Mack - Please save this historical structure - St. John Cantius.pdf7/25/22, 12:50 PM City of Northampton Mail - Please save this historical structure - St. John Cantius
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ik=fec0f72d97&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1739074660777196225%7Cmsg-f%3A17390746607771…1/1
Sarah LaValley <slavalley@northamptonma.gov>
Please save this historical structure - St. John Cantius
1 message
mackjoanne65@gmail.com <mackjoanne65@gmail.com>Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 1:27 PM
To: slavalley@northamptonma.gov
Cc: mhl@marthalyon.com, Deb Henson <debhenson.law@gmail.com>
Dear CPC,
I am writing to implore you to use the $500,000 in CPA funding, that is being requested by the O’Connell
Development Group, to help save the St. John Cantius historical building from demolition.
In the exploration of a litany of options that O’Connell and a vast community of St. John Cantius supporters have
explored over many, many months, this seems to be the most viable solution to save this building; a building of
historical significance to the city’s Polish heritage, as well as it’s significance to the architectural relevance to the
neighborhood’s Pomeroy Terrace historical district.
As a personal point, I happen to have both sets of grandparents that had come to the U.S. directly from Poland. My
husband and I were born, raised, and still live in Northampton. We both attended St. John Cantius, and we were
married there in 1975. We also both grew-up in Ward 3 and still live here. We bought our house in 1979.
Saving St. John Cantius from demolition would allow the city to stay more interesting, meaning, not having yet one
more significant building of historical importance obliterated to make space for yet another group of “vanilla”
housing units.
We love our neighborhood, our community, our town. We know others do as well. Let us not turn our town into
another “vanilla looking” bedroom community. We, as well as many who have moved here, deserve more than that.
We want to continue to enjoy and be proud of where we live. It is an important part of being human.
I realize that there are fiscal and ethical responsibilities of the CPC and CPA has to consider. After reading the Guest
Column that Deb Henson wrote in the Daily Hampshire Gazette dated June 29, 2022 “CPA Funding is Vital for St.
John Cantius Property,” I believe any questions that come up concerning this have been answered.
Thank you very much for your well considered thoughts and recommendations concerning the importance of saving
this historical treasure.
All my best,
Joanne (and William) Mackiewicz
80 Crosby Street
Northampton
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