St John Cantius demolitionFaye Wolfe
28 Phillips Place
Northampton, MA
I am writing in support of the demolition of St. John Cantius, with the hope that they be replaced by residences in keeping with the historic nature of Phillips Place and the neighborhood.
I sympathize with those who have a sentimental attachment to the church, and over the years I have appreciated aspects of its architecture. Although I know that churches can often be
repurposed—and I’m all for it in principle—I can also believe the wealth of information provided by the developers that to bring the church up to code, never mind to render it functional
and useful, would be prohibitive. And to make it energy-efficient,still higher. Living a few doors down from the church, and walking past it nearly every day at least once, I have been
very aware of how for a decade it stood empty and seemingly unmaintained, while the property was on the market. I never saw any work being done to the church in those years. Even lawn-mowing
and basic landscaping upkeep were erratically attended to in those years, so I suspect, though I can’t say conclusively, that more serious maintenance—an absolute necessity for 100-year-old
structures—was probably not a priority of the diocese.
I also have not heard any feasible proposals for what new role the church could play. A restaurant? They struggle at the best of times, and I doubt that even a return to pre-COVID normalcy
would allow one at that location to survive. I have seen dozens of restaurants come and go, because they couldn’t make a go of it, in the time I have lived in Northampton. A prime restaurant
location on Main Street, where Spoleto used to be, has been vacant since 2012. A live music venue? The post-midnight weekend noise from nightclubs downtown was never music to my neighbors’
and my ears. I also would object vehemently to any proposal that brings still more parked cars, traffic, and trucks down my already vehicle-beleaguered little street.
My research turned up several maps of the neighborhood(see below) that show houses and a lot of open space before the church was built. Over the years, the church proceeded to create
two sizable parking lots, a driveway between my house and my neighbor’s, which effectively removed two-thirds of my neighbor’s yard(and created a sometimes dangerous traffic flow, as
bingo players exited the lot), and a parish hall looming up behind the houses on Phillips Place, one architecturally at odds with its surroundings. Ultimately, the development underway
and proposed may be much more in keeping with what was there before, and with energy efficiency as an extra benefit.
I am in favor of O’Connell Development Group building five residences to occupy the corner of Phillips Place and Hawley Street, but I would like to register my objection to the latest
proposed buildings. It appears that,unfortunately, the architects, Kuhn Riddle revised earlier renderings of what would replace the church to incorporate suggestions from the CBAC and
some commenters at the previous meeting in which demolition was discussed. They look less like houses and more like apartment buildings and are built very close to the sidewalk. I will
be very sorry if pressure exerted on the developer leads to the buildings, and thus, the neighborhood, taking on a commercial quality. I take issue with the very idea that this neighborhood
should be considered, or has become, an extension of downtown. I see many empty storefronts closer to the central business district, on Pearl Street, Pleasant Street, and Center Street,
for instance—and their vacancy predates the pandemic period—and I wonder why the city insists downtown should be expanded down Hawley Street.
Phillips Place and Pomeroy Terrace are now on the National Register of Historic Place—not because the houses on them are soaring monumental structures, but because they are stellar examples
of American vernacular architecture. They are of livable scale and livable, period, having housed people since the mid-19th century. Among the wonderful mix of styles, including Federalist,
early Victorian, and Queen Anne, are several houses by Northampton’s own William Fenno Pratt, who designed The Evergreens, part of the Emily Dickinson Museum campus; City Hall; the Smith
Charities brownstone on Main Street; many of downtown’s commercial buildings; and dozens of others up and down the Valley. I urge O’Connell and the CBAC to take into account the irreplaceable
quality of the neighborhood wrapped around the church property in making any decision as to what happens next to it.
Thank you.