HUNTINGTON — A 136-year-old church will be sold at auction later this month in a first for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.

The diocese, which covers Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties, plans to place St. Thomas Catholic Church, in Huntington, up for auction July 20.

“St. Thomas was one of a number of churches in 2010 that was consolidated with two other churches as part of an extensive pastoral planning process,” said Mark Dupont, spokesman for the Springfield Diocese.

Together with St. John Mission in Chester, the parishioners merged with Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Russell.

Dupont said that shortly after the closing, the diocese had an appraisal done on St. Thomas and placed the church into its real estate inventory.

Since then, the church has been offered for sale through Colebrook Realty, but Dupont said that while there have been a few proposals to purchase the property, a lack of “serious offers” led the diocese to put the church up for auction.

According to Dupont, the diocese has had good luck in re-purposing or selling other churches that have been closed over the years. However, this is the first time that it has auctioned off one of its churches.

“This is sort of a test case for us,” Dupont said. “Once we see how this goes, we will evaluated the other properties and see what would work best with them.”

Other area churches currently on sale through Colebrook Realty are the former St. Mary Parish, at 3 Elm St. in Northampton; the former Holy Trinity Church, at 79 Main St. in Hatfield; and the former St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, at 195 Main St. in Leeds. The former St. John Cantius Parish at 10 Hawley St. in Northampton currently has a sale pending.

Built in 1881, St. Thomas in Huntington is approximately 3,720 square feet and is located on one third of an acre in the center of town at 2 East Main St. Assessed at $201,400, the property is on sale for $189,000. According to the listing, the building is handicapped-accessible and the property is zoned for business.

The auction will take place on the property in Huntington at 1 p.m. July 20. Prior to the auction, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the building will be open for inspection. Auctioneers Aaron Posnik & Co. of West Springfield will run the auction.

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