Cantius 2-22-21 Dunne Save St. John Cantius
Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I’m John Dunne of 211-213 State Street. I’m here to address the destruction of St. John Cantius. I have been involved in developing affordable
housing and incidentally, preserving historic buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut for more than 30 years. Two of those buildings are in Northampton.Both were close to the end
of their usefulness when the community discovered ways to preserve them and keep them as community resources for years to come.
First let’s be clear. This is a significant building. Its’s beautiful. It tells a story of our city’s past. Its right in the middle of an important neighborhood surrounded by historic
buildings on Bridge St and Pomeroy terrace. The culture, the work, the history, the diversityof our past areall here to see in this building, too important to RUSH to Destroy.Or is it
only the history of the wealthy and privileged that is worth preserving?
There are other possible uses of this building. Rather than bulldozing it and putting up luxury houses we should be exploring those uses.Arts space, affordable housing, a community center,
lots of ideas have begun to be generated, prompted by the developer’s request to demolish the building. I first heard of the demolition on Thursday and since then have found many, many
examples of positive re-use of similar buildings.O’Connel knows how to do this.
I believe a delay of 12 months to give time for proposals to develop is a minimum for a building that has stood in the community for over a century. One of the arguments for demolition
is that the current market for anything but luxury housing is too weak. Should we base decisions that will change the character of a neighborhood on a temporary economic downturn? Is
that visionary? Is that sustainability?
And while we are on the topic of sustainability, let’s not forget the sheer waste of putting materials in a landfill when they could be re-used right where they are. You want to do
green building? Start by not tearing things down.
Regarding the cost of renovations needed. Is it true that this building deteriorated that rapidly. That surprises me since most diocesan buildings are fairly well-maintained. Did the
City consider it a dangerous structure? Does the City now consider it dangerous?
I hope the committee will give St. John Cantius a stay of execution. Give the community time to figure out how to get it done. There are sources of funds -Historic Credits Federal and
State -New Market tax Credits and many others to encourage private investment. Have these been explored by O’Connell?
12 months is all we’re asking.
Thanks.
John M. Dunne
211 State Street Northampton, MA 01060
860-692-2056