That's the minimum tab for moving the 3,000-ton Calvary Baptist Church landmark, a consultant concludes.
By RICHARD DANIELSON, Times Staff Writer
Published August 30, 2005
CLEARWATER - The historic domed chapel at Calvary Baptist Church could be saved, but moving it to the bottom of the bluff overlooking Clearwater Harbor would cost at least $6-million and require the approval of city voters.
That's the message the Clearwater City Council got Monday from a consultant who has studied the possibility of moving and preserving part of the church.
The 3,000-ton church building would be the largest structure ever moved in Clearwater and probably the largest moved in Florida, according to consultants with HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm with an office in Tampa.
And the sheer size of the undertaking is only part of the challenge.
Moving the building is estimated to cost $6-million to $7-million. Annual operating costs for the new building, which could be reborn as a performing arts center, could cost another $1.2-million a year.
City voters would have to approve moving the church building to the bottom of the bluff because the city's charter prohibits putting any structures in that part of the waterfront without voter approval.
Completed in 1926, the tan-brick chapel is topped by an expansive octagonal dome and is among Clearwater's most distinctive architectural landmarks. Opus South, which has a contract to purchase the church for its Water's Edge condominium and retail project, has said it would donate the chapel to the city.
Mayor Frank Hibbard wants to save the building and said he would try to raise $4-million from the private sector to help pay for the move.
"That may sound ambitious, but I think it could be done," he said.
Still, Hibbard, who was baptized and married in the chapel, said he wanted to hear from his colleagues on whether the city should move ahead.
"I'm more invested" in trying to save the building, Hibbard said, "and I want to make sure that I'm not invested in the wrong way."
Council member Hoyt Hamilton said he too would like to save the building, but was leery of the idea of moving too far ahead on a commitment to a costly project before voters even approved it.
"I really think we've gotten the motor running on this thing too late," Hamilton said.
Originally, city officials had expected they would have to move fast on scheduling a special referendum, which would cost the city an estimated $50,000, because Opus South had said it wanted the church site clear in January.
But over the weekend, Opus South told the city it could wait until March to clear the site, City Manager Bill Horne said after the meeting. That would give officials more time to consider the costs, feasibility and desirability of the move.
"Now we're potentially looking at a March referendum," Horne said.
City officials are spending this week trying to figure out how much the city would have to spend on design and site preparation before the referendum. City Council members want a handle on those costs before they decide whether to schedule a referendum.
HDR looked at five sites for the Calvary chapel and ruled out four of them. Its analysis included the idea of cutting the church building into pieces for the move, but consultants recommended against that.
"There's a feeling ... that the building would not go back together quite right," said Ken Heit, an associate in HDR's Tampa office.
Along with the site at the bottom of the bluff, the other sites were:
--The corner of Pierce and Myrtle across from the city's municipal services building. The problem is that the streets are not wide enough to allow the chapel to be moved to this location.
--The main library parking lot on N Osceola Avenue. The streets to this site also are too narrow to move the chapel.
--The intersection of Osceola and Cleveland Street, just 100 feet away from where the church now sits. Consultants concluded that this site wouldn't work because it would impinge on the redevelopment project property, would have little or no room for growth and would not have dedicated parking.
--The Pierce and Osceola property where Calvary High School now stands. A move to that spot would be feasible, but Opus South plans to buy the site and "it could be difficult to arrange a public/private partnership," HDR said.
The location along the bottom of the bluff could put the church along Pierce Boulevard, consultants said. Moving the church to the foot of Cleveland Street is one possibility.
HDR also looked at using the chapel as a replacement for City Hall, but concluded it is too small at 22,000 square feet. By comparison, the city expects its new city hall to be 54,000 square feet, which would include some departments now located at the municipal services building.
