Exhibit EDavid Carver
10:00 PM
Aug. 2, 2021
to cmisch@northamptonma.gov
Dear Board members of the Central Business Architectural Committee:
Please accept this communication in support of saving the St. John Cantius church building.
I have read many newspaper articles and discussed this matter with a number of community members over the
past year and while I cannot speak to technical details of the local permitting process that must be followed in
order to demolish a historic building I urge you to consider every avenue available to allow preservation of this
building.
After buying and renovating several churches in Berkshire County over the past ten years I have become very
familiar with the physical challenges of adaptively re-using these structures. In this case, I can state with some
certainty that this building which I understand was built around 1913 is of superior structural design and most
likely includes concrete foundations, steel roof frame, and substantially built masonry walls. Buildings of this
quality that are well maintained were designed to last hundreds of years. During this period the Catholic Church
spared no expense in designing and building these churches.
More importantly these buildings represent a period in our history when architecture was practiced as a high art
form in our religious, government, commercial, and residential buildings, even in small New England towns. There
is an undeniable human connection to these buildings that contribute to the feel and look of our communities
unlike most of the new buildings that have been built over the past fifty to sixty years.
Additionally, these buildings represent a rich and important cultural foundation for our communities that
connects past and present residents.
These buildings cannot be replaced in terms of cost, quality, and what they contribute to the fabric of our cities
and towns.
While these are all good reasons to preserve these beautiful structures I recognize it can be a challenge to make
them financially feasible. However, we have been able to create 62 units of badly needed market rate residential
housing in nine church buildings with creative designs, value engineering, lowering our return on investment,
working with the church, and working with each community development department to create financing plans to
fill the ever present gap that these projects often begin with.
I urge you to make every effort to preserve this building. If our small company in the Berkshires can do this I am
sure there are many regional developers that are capable and willing to invest in this unique property if given the
opportunity.
David G. Carver
CT Management Group, LLC
Scarafoni Associates
North Adams and Pittsfield, MA
413 884-4939
dcarver@scarafoniassociates.com