With housing off the table, Church of the Ascension could become community space – Buffalo News

A nonprofit arts group formed at the urging of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York is proposing to turn the former Church of the Ascension in Allentown into a community assembly and performance space, after a prior attempt to create affordable senior housing in the church fell through.

Ascension for the Arts, led by board president and attorney A. Peter Snodgrass, wants to make the large church and parish hall available to theater companies or community groups that need a large gathering space, including for shows.

The complex at 67 North St. is still owned by the Diocese, so Ascension for the Arts which was formed in 2017 signed a lease in November, and will rent out the space for events and other tenants.

The group will probably start with a 100-person capacity in the church nave or sanctuary, "but I think we could grow to 200," Snodgrass said.

But that might require more bathrooms and other changes to bring it up to code, which in turn costs money, he said.

"We just want to get it open, get it moving and then pursue grant funding to make improvements that are needed," Snodgrass added.

In the meantime, the arts group plans to focus on preparing and marketing the separate parish hall, which has an assembly area on the first floor with a small stage, a kitchenette and a couple of bathrooms. That's ideal "if somebody wanted to do smaller productions or educational workshops," said Snodgrass.

The second floor has four offices and a bathroom, so the group hopes to lease that office space to nonprofits, Snodgrass added. That way, the building will start generating revenue that Ascension for the Arts will need to make repairs in the nave, Snodgrass said.

City to review apartments planned for former Church of the Ascension

The plan is a significant departure from the Diocese's original $7 million proposal to renovate the Medina sandstone church into 28 low-income apartments for seniors. The church has been vacant since January 2015, when the 164-year-old congregation moved to the Church of the Good Shepherd at 96 Jewett Parkway.

But the plan relied heavily on obtaining state and federal historic tax credits, as well as low-income housing credits. It fell through initially in 2014 when the National Park Service would not allow alterations to the nave and demanded design changes, prompting the Diocese to pursue a community use for that part of the church while leaving the apartments for other areas. That led to the creation of Ascension for the Arts.

The project appeared to be back on track in late 2017 after winning approval from park service for a historic preservation project, and then winning Common Council approval despite opposition from the Preservation Board. However, it still faced resistance within the Linwood neighborhood and from local preservationists.

Ultimately, officials failed to win the credits they needed last year, so Diocese officials switched direction and again asked the nonprofit if it would just take on the entire building.

Ascension for the Arts is seeking a special-use permit from the Common Council to allow the change in purpose.

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With housing off the table, Church of the Ascension could become community space - Buffalo News