GREENFIELD — Franklin County’s YMCA will come before the Historical Commission again Thursday, as the commission will hold a public hearing to determine whether the city’s demolition delay bylaw will apply to the former Zion Korean Church.

In the hearing, the Historical Commission will determine if the 182-year-old church at 463 Main St. meets the city ordinance’s definition of a “significant building” and if demolishing the structure would “be detrimental to the historical or architectural heritage or resources” of the city.

If the building is given the “preferably preserved” designation, then demolition can be delayed for up to six months while the owner, Franklin County’s YMCA, makes “bona fide and reasonable efforts to locate a purchaser to preserve, rehabilitate or restore the subject building,” according to the ordinance.

Franklin County’s Y filed an application seeking the “demolition and disposal of entire structures above and below grade,” as it looks to use the open space to expand its playground area and create a third preschool classroom, according to the application. While demolition is on the table, the application states “pieces of the original structure will be salvaged for repurposing.”

“The structure has several issues including asbestos, mold, rodents, leaking roof and wet floors in the basement,” the YMCA’s application reads in the “justification for proposed demolition work” section. “The building as it stands is not suitable for Y programming. To renovate and bring to code would be too costly.”

Western Mass Demolition Corporation’s contract, which is included with the Y’s application, states it will demolish the entire structure, remove the foundation, clean out the cellar hole and then backfill the lot to its original grade.

Future plans may also include a child care building or a separate, enclosed pool, according to the application.

Franklin County’s YMCA acquired the church at 463 Main St. in spring 2023 through the help of an anonymous donor and has been determining whether to demolish the structure to make room for program space or renovate the building to bring it up to code. When the Historical Commission learned of the church’s potential demolition in August, it sought ways to preserve it, claiming that the structure holds historical significance for the role it played as a meeting place during the abolitionist movement.

A demolition application for the structure was filed by the YMCA on Sept. 30, but Building Commissioner Mark Snow said in a Oct. 3 letter to Western Mass Demolition Corporation that the application needed to be denied because office staff found it to be incomplete, as several sections were not filled out and no photos of the church were included.

According to records from the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System — a database featuring information on historic properties — the Zion Korean Church was built as the Coldbrook Springs Baptist Church in Barre in the 1840s. The church, which records indicate was, until recently, Greenfield’s oldest church still in use, had to be either demolished or moved to make room for the Quabbin Reservoir’s construction. The Greenfield Christian Scientist congregation purchased the Greek revival-style church and moved it to Greenfield in 1936.

The hybrid public hearing will start at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2, at the John Zon Community Center. The agenda, as well as the Zoom link, can be found on the city’s website.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.