lyman - St. John Cantius Church Letter of Support.pdf7/14/22, 10:09 AM City of Northampton Mail - St. John Cantius Church Letter of Support
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=fec0f72d97&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1738285097439173403%7Cmsg-f%3A17382850974391…1/1
Sarah LaValley <slavalley@northamptonma.gov>
St. John Cantius Church Letter of Support
1 message
Brigitte Lyman <bisaillb@gmail.com>Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 8:17 PM
To: "slavalley@northamptonma.gov" <slavalley@northamptonma.gov>
Cc: "debhenson.law@gmail.com" <debhenson.law@gmail.com>, mhl@marthlyon.com
To whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter in support of O'Connell Development Group's request for $500,000 in CPA
funding to save St. John Cantius Church from demolition, to restore the exterior of the church to
historic preservation standards and to provide the city with a permanent historic preservation
easement.
I have two main reasons for supporting this endeavor:
This particular building holds meaning to my family. My husband was baptised there and it holds
great significance to him and his extended family due to their Polish American heritage and their
long association with the church.
As a Northampton native, architecture enthusiast and advocate of historical preservation, I would
personally like to see the beautiful building preserved. I like to see well constructed old buildings
renovated, repurposed and brought into modern use whenever possible. In general, I find it sad
when beautiful old churches that were painstakingly constructed are demolished only to make
room for new constructions using inferior materials that will not stand the test of time.
I do not think St John Cantius Church should be merely considered a "tear down". It should be
preserved as a historical part of Northampton while being made suitable for modern use.
Sincerely,
Brigitte Bisaillon Lyman