The First Baptist Church in Newton has requested $2 million in Community Preservation funds from the City to help pay for a $4.45 million restoration of its historic bell tower. The proposal is being reviewed by the Community Preservation Committee and the City Council.
Why does the bell tower need to be restored?
In the Spring of 2021, a stone fell from the tower of the First Baptist Church, surprising the congregation. The mortar holding the newly repointed stone facade to a structural wall had deteriorated. Because the mortar was behind the stone facade, its deterioration was invisible. The Church hired engineering experts who used masonry testing and 3D laser scanning to assess the tower. By March 2022, roughly 35 more stones fell from the tower. The tower bells were removed, and emergency bracing was installed. The main church, widely used by local community groups, has been closed for the last 2.5 years due to safety concerns. The estimated cost to stabilize and restore the tower is $4.45 million.
The First Baptist Church is a rare example of Richardsonian Romanesque American architecture. It was designed by John Lyman Faxon and constructed in 1888 with local materials: oak, walnut, hard pine wood, and rough granite stone. The Church is on the National and Massachusetts Register of Historic Places. It is under a Preservation Restriction with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, which means the tower cannot be removed without the State’s agreement.
The First Baptist Church is a nonprofit corporation with a congregation of about 70 active members. The Church owns the church building, the school building attached to it, and the building next door (1301 Center Street) used by Pathways to Possible. Rental income from the nonprofit tenants in these buildings funds the Church’s routine building and maintenance expenses. According to the Church’s senior minister, Jana Yeaton, the buildings are well-maintained and do not have any other anticipated major capital needs.
First Baptist Church’s proposal
In August 2023, the First Baptist Church approached Newton’s Community Preservation Committee (CPC) seeking $2 million in funding toward the $4.45 million project to repair the bell tower. CPC funding comes from a local 1% surcharge on property taxes and State matching funds from a surcharge of $25 or $50 on all real estate transactions in the state. CPC funds can be spent on historic preservation, open space, and affordable housing.
The CPC approved the Church’s grant proposal on July 9, 2024, and forwarded it to the City Council for approval. After some discussion, the Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee unanimously approved it. After discussing concerns, the Finance Committee also approved the proposal, with three yes votes, one no vote, and three abstentions, sending the project to the full City Council for approval.
Finance Committee members opposing or abstaining cited concerns about the separation of State and Church, not having CPC funds available for other projects, and maintaining community access if the Church was sold or the congregation could no longer maintain it.
Members of both the Finance and Zoning and Planning Committees proposed adding a use restriction to the $2 million CPC grant that would require continued public access to the building if the property is sold. If community access is not maintained within that time, the entire $2 million grant would have to be returned to the City. In its October 7 meeting, the City Council provided verbal guidance to the CPC, asking it to consider amending the grant proposal to include the requested guarantees.
Amended proposal
At its October 8th meeting, in consultation with the Church, the CPC amended the proposal with this public access requirement:
- The Church will be required to permit community access to the Church buildings for so long as the Church retains ownership of the property, such community access to be provided substantially in accordance with the terms of the Community Use Agreement previously proposed by the Church, as more fully provided in the Grant Agreement to be entered into by the City and the Church.
- The Church will be required to record a deed restriction that requires subsequent owners of the property to comply with the community access provision of the Grant Agreement until the thirtieth anniversary of the execution of the Grant Agreement.
- Any subsequent owner can obtain a recordable release from the requirements of the community access provision upon the payment to the City of a buyout fee initially equal to the amount of CPA grant funding actually provided by the City for the bell tower restoration project. The buyout fee will be reduced proportionately over the 30-year life of the deed restriction.
Additional language will be added to allow Community use to align with the Church’s current use protocol.
The CPC unanimously approved the amendment, and the First Baptist Church bell tower grant proposal was sent back to the full City Council for a discussion and vote. The City Council is expected to take up the amended grant proposal at its October 21st meeting.
Ed. Note: We revised this article with corrections provided by the minister, Jana Yeaton.
