February 17, 2024

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish and City of Westfield reach preliminary agreement on former rectory

REGIONAL
Staff report

SPRINGFIELD- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish (OLBS) in Westfield have reached a preliminary agreement with the city of Westfield to sell the parish’s former rectory and land parcel located on North Elm and Union Streets.  The site has been determined to be a prime location for a new police station.

The parish and diocese were seeking approximately $950,000 from a sale, funds that would be earmarked to pay down a construction loan taken out to build the new church on Holyoke Road in 2011. However, based on state law and the appraised value of the site, $758,083 was the maximum that the city could offer for the property.

The breakthrough came when three individuals stepped forward to provide significant donations to the parish, creating an opportunity that the parish could now accept Westfield’s offer.

An anonymous donor, after learning of the impasse, stepped forward offering a $150,000 gift to the parish to help reduce its outstanding construction loan. 

An additional gift of $25,000 was offered by Jack Dill, a principal with Colebrook Realty, the diocese’s real estate broker.  Dill’s parents were parishioners of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Parish and this gift will be made in their honor.

The remaining $17,000 will be a personal gift from the current pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Father Daniel Pacholec.

Westfield Mayor Mike McCabe is pleased with the agreement.

“This is a creative solution which allows the city to move forward with the construction of the new police station, pending approval from the City Council. We believe this proposal satisfies everyone: the diocese, the parishioners of OLBS, the city’s police department and the taxpayers of the city. We appreciate the people who stepped up with generous donations,” the mayor stated.

“I am grateful to Father Daniel Pacholec, Jack Dill and Bishop William Byrne for their patience and understanding throughout the process. I would be remiss if I did not mention our City Assessor, Ashlie Brown, who was instrumental in providing the necessary data to bring us to this point.  The need for a new police station was determined back in 2010. We are thrilled to be positioned to see it through,” he said.

Father Pacholec also expressed gratitude to all who worked so diligently to arrive at this agreement. He especially thanked Jack Dill and the anonymous donor, who joined with him to help retire a significant amount of the parish loan obligation. Father Pacholec stated that his personal gift is in honor of the parish itself, a spiritual community which has worked together for 20 years to retire the debt, as well as dedicated to living out their faith in countless ways.

“Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament is a dynamic, faith-filled family which I am humbled to serve as pastor. I have always stressed that our financial stability is key to our future and that to achieve this goal we had to receive maximum return on the sale of the former rectory and land to help pay off our construction loan. These donations open the door to reaching an initial agreement with Mayor Michael McCabe, agreeing to the city’s offer. It’s a win-win situation,” Father Pacholec stated.

Bishop William D. Byrne gave his approval to the sale saying, “I am most grateful to these generous benefactors and happy for Father Pacholec and the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament community as this has been a long time coming. And for the City of Westfield, this will help resolve a pressing public safety need, once the real-estate transaction closes, it can commence planning and construction of a much-needed new police station, located in a central city location.”