Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 12/12/2022
NORTHAMPTON – On Dec. 2, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced that she executed an option to purchase the former First Baptist Church building located at 298 Main St. for potential reuse as the Community Resilience Hub.
Background
For several years, Northampton, and its partner Community Action Pioneer Valley (CAPV), have been actively seeking a location for this hub.
According to press release sent to Reminder Publishing, the idea for a Community Resilience Hub began in 2019 as a key recommendation from the report, “A Downtown Northampton for Everyone: Residents, Visitors, Merchants and People at Risk.”
Planning for this hub was accelerated in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic emphasized the need for this resource.
Under former Mayor David Narkewicz, the Office of Planning & Sustainability and the mayor’s office convened meetings with architects, local and regional stakeholders, and service providers. Community Action Pioneer Valley became the city’s social service partner and lead operational partner for the hub and collaborate on support services it would ultimately provide.
In late 2021, Reminder Publishing reported that the city has a program to create a Community Resilience Hub “as a downtown facility with a coordinated program for frontline communities and any residents who face chronic and acute stress due to disasters, pandemics, climate change and other social and economic challenges.” A hub would look to provide access to a resource, a social network and building social resilience.
The city considered the St. John Cantius Church as an option for a hub location, but the owner rejected the city’s offer of $550,000 to buy the church.
Northampton also considered the historic Roundhouse building on 244 Main St., but according to the mayor’s office, a signed option with the owner was never achieved. The mayor’s Chief of Staff Alan Wolf said in a statement, “we couldn’t quite work it out for the special needs of the user group for our purposes.”
First Baptist Church
The First Baptist Church location was chosen after an extensive real estate search and extensive advertising for proposals. The city has now entered the due diligence phase of this process.
“I am proud to announce a giant leap forward toward realizing a Community Resilience Hub in Northampton. The search for a home for these critical services has been exhaustive, but I believe this building has been worth the wait,” said Sciarra, in a statement. “We will start due diligence immediately. We hope to convert this long-vacant space into Northampton’s Resilience Hub as quickly as possible. I am profoundly excited to repurpose this historically significant building in service for the people of Northampton as a day center with programming and services for vulnerable residents, a community space, and a center for emergency response during times of crisis.”
According to the mayor’s office, there is no guarantee that the building will prove to be sufficient for the needs of a potential Community Resilience Hub, but the city is optimistic.
Former Northampton mayor Clare Higgins, who is now the executive director of CAPV, commended the city for identifying a prospective location. “I salute the city for identifying a location for the Resilience Hub. Now we need to get to work bringing the people and organizations together to build what goes inside,” Higgins said. “With this building, we can all move forward to realize the dream of truly coordinated services that help people in this beautiful place.”
The First Baptist Church, which is located between Forbes Library and downtown Northampton, has approximately 14,500 square feet of space and was built in 1904 by the First Baptist Church of Northampton to relace a church that had been destroyed by a fire in 1863.
In 1988, the First Baptist Church congregation merged with the First Congregational Church to create First Churches of Northampton. The building has been vacant since 1993, when it was purchased by a developer and Iron Horse Entertainment Group owner Eric Suher with the intention of turning it into a music venue and catering facility.
According to the mayor’s office, Northampton has now secured full funding for due diligence, purchase and carrying costs. The city has designated $1.6 million in cannabis mitigation funds, along with $506,872 in Community Development Block Grant funds, a $200,000 gift from Smith College and $53,268 in other donations for the hub project, including the purchase of the building.