Batavia council to discuss plans for First Baptist site

Another step in the redevelopment of the First Baptist Church site in Batavia will be taken Monday, when aldermen get to see a preliminary concept for the 1.6-acre site that includes a 120-year-old sanctuary and a newer office/classroom building and a parking lot.

A consulting firm hired by the city will present its findings during the regular council meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the Batavia Government Center, 100 N. Island Ave.

It wants feedback on principles for development such as:

• Whether to try to work the existing church structure into the development;

• The basic functions of the street frontages (such as residential, retail and parking);

• The overall height limits of buildings to be constructed,

• The amount, and general orientation, of parking; and

• The types of use.

The congregation moved out in 2008, to a new home west of Randall Road in the Mill Creek subdivision. The city bought the church for $715,000 in 2005 as part of a plan to straighten out a jog in Route 25; that later proved financially unfeasible. A youth baseball league now stores its equipment in the building and in a shed, and the lot is designated for public parking.

The building needs roof repairs, significant electrical upgrading and asbestos abatement. The sanctuary, offices and fellowship hall are not handicapped accessible, and the whole building does not meet current fire safety codes.

City officials hope to sell it to a developer, once they decide what they want on the site. Officials see redevelopment of the site as key to improving the eastern entrance to downtown.