haggerty- St. John Cantius ChurchCarolyn Misch <cmisch@northamptonma.gov>
St. John Cantius Church
Rick Haggerty <rickkarma15@gmail.com>Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at 1:27 PM
To: cmisch@northamptonma.gov
Dear Hearing members,
The above property needs to be preserved for community use. There are so many community uses that could be made of this building
such as performance space, homeless shelter, banquet hall, art space, dance hall or other cultural or community uses.
This appears to be a typical business profiteering “bait and switch” according to the buyers and city stated intent for the church
building. The recent 4-2-2020 MassLive article stated:
The church building itself will remain on the property after
development, Feiden said. Closed for a decade, the church will
continue to be mothballed while a suitable re-use is found, he said.
"We certainly would like to see it preserved," Feiden said. "We think
they are going to re-use i t."
The building is eligible for historic preservation tax credits that would
help finance a review and is subject to Northampton’s Downtow n
Business District Architecture Review Ordnance.
My fellow community members and I will accept nothing less than reuse. Anything else is a betrayal aimed at
lining the pockets of the developer and we will not allow this. We are outraged.
Sincerely,
Rick Haggerty
63 Nonotuck St.
Florence MA
413-320-2570