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Neighborhood report

This old church could be lofts

Hold the bulldozer. The architect behind the Sanctuary apartments plans another conversion.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published October 14, 2005

The pocket change on the collection plate couldn't pay the light bill anymore, and the fate of Tampa Primitive Baptist Church grew dim as the church slowly died from asbestos and apathy.

A few faithful followers who personified their graying church whispered their final prayers before closing the church for the first time since the 1940s and selling it in January for $100,000.

But a project that goes before the City Council on Thursday could give the old church at Kentucky and Oakdale avenues a lofty afterlife.

Replacing the empty pews, peeling wallpaper and rickety roof could be two 1,800-square-foot loft apartments, plus three adjacent 2,000-square-foot townhomes.

"We want to restore it to how it was in 1942," said Manuel Sanchez, an engineer and general contractor who bought the property.

The project began when church members approached local architect John Tennison after reading about his work on the Sanctuary, a 100-year-old former Methodist church in Tampa Heights he converted to a 34-unit apartment building. They wanted to see if he could save what was left of the church.

"Our simple hope is the landmark status of it stays here, because the church sanctuary was here before the neighborhood was," said Don Gilbert, the church's pastor. If "you don't know what your roots are, you don't last long."

Tennison knew Sanchez from another project and asked him what he could do to salvage the white clapboard church. Sanchez decided to buy the property and plans began to take shape.

The project calls for replacing the termite-infested beams and designating the facade as historic. The church needs an electrical, plumbing, flooring and roofing makeover.

Developers plan to tear down a small, poorly constructed school building on the rear of the property to make room for the three townhouses, which will have windows and rooflines that resemble the restored church. The townhouses will be staggered on the property to avoid a wall effect and provide a clear view of the church.

This summer, Tennison presented plans to the Riverside Heights Civic Association.

"It was very well received. They even applauded after he presented," association president Sharon Keene said.

Keene and the association have collected more than 100 signatures in support of changing the zoning to planned development to allow for the townhouses.

"It's going to be such an asset to the neighborhood," she said about the project.

Neighbor Catherine Cottle doesn't agree.

The three proposed townhomes don't blend with the neighborhood of mostly single-family detached houses, she says.

She plans to attend the 6 p.m. hearing at City Hall to protest the townhomes but not the restoration of the church.

"People want it to be kept in the neighborhood as a church, and if the building itself is able to be saved, that would be a wonderful thing," she said.

Sanchez said he has already been approached by a few members of the old church who want to buy one of the lofts.

If the project is approved, construction could start in the next couple of months, Tennison said.

"I think it's a trend in Tampa that people are coming back to the old neighborhoods," Sanchez said. "They're tired of their long drives to suburbia and they're coming back."

- Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 226-3354 or at azayas@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 13, 2005, 08:20:12]