The empty Sacred Heart Church in Wilton could see new life in a multitude of ways – affordable housing, a nonprofit cafe, a continued home for the Open Cupboard Food Pantry and monthly community dinners and as communal office and event forum space.
The Rev. Robin Lunn presented the vision for the church to the Wilton Zoning Board as part of an application for multiple variances and a special exception to allow the mixed use of the existing church and parish house, which sit on a half-acre lot on Maple Street.
“This is an amalgamation of different ideas that have been rolling around in my head for a decade,” said Lunn. Lunn and her wife, Shayna Appel, who co-pastor the First Church in Jaffrey, are in the process of applying to form a nonprofit under the name Sanctuary 47, which would take ownership of the land and buildings, and have Lunn as its director.
It would take up to three years and half a million dollars to get the church to her ultimate vision, said Lunn, but if approved, she plans to convert the parish house to affordable housing within a few months and continue to host the food pantry and a monthly community supper, which are still housed at the church. In the following three years, the cafe and a collaborative community office space would be put into place at the church.
While one resident of Maple Street submitted concerns about adding to an at-times already congested parking situation on Maple Street, and another was cautious about the proposed late closing hours – 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends – multiple residents of Maple Street who attended the meeting voiced unequivocal support for the project.
“I think this is really exciting,” said Maple Street resident Chris Griffin. “I don’t care about cars in the street. If there are people gathering and having fun and using that space, I’m happy to be kept up until 2 a.m.”
The Zoning Board, hearing concerns about parking – which is inadequate on site for the proposed use – and hours, continued the hearing. They asked Lunn to return to the board with some alternate parking proposals to limit the amount of on-street parking, potential adjustment of proposed operating hours and clearer dimensions of the size of the building’s sign.
The board continued the hearing until Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall.