[MassHistPres] How to catalyze adaptive reuse of a church

[slater at alum.rpi.edu]

There is an 1860's church in Springfield that is not within a local
historic district and does not have any state-held preservation
restrictions on it. It was closed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Springfield and is up for sale. The church sits on land that could be
considered "prime" for non-historic use -- a street with a lot of
automobile traffic, right next to Route 91 (it's St. Joseph's Roman
Catholic Church, for those familiar with Springfield).

Given there is no legal protection for this building, and no
governmental interest in the building, I'm looking for specific ideas
how a local historical commission can drum up private interest for
adaptive reuse. Absent of incentive funds, are there any steps that we
might try to incite someone to buy this building and convert it into
something else?

Ralph Slate
Springfield Historical Commission