dwyer- CBAC Meeting this evening - St. John Cantius Church Demo requestCarolyn Misch <cmisch@northamptonma.gov>
CBAC Meeting this evening - St. John Cantius Church Demo request
jpd@jpdwyerinc.com <jpd@jpdwyerinc.com>Tue, Apr 6, 2021 at 2:58 PM
To: cmisch@northamptonma.gov
Dear Ms. Misch,
I’d like to know if anyone has asked the O’Connell Development Group to comment concerning any exploration that they have done
into donating the church bell tower along with a historic facade easement for the church’s bell tower exterior only - separate from the
rest of the structures on the property - to a non-profit organization such as the Northampton Historical Society?
It is my opinion that the O’Connell Development Group may be able to preserve the bell tower structure without much expense,
encapsulating and preserving the structure from the weather and still build their project around only the bell tower thus leaving an
important symbolic piece of the historic church for the community. They would lose only a tiny portion of square footage, and I believe
that the remaining bell tower would enhance their project.
There are federal and state income tax deductions available to people who are willing to work with local, state and federal historic
preservation organizations to preserve architecturally important buildings. The value of the bell tower portion of the building and its
facade alone can be estimated by experts who are skilled at valuing architectural and historic antiquities and a dollar amount assigned
to the donated gift to determine an amount that can be used as an income tax deduction by the grantor. In this case, that grantor would
be the O’Connell Development Group.
It would be helpful and informative for the members of the CBAC as they consider the demolition request to know if the O’Connell
Development Group has investigated this option and obtained an estimate of the value of a donation if they choose to gift the bell
tower and its facade to a non-profit local organization to be the grantee and overseer of such a gift. The transaction could be arranged
so that the Northampton Historic Society would incur no ongoing future maintenance responsibility for the bell tower. Ongoing
maintenance of the bell tower exterior could remain the responsibility of the developer initially and eventually pass to the condominium
association. If the preservation and stabilization work is done properly, the ongoing maintenance of the structure should be minimal.
I would like to see this happen.
Best regards,
Jeff Dwyer
30 Pleasant St.
P. O. Box 267
Northampton, MA 01060
(413)-584-0761 - MA
(407)-287-6002 - Fax
email: jpd@jpdwyerinc.com