Former Church Due to be Torn Down Soon

Plans are moving along to tear down a former church on Holten Street across from McKinnon's Market and replace it with a cafe and several apartments above.

The existing building at 78 Holten St., which dates to the 1870s and most recently housed Yellow Jackets Gymnastics, has been marked for demolition in recent days and will likely be torn down as soon as a permit is issued from the town. The building has been empty for several months.

Building Inspector Richard Maloney said on Friday that the owner, Peter Pantazelos of Danvers, is currently having the utility lines turned off and detached from the building and had just signed some preliminary paperwork for demolition.

Pantazelos hasn't applied for the necessary permit yet, but Maloney said, he's not sure of the exact timeline of the project other than that Pantazelos would like to get underway as soon as possible this spring.

Pantazelos purchased the property for $400,000 in December and has already received necessary approvals from the Preservation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board to tear down the building and create a mix of commercial and residential uses in an industrial zone.

The yet-to-be named cafe on the first floor will have 35-40 seats and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. James Cote, an attorney for the project, told the zoning board in February Pantazelos may also seek a liquor license, but as of Friday, there's no news on that front, said Town Clerk Joe Collins.

Above the cafe will be two additional floors with three two-bedroom apartments on each floor. There will be 35 total parking spaces in the lot for the building.

Cote told town officials the existing building is unsafe and needs to be torn down, but the new structure will look very similar to the old building, is about two feet shorter and won't be as deep.

The building used to be home to the First Methodist Church of Danvers (now Holy Trinity United Methodist) until the 1950s when a new church was built over on Sylvan Street across from the library.

Town Archivist Dick Trask told the Salem News he did research the cost of restoring the original building for a potential buyer -- Gothic spires and other decorations were removed over the years as they fell into disrepair -- but that cost was too prohibitive.