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City seeks $300,000 in CPA funds to repair Old First Church facade in Court Square
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Summary
City facilities requested $300,000 from CPA funds to patch, stabilize and repaint wooden facade elements of Old First Church (50 Elm Street), supplementing $1.7 million the city is investing in envelope stabilization and $50,000 from the Community Foundation; a ULI technical assistance panel is scheduled to examine reuse of Court Square assets.
Latoya Smith, speaking for the City of Springfield’s facilities department, asked the Community Preservation Committee for $300,000 to repair the exterior of Old First Church at 50 Elm Street, a National Register–listed meeting house built in 1819.
Latoya said the city already identified $1.7 million for envelope stabilization and that the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts contributed $50,000; the requested CPA funds would supplement those investments to address facade repairs, stabilization and repainting to protect character‑defining wood elements. She said the project is limited to exterior meeting‑house work and that, if awarded, the funds would be transferred to the facilities department to manage contracts.
The presentation noted concurrent planning efforts: the city has commissioned a reuse and economic assessment by the BSC Group and scheduled a one‑day Urban Land Institute technical assistance panel on April 16 to bring stakeholders together and explore reuse options for Court Square, the Old First Church and the courthouse site.
Committee members pressed for clearer line-item budgets and asked whether trust funds might cover some work; Latoya said the $50,000 from a trust supports specific interior preservation items and that CPA dollars would be routed through the facilities department for actual work. Members requested a clearer itemization of which work would be funded by CPA dollars and asked for the estimate documentation to be provided in a more legible format ahead of deliberations.
The committee did not take action; staff asked the applicant to provide the line‑item estimate and contingencies to assist the committee’s April 21 internal review.
