© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Vacant downtown church picked as site for Northampton 'resilience hub'

The former First Baptist Church at Main and West streets in Northampton, MA has been vacant since 1993. The city has signed an option to buy it and plans to use it as a place to assist people who do not have housing.
Northampton Mayor's office
The former First Baptist Church at Main and West streets in Northampton, MA has been vacant since 1993. The city has signed an option to buy it and plans to use it as a place to assist people who do not have housing.

City signs option to purchase former First Baptist Church

A long-vacant church in downtown Northampton, Massachusetts has been selected as the future home of a community resilience hub.

Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced the city is executing an option to purchase the former First Baptist Church on Main Street and use it as a space to assist residents who are in distress due to homelessness or other issues.

There would be amenities such as lockers and internet access, and also referrals to social services.

The former church building would also be used for community meetings and as an emergency shelter.

WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with Mayor Sciarra.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.