NORTHAMPTON – The city of Northampton still expects to buy the former First Baptist Church and put it to public use, activating a building vacant for more than 30 years.
But there are new conditions.
Both parties expect the real estate closing to take place by June 15, according to a document filed Thursday at the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds.
The document, signed both by owner Eric Suher and Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, also lays out conditions Suher must meet, as well as a new and slightly lower sales price.
Northampton plans to use the old church, at 298 Main St., as a Community Resilience Hub.
The document says Suher must return 71 stained-glass windows to the church and return historic radiators that were once part of the building’s heating system. The building dates to 1904.
He must also remove scaffolding.
Suher didn’t respond to a phone call from a reporter Thursday seeking comment on the sale.
The document also changes the purchase price, discounting it by $125,000 to a new price of $3.175 million, in consideration of a settlement over installing underground propane tanks instead of a natural gas connection.
The city is still under a natural gas moratorium that bars new hookups.
Suher will also place $75,000 in an escrow account to cover the city’s potential legal costs, if there is litigation concerning the propane tanks.
According to public records, Suher bought the church in 1993 for $125,000. For many years he attempted to convert it into an event space for weddings and banquets, but the business never opened.
The Baptist congregation merged with First Congregational Church in Northampton in 1988 and worship continues in the First Churches building.
Sciarra has described the planned “resilience hub” as a place where people who are homeless or living in extreme poverty can obtain social services. The location will also provide a community center and meeting space.
Northampton now uses its high schools, Smith Vocational High School and Northampton High School, as shelters.
Ad Choices