DEERFIELD — With $3.8 million in Community Preservation Act money approved, the 1888 Building rehabilitation project can move forward.

While the big-ticket project was approved with no discussion, it was a housekeeping article regarding the St. James Church parcel that drew the most discussion during a two-hour special Town Meeting that brought out 363 residents to pack the Frontier Regional School auditorium on Monday.

With the funding in hand, the 1888 Building project will bring all municipal offices under the two roofs of the building and its addition, and will include a meeting room with a 49-person capacity. Rehabilitation work on the historic portion of the building includes brick repointing, ivy removal, repair of gutters and the removal of all exterior structures that were added over the years.

Inside, there will be a full renovation, as all contaminants will be abated, mechanical systems modernized and the building made accessible.

The $3.8 million in CPA funding will supplement a $4 million congressional earmark from U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern that will be used to construct the addition on the west side of the building.

St. James Church

Article 6 requested residents give the Select Board the authority to “convey, sell or otherwise dispose” of the St. James Church property on North Main Street, as the town plans to issue a request for proposals to solicit ideas from private, and likely nonprofit, developers who want to build subsidized senior housing.

“This article is not a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote on senior housing; this article is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote on who is going to pay for it,” said Lili Dwight, chair of the ad hoc Senior Housing Committee. “A ‘no’ vote means the town is left holding the bag because the property was purchased specifically with CPA funds designated only for subsidized senior housing.”

The church was bought using $420,000 in CPA money, appropriated at the 2023 annual Town Meeting. The purchase was then completed at a special Town Meeting in October.

The process for developing this parcel would likely mimic what Sunderland did to bring about Sanderson Place, which was done by Rural Development Inc., a nonprofit developer under the umbrella of the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

Over the course of an hourlong discussion, several residents said they were by no means against senior housing in Deerfield, but felt there were too many unanswered questions about the process.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.