Church buildings are landmarks in lots of cities throughout Massachusetts. Nonetheless, as church buildings merge, and attendance dwindles on account of COVID-19, lack of religion and new generations with fewer spiritual priorities, the historic properties typically develop into too costly to keep up. This leaves many congregations with no possibility however to promote.
In some communities, together with Woburn and Maynard, church buildings had been transformed into residences. Elsewhere, landmark church buildings had been torn down in favor of latest residential improvement.
Ten years in the past, Belmont residents mourned the lack of The First Congregational Church, a Waverley Sq. landmark with its tall white steeple. It was torn down on Jan. 28, 2013, with townhouses constructed instead.
On the time, the city didn’t have a Demolition Delay Bylaw. However the church’s demolition led Belmont to create one, requiring homeowners of properties on the checklist of the city’s most vital buildings to attend one 12 months earlier than being issued a demolition allow. The aim of the bylaw is to offer the city time to work with builders to establish alternate options to demolition of a historic constructing.
Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church is on the market
A decade later, Belmont residents are involved they are going to lose one other historic landmark at 421 Frequent St. The beige, brick and castle-like Belmont-Watertown United Methodist Church (BWUMC), inbuilt 1921 and certainly one of many properties in town’s checklist of serious buildings, is on the market. It is a landmark in Cushing Sq., identified for the music performed from its exterior audio system each hour.
Coldwell Banker Industrial Realty is the itemizing agent for the Belmont church property, which incorporates two parcels — the 35,000-square-foot church and the so-called Imler Home subsequent door, inbuilt 1964 for the parish priest, the Rev. Joseph Imler. The asking value is “topic to supply.”
Allowed makes use of for the property zone embrace single-family houses, a church or a faculty. Based on Ara Yogurtian, Belmont’s assistant neighborhood improvement director, if somebody needs to transform the inside of the constructing to one thing else, they need to request a zoning change from the Planning Board, which might then must be accepted by City Assembly.
BWUMC places its Watertown increase on the market
The BWUMC can be promoting property it owns inside a Watertown historic district at 92 Mount Auburn St., subsequent door to its different church constructing, the previous St. John’s Methodist Episcopal Church at 80 Mount Auburn St., which was inbuilt 1894. The portion of the property being bought is hooked up to the sanctuary and contains 22,964 sq. toes for residential/neighborhood redevelopment. The itemizing value is $2.6 million.
BWUMC Pastor Gary Richards mentioned the quantity of sq. toes between the 2 properties the church owns doesn’t align with the variety of folks taking part in and giving to the church. He hopes they are going to be capable of use the proceeds from the property gross sales to reinvest of their historic sanctuary at 80 Mount Auburn St. in Watertown, which homes the Watertown Meals Pantry and is utilized by Boy and Lady Scout troops, the Revels, Gamblers Nameless, Al-Anon and Alateen and different restoration applications.
“Church buildings are being closed yearly,” mentioned Richards.
He mentioned the choice to consolidate the congregation and promote the Belmont church properties and a part of the Watertown property was 5 years within the making.
“Whereas it pains us to plan for forsaking our beloved Belmont sanctuary and constructing, it’s mandatory for our sustainable future,” Richards wrote in a letter to the congregation on Jan. 9, co-signed by BWUMC Board of Trustees Chair Joel Grimm.
What is going to occur to the neighborhood?
Abutters of the Belmont church are involved about what the property will develop into.
Cosmo Macero, who has lived throughout the road from the Belmont BUMC since 2011, mentioned if the constructing is demolished will probably be an enormous loss and tragic final result.
He want to see the inside of the Belmont church constructing transformed to housing inventory, just like how the historic St. Theresa’s Catholic Church on Mount Auburn Road in Watertown was transformed in 2009 to Bell Tower Place with eight condominiums.
One other thought Macero has for the BWUMC property is to show it into workforce housing, which is what’s being executed in West Harwich to the First Baptist Church on 62 Important St., inbuilt 1841. The city is issuing request for proposals from builders to create 14 workforce flats throughout the current constructing.
“I feel it will be a disgrace whether it is torn down and wiped off the face of Belmont,” mentioned Macero.
Different neighbors agree.
Jen Durso has lived on Frequent Road for 12 years and is anxious about what the church property’s future use will do to her property worth and site visitors if it turns into business.
She’s additionally involved about setting a precedent for different space church buildings with small congregations.
Courtney Sturgeon, who additionally lives close to the BUMC property, mentioned she’s involved the church will likely be torn down and a giant ugly constructing will change it.
“I hope it can develop into condominium items, with some accessible for individuals who won’t in any other case be capable of afford to stay in Belmont, or it will be cool for it to be transformed inside into condominiums for store homeowners and eating places,” mentioned Sturgeon.
Buy falls by means of:Norwell loses its deal to purchase St. Helen’s Church property
Different church buildings available on the market
St. Helen’s Church in Norwell was going to be bought by the city for $9 million. Nonetheless, the deal fell by means of as a result of residents at particular City Assembly didn’t approve the acquisition after the appraisal got here again at barely lower than $4.4 million. Neighborhood Preservation funds would have been used to make the acquisition, however one requirement to make use of the funds is that the property’s appraised worth should be equal to or exceed the acquisition value.
The Boston Archdiocese plans to promote St. Helen’s in Norwell and St. Thecla’s in Pembroke and construct a brand new church on the web site of St. Mary’s Church in Hanover to serve all three communities.
A spokesperson for St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Billerica, which closed in December 2021, confirmed the church is within the technique of being bought however referred additional remark to the archdiocese. St. Mary’s was mixed with St. Andrew and St. Theresa in Might 2020 to develop into St. Matthew the Evangelist Parish.
Church turns into a house:Church in Maynard transformed to dwelling, listed on the market for $1.175 million
Fates of different church buildings bought by their congregations
The historic Finnish Mission Evangelical Congregational Church at 19 Walnut St. in Maynard was renovated right into a single-family dwelling, and was lately bought after almost a 12 months available on the market.
St. Frances X. Cabrini in Scituate was bought in 2018 to St. Mary’s and St. George Coptic Orthodox Church. Nonetheless, there have been a number of courtroom hearings a couple of years previous to the sale in an try to avoid wasting the church. A petition was even filed with the U.S. Supreme Court docket in March 2016. Twenty-four-hour vigils had been held on the church each day for greater than 11 years in an try to put it aside and enchantment the archdiocese’s choice to shut the church, going so far as the Vatican. Nonetheless, the courts upheld the archdiocese’s choice.
St. Frances was amongst 82 closed church buildings bought by the archdiocese in 2004.
Jim Main, actual property agent with Lamacchia Realty Inc. in Woburn, bought two properties owned by St. Joseph’s in Woburn in 2012 and 2014, a church and a parcel of land. Each properties needed to be rezoned by the brand new purchaser as a way to develop them. The archdiocese included a deed restriction on the property for 90 years that stops any use opposite to the Catholic religion, corresponding to a non-Catholic church or an abortion clinic, in response to Main.
The church was at 100 Washington St. The customer transformed it to residential flats. The parcel of land at 855 Important St. in Woburn was rezoned; a portion turned an assisted dwelling facility (Windrose) and the remainder was developed into 91 condominiums.
How the archdiocese handles gross sales
There’s a course of that each one Catholic properties (church buildings, faculties and convents) should comply with if they’re contemplating promoting, in response to Terrence Donilon, an archdiocese spokesperson. There’s a property administration workplace that assists within the sale, buy or lease of all Archdiocesan actual property in addition to all parish property, which features a land space of greater than 3,000 sq. miles and greater than 1,800 buildings in Massachusetts.
If an archdiocese church constructing is to be bought to a bunch that can now not use it for worship, it should be relegated by the cardinal for profane however not sordid use. Which means if a church is being bought and the client doesn’t plan to make use of it as a Catholic church, or plans to make use of it for one thing utterly completely different, the cardinal will relegate it. Nonetheless, as a part of the relegation, the client can not use the property for a use that’s in opposition to or offensive to Catholic beliefs corresponding to an abortion clinic.
Additionally, in response to the archdiocese, as soon as a church constructing is relegated, will probably be appraised and sure marketed on the market. Potential consumers will likely be invited to contact the archdiocese. For every constructing, there will likely be a particular means wherein its reminiscence and the essential place it has within the lives, hearts and minds of our Catholic devoted will likely be memorialized and preserved for future generations.
Funds derived from a sale of those church buildings will likely be used for direct assist of parishes of the archdiocese. The cardinal is within the course of of building a devoted fund for this particular use.
All sacred objects corresponding to stained glass home windows and statues are catalogued, to be made accessible first to welcoming parishes after which different Catholic church buildings and church buildings that who request such objects.
Comments