Batavia to vet use of church campus it owns

The First Baptist Church campus that the city of Batavia bought in 2006 needs work, and a lot of it, if it is ever going to be reused, according to an engineer’s report.

The three-building church, with an 1889 sanctuary, and additions in the 1930s and 1959, needs $775,000 in immediate work to keep it from deteriorating more than it already has, including replacing all three roofs.

Overall, the facility could use almost $3.2 million worth of work, including roofing, brick and masonry repairs, replacement of restrooms, replacement and repair of windows, upgrades to its electrical system, additional support of the girder for the main sanctuary, waterproofing its foundation from the outside, and installation of an elevator to meet modern accessibility.

The city bought the campus in 2006 for $715,000; the congregation moved in 2008 to a new building in the Mill Creek subdivision west of Batavia. City officials have talked about redeveloping the site, and the commercial and office buildings west of it, in one unified plan.

The city council’s community development and city services committees will discuss the report at a joint meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Batavia Government Center, 100 N. Island Ave.