By Tom Dalton
SALEM — A coalition of arts organizations that wants to buy the former St. Mary's Italian Church and turn it into a performing arts center did not meet the conditions set for its acquisition, the building's owner said.
"We set our terms ... and gave them 30 days to meet those terms," said Andrew Oliver, president of the board of the Salem Mission, which runs a homeless shelter on Margin Street and owns the adjacent church building. "This letter (from the arts group) doesn't even address any of those terms."
The Mission, which plans to convert the church into 20 studio apartments for the homeless, had set a June 15 deadline for receiving a "binding, unconditional, nonrescindable cash-at-close offer."
It also asked for evidence of a commitment from a "credible funding source."
The church is not for sale, but the Salem Mission board agreed to consider an offer out of a "fiduciary responsibility," Oliver said in a letter to supporters.
A June 15 letter from the Salem Community Arts Center, the name used by the arts coalition, did not include a purchase offer or any funding proposal.
The Mission never set a purchase price but said the church was appraised a few years ago at $500,000.
The Salem Community Arts Center, which includes the Salem Theatre Co. and others, held a fundraiser last week at Strega restaurant. However, it raised only a token amount of money and was more a community event to build support, an organizer said.
Earlier, Salem Mission officials said they cannot wait indefinitely for a deal to get done because they have to submit a grant application to the state by the end of June for a project they have been planning for a year. The Mission already has 22 apartments for the homeless on its Margin Street property and is committed to creating more housing to try to "end homelessness."
In the June 15 letter to Oliver, the head of the arts group asked the Salem Mission to delay filing its application to give them more time.
Oliver said the board will make a decision at a meeting tomorrow night.
"We will meet and then decide how we shall proceed," he said.
Council meets Monday
Meanwhile, the City Council's Committee of the Whole is meeting Monday night to discuss the issue. Several councilors attended a neighborhood meeting two weeks ago where there was strong opposition to the housing plan and support for the arts center.
Mission officials said they plan to attend Monday's meeting.
"I think it will be a wonderful opportunity to update the City Council and those members of the public who attend on what's going on at the Mission," Oliver said.
While it may lack funding, the Salem Community Arts Center group has been active. It has met with Mayor Kim Driscoll and state Rep. John Keenan and plans another fundraiser July 9 at CinemaSalem.
The group is headed by Joe Cultrera, a documentary filmmaker who attended St. Mary's Italian Church as a boy and who recently moved back to the neighborhood. Cultrera said he is trying to preserve the church building and save religious murals and other artifacts that would be lost if the building is converted to housing.
He said he supports the work of the Salem Mission and proposed the arts center as a compromise, a way of saving the interior of the church, returning it to a community space and involving the Salem Mission residents in projects and jobs at the performing arts center.
"I'm trying to give them a solution that works for them and works for everybody," Cultrera said.
It would also be a way to appease neighbors, he said, many of whom are upset about the expansion plans.
"There is real anger there, and you just can't dismiss it," he said.
'Ideal for housing'
In a letter to supporters, Oliver said they have tried to stress to city officials that "our mission is to build housing and that the church is ideal for that purpose, in large part because of its location on our existing campus."
The Mission runs a homeless shelter in the former St. Mary's Youth Center and apartments for the homeless in the two adjacent apartment buildings.
It would be much easier to provide the supportive services required by the homeless who move into new studio apartments if the housing is right next door, Oliver said.
At a public meeting, George Atkins, the Salem Mission's lawyer, said they are exempt from local zoning and would need only a building permit from the city to proceed with the project.
In his letter, Oliver also noted that there are other performing arts initiatives going on in the city. The Salem YMCA recently announced a feasibility study to see if it can raise funds to restore Ames Hall, a former lecture and performance center inside its Essex Street building.
