NORTHAMPTON — Architect Tristram W. Metcalfe III is working on plans to create as many as 12 condominiums inside the former St. John Cantius Church, a project aimed at preventing the demolition of a Northampton landmark beloved by the Polish community.
But the problem is Metcalfe isn’t working for the owners, Holyoke-based O’Connell Development. He is working with community groups who oppose O’Connell’s plans to demolish the church and replace it with five townhomes as part of its Hawley Manor development.
“I’m trying to show the potential,” Metcalfe said this week. “To me it’s a slam dunk to save that church for residential use.”
The 77-year-old said he’s seen too many historic buildings disappear in Northampton.
“Our group is still trying to figure out different ways to stop the demolition,” Metcalfe said.
Metcalfe has been an architect for more than 50 years and has a number of historic preservation projects under his belt. He did previous design work for a different group that hoped to redevelop the St. John Cantius property but lost funding and abandoned its plans.
Polish immigrants established the parish in 1904 with just $77. The building dates to 1913. The real St. John Cantius was a Polish academic who died in 1473.
The church closed in 2009 when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield consolidated its Northampton parishes. In March 2020 the diocese sold the St. John Cantius property and its 2.23 acres to O’Connell for $1.6 million. At the time O’Connell said it would build townhomes on the rest of the property but retain the church.
But in February O’Connell applied to the city for permission to demolish the church, saying redevelopment plans were not economically feasible due to the pandemic and that the structure had deteriorated.
After a public outcry and two long meetings, the Northampton Central Business Architecture Committee denied permission for O’Connell to demolish the building, leaving it up to the company to come back with a new plan. It has not yet done so. The company didn’t respond to requests for comment this week.
Opponents of demolition like former city employee Terry Masterson fear the next Architecture Committee meeting could come up at any time, and they want to be ready. Those working to save the church have sent 250 postcards to Northampton stakeholders, leaders, officials and board members, Masterson said.
On Thursday night, people interested in saving the church were told they couldn’t speak on the subject during the public input portion of a Northampton Planning Board Meeting because the city expects the developers to ask the Planning Board to reverse the Central Business Architecture Review Committee’s decision and approve the demolition.
But that request is not in hand.
The church also got a writeup in The White Eagle, a Polish-language newspaper published in Connecticut. The story’s headline translates to “What’s next for the church in Northampton.”
Former St. John Cantius Parish and the ongoing Hawley Manor project on Hawley Street in Northampton. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican)
Ward 3 City Councilor James Nash said there needs to be a broader conversation about former churches in the city, including St. Mary’s Church on Elm Street, which has also been closed since 2009.
At 10,544 square feet, St. Mary’s is larger, and would be a more complex redevelopment project, than the 6,000-square-foot St. John Cantius, city officials have said. And unlike St. John Cantius, St. Mary’s still owned by the diocese.
Nash, whose district includes St. John Cantius, said he’s trying to talk with the diocese about restrictive deed covenants that might be making it harder to find a buyer for the property.
The diocese has the St. Mary property listed for sale complete with its rectory and about 1.5 acres of land for $2.9 million. It has been on the market since at least 2016.
Last month, an anonymous donor put up $50,000 through the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts to save endangered churches in Northampton. The donor put $20,000 on deposit to be used for tax-deductible grants to community groups like the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association. The remaining $30,000 would be available for nondeductible uses, for example, direct expenses of the developer or payments to consultants involved in preserving the building.
This week the foundation said the money has not been used.
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