WINSTED — A former church could see new life as a performing arts center and music hall after the developer proposing the renovation was granted a six-year tax abatement.
John Noone, who is also renovating the former Red Men Club building on Case Avenue, is purchasing the former Winsted Methodist Church at 630 Main St., which was vacated by its members in 2022 when they merged with another congregation.
Noone was granted five years of reduced property taxes as part of an agreement with the Board of Selectmen. During its meeting May 1, the board and Town Manager Josh Kelly presented an agreement with a schedule of tax payments, starting with zero the first year and increasing by 20 percent for the next five years. By 2028, according to the agreement, full taxes would be due on the property.
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In addition to the payment schedule, Kelly added a clause saying that if Noone were to sell the building, most recently assessed at $410,000, or if it no longer was to be used as a theater, he would be required to pay the taxes due on the property.
Kelly said the agreement had been reviewed by Town Attorney Kevin Nelligan.
"The abatement is to allow the creation of a performing arts center," Kelly said. "And if that’s not able to happen or is not sustainable, the town will still be paid. (Noone) feels that this puts them at risk, but this is a way to protect the town’s interests."
Noone didn't think the payment schedule was fair and said the clause would limit his plans. "So if I were to sell in two years, I'd pay the taxes I owe for two years? Twenty percent of the assessed value?" he asked.
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"We're voting on whether you should have to pay abated taxes if you sell the building or the entity changes," Kelly said.
The clause requiring payment would be based on the third, fourth and fifth years of taxes, from 2025 to 2028, instead of Noone having to pay all five years' worth of taxes. Noone said he understood the board's position but didn't agree with the payment schedule.
"What I don't like is the five-year payback," Noone said. "I'm going to invest my hard-earned money in this. We've received (American Rescue Plan Act) grants from the town, but I've spent about $80,000 of my own money on Case Avenue."
Pace of projects questioned
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When he first announced his plans for the church in April, the board was troubled by the time it's taking him to complete the Red Men Club — a project he's been working on for three years. Noone is shifting his plan for the Case Avenue property and wants to turn it into a dance hall.
In April, Selectwomen Linda Groppo and Candace Bouchard pointed to several grants Noone and his wife, Alla Kravchenko, have received from Winsted's federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, which was provided to municipalities to help recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In April 2022, Noone received a $10,000 facade improvement grant from those funds, an initiative developed by Town Manager Josh Kelly to help businesses fix up their buildings. The grant was awarded to Laurel City Expressive Performing at 15 Case Ave., site of the former club. Kravchenko also received a $10,000 startup grant to open Greenhouse Bed & Breakfast at 21 Fairview Ave. in Winsted in 2022.
Groppo said recently that she was "very, very concerned" about the pace of Noone's work on Case Avenue and wondered what would happen to that building.
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"We've talked about the Red Men building, and it was supposed to open in the spring (of this year)," she said. "Now it’s another year. It’s another unfinished project in town."
Noone said he has had "a lot going on" during the last few years. He was called to serve in the National Guard during the pandemic. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he and his wife were helping families from Ukraine. "That took a lot of our time," he said. "I'm sorry for that, but that's what happened."
He said the projects he started are back underway and that he was confident the theater and dance hall plans would be a success.
During the April 17 meeting with the selectmen, Noone's request for the tax abatement drew a number of residents, nearly all of whom spoke in support of allowing the developer to be given the chance to make the Methodist church building into a music hall and theater, which would be occupied by the Laurel City Players, and would welcome musicians and other artists to the building to put on their own shows.
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Steph Burr, executive director of the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, said Noone's purchase of the Methodist church was an investment opportunity for Winsted.
"We're in support of a tax abatement, so they can get this project off the ground," Burr said. "It will support the arts, restaurants, cultural assets. Winsted’s positioned to become an arts destination."
May 5, 2023|Updated May 5, 2023 6:19 p.m.
Emily M. Olson is the community editor for the Torrington Register Citizen, the New Haven Register and the Middletown Press.
She is a 1997 graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in English and a minor in journalism.
She started her career at the Patent Trader newspaper in Westchester County in 1998. After a brief period as a reporter with the Register Citizen in 1999, she joined the former Housatonic Publications group as a reporter. She was managing editor of the former Litchfield Enquirer and helped run the weekly newspapers at Housatonic and the Litchfield County Times. She returned to the Register Citizen in 2009.