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No, not that kind of revival. Calvary Baptist's land in Clearwater is expected to be key to downtown's future.
By LORRI HELFAND, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2002
CLEARWATER -- While Calvary Baptist Church plans its move to new digs in east Clearwater, the city has been looking at Calvary's current properties as a key element of downtown redevelopment.
Within a year and a half, Calvary Baptist Church hopes to move from the mainland downtown bluffs to 28 acres at McMullen-Booth Road and Drew Street.
This comes just as the city has revived efforts to research downtown development strategies. Calvary Baptist's land plays a crucial role in potential plans.
For the whole city to thrive, a downtown redevelopment project must be successful, according to Reginald "Reg" Owens, the city's new economic development and housing director.
"If we don't redevelop downtown it will actually impact the rest of Clearwater," he said. "You're going to end up with a decaying downtown."
The city recently invited the nonprofit Urban Land Institute to study the downtown and look at its potential for redevelopment. The institute estimated that in 10 to 15 years the downtown could attract more than $400-million of new development projects.
Since two of the church's downtown properties overlook waterfront property, they could be prime locations for residential properties and retail and entertainment establishments.
But because City Hall is sandwiched between those properties, Owens said the city might look at moving City Hall down the road.
Actual plans for relocation have not been discussed, according to Ralph Stone, assistant city manager of economic and community development. But he said that if the City Hall did move it could likely end up near Myrtle Avenue and Pierce Street, where the fire department, police department and municipal service building are now.
A goal for the city is to protect 28 acres of waterfront property as an open-space park with a marina. Calvary Baptist Church's properties would then be prime for residential, retail and entertainment venues.
The park could host boat shows and festivals, similar to those in downtown St. Petersburg. Owens compares the downtown effort to that of St. Petersburg, which had fits and starts, but now has blossomed.
"We are where St. Pete was five years ago," Owens said. "But we actually have a better location."
The city sees the development as a continuation of current revitalization projects, such as the Memorial Causeway Bridge and Main Library, which are both under construction and are due for completion in December 2003.
There is potential for the neighborhood near the Publix on S Fort Harrison to become a miniature Hyde Park with apartments, stores and townhomes, Owens said, and Cleveland Street could become a pedestrian-friendly main street with boutiques and restaurants. That will become crucial when the Memorial Causeway is completed, because Cleveland will hit a dead end at the gulf.
A couple of locations for a multiplex movie theater have been discussed, either close to downtown or near the new Town Lake's condominiums south of Cleveland Street and east of Myrtle Avenue.
Two years ago, voters rejected a $300-million plan to remake downtown Clearwater. Owens said there are several differences this time because the city studied the failed referendum.
The public wasn't educated properly about project details the last time, Owens said.
They were asked to approve leasing city-owned waterfront land to developers for 99 years for as little as $1 per year. The proposal would have created up to $40-million in developer-financed public improvements downtown, but the perception was that the city wasn't getting fair market value, Owens said.
The last project was focused mainly on public properties and the city approached a single developer with a complete package. Now, the city is proactively telling private developers about opportunities, Owens said.
"We don't need to select a developer. The private property owners are the ones who are selling the land and that's the big difference," Owens said.
Meanwhile, Calvary Baptist Church is leisurely waiting for an offer on its properties. Its current asking price is $20-million for the main church property and both of its educational facilities. Several developers are actively looking at the properties, the Rev. Jerry Tidwell said.
"We're ready to sell because we're ready to start construction, but we don't have to sell in order to start building," said Tidwell.
The 6,000-member church chose to move because it lacked parking and space for its worshipers and wanted to attract more Tampa Bay families, especially young ones.
"We want to be in the best place to reach the greatest number of people," Tidwell said.
The new 200,000-square-foot facility will include a sanctuary/auditorium with about 3,000 theater-style seats, a high school for about 300 students, a day care for more than 100 children, and a temporary gymnasium that will later become the fellowship hall.
Currently, the church has fewer than 130 parking spaces. It plans to have close to 2,000 parking spaces including a 400- to 500-car parking garage. Later, the church plans to build a $7-9 million recreation complex.
The project, estimated at more than $35-million, could begin construction in a couple of months pending approval from the congregation.
-- Lorri Helfand can be reached at (727) 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com.