell’s plan on Tuesday, she said it “sounds like it’s great news.”
“We’d be happy to get together (with O’Connell) and share ideas,” Henson said. “If it would be affordable housing, that would be great, because there’s a need for that around here.”
Henson, chairperson of the group Friends of St. John Cantius, said that members “have different favorite ideas … but we would all feel successful” if the church remains standing.
The city’s Central Business Architecture Committee is responsible for reviewing O’Connell’s application to demolish the building, first submitted in January 2021. The committee denied the application in April, but asked for more detailed drawings, which has kept the issue alive.
The committee met Tuesday night and approved O’Connell’s latest request for a 60-day continuance. The demolition permit is now scheduled for consideration again on March 1 at 6:30 p.m., even as O’Connell pursues CPA funding.
If the developer is approved to apply for the funding, the application will be due this month. The Community Preservation Committee will consider all applications and make recommendations to the City Council, which would vote on the distribution of CPA money in the spring.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.