AMHERST — Representatives of the First Congregational Church are turning down $200,000 in Community Preservation Act money that would have paid more than half the cost of installing a fire sprinkler system in its building at 165 Main St.

Instead, the church will put a new fire suppression unit in its kitchen, where meals for the Not Bread Alone soup kitchen are prepared, and make other improvements to keep the building safe for its occupants. Those fixes are acceptable to both the Amherst Fire Department and municipal inspectors, officials said.

The congregation made the call to relinquish the town funding on Sunday.

A letter from the church’s clerk, Ralph Faulkingham, and its moderator, Russell Vernon-Jones, sent to Paris Boice, chairwoman of the CPA Committee, and Meg Vickery, chairwoman of the Amherst Historical Commission, explains that the cost of the sprinkler system was a driving factor in the decision.

The $200,000 grant approved by the town last spring fell short of the $360,000 needed for the sprinkler system. The need for the system had been triggered by planned installation of a new elevator in the church.

“Shortly thereafter, as our work with our architects continued, it became clear that installing an elevator and also paying our share of the required sprinkler system was beyond our budget,” Faulkingham and Vernon-Jones wrote.

Fire Chief Walter “Tim” Nelson said the alternative form of compliance meets the needs of his department and the safety of those who use the church.

“Putting in a robust suppression system, tied in with their very good alarm and detection system, works for us and for them,” Nelson said.

While the church could have been forced to put in sprinklers, Nelson said the state’s Automatic Sprinkler Appeals Board may have reached a similar compromise.

To cut costs, the church also scaled back its plan for an elevator, turning instead to an enclosed vertical lift that did not increase the size of the building.

In addition to the fire suppression system in the kitchen, the church is replacing outdated wiring and adding a fire alarm system throughout the building, with more sensors than are required by code.

“We have been assured by the fire chief that these steps, together with our close proximity to the Central Fire Station, will provide adequate protection both for public safety and for the preservation of our historic structure,” Vernon-Jones and Faulkingham wrote.

They note the $200,000 set aside for the church can be used for other projects. The CPA Committee recently received more than $3 million in requests, including another from a religious entity, this time for repairing a steeple at the Jewish Community of Amherst.

The congregation is also pledging to continue doing work in keeping with its place in the Emily Dickinson Historic District.

“We assure you that we appreciate the historic importance of our church building to the Amherst community and to the Dickinson Historic District, and we are fully committed to its preservation,” its leaders wrote.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.

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