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Religion

St. Peter's asks for more time

The church has met a money challenge for expansion, it says. Preserving an old facade is another story.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published November 13, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral has been given a six-month extension to its request to demolish the historic former Baptist church it owns across from Williams Park.

Cathedral officials and its developer will use the additional time, in part, to determine whether they can meet a city stipulation to preserve the facade of the old sanctuary as part of a proposed multimillion-dollar expansion and condominium project.

St. Peter's dean, the Very Rev. Russell L. Johnson, said studies show that the former church is in poor condition.

"We've taken tours with our people and made them wear hard hats," he said, adding that the floor gave way during a recent inspection of the 81-year-old building.

St. Peter's has an agreement with Cathedral Partners LLC, a subsidiary of the Bullard Group, to develop the property at 120 Fourth St. N.

"We're looking at every possible option of what we can do with the building," Fred B. Bullard III said Thursday after the City Council meeting. "We want to make sure we are respectful to the preservationists, but at the same time, we have to be practical."

St. Peter's, which has been downtown for more than a century, has repeatedly said it cannot remain viable at its current location without expanding and updating its facilities. It says it also needs parking for its congregation of about 1,000.

In 2001, Mayor Rick Baker, a history buff and author of Mangroves to Major League, a history of the city, gave his support to St. Peter's request to raze the old Baptist church next door. He told City Council members that he realized it was more important to protect a congregation than a deserted building.

Several congregations have already left downtown. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 253 Fifth Ave. N, is now the Palladium Theatre. The First Congregational United Church of Christ, at 240 Fourth St. N, which remained empty for years, was bought by developer Grady Pridgen. The former Mirror Lake Christian Church is now the Mirror Lake Lyceum, a facility for social and business functions, at 737 Third Ave. N. The Baptist sanctuary once belonged to First Baptist Church of St. Petersburg, which moved to larger quarters on Gandy Boulevard.

On Thursday, Donald Mastry, St. Peter's attorney, told the City Council that the cathedral now has the financial ability to proceed with the expansion. So far, the congregation at 140 Fourth St. N has raised more than $2.3-million of its $5-million share of the project and plans to borrow the rest of what it needs, Johnson said.

The next step is to "work through the difficulties of the Baptist sanctuary with the city," he said.

St. Peter's bought the First Baptist Church of St. Petersburg property in 1990 for $1-million. Though it has been able to use the former administration building, it has struggled to make use of the vast sanctuary. Preservationists' opposition to razing the building and an unstable economy after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks impeded proposed expansion.

Johnson, St. Peter's dean for a year and a half, credits recent progress to an increasingly vibrant downtown and a congregation that has now "captured the vision" of the cathedral's plans.

The church's agreement with Cathedral Partners would give St. Peter's about 60,000 square feet for facilities that would include a parish hall, nursery, kitchen and a new chapel. The congregation, which worships in a historic Gothic revival cathedral, also would get 35 parking spaces.

The height of the building is yet to be determined, though the developer initially said it could have 20 to 25 stories. St. Peter's contract with the developer calls for it to give Cathedral Partners $5-million and the property on which the tower will stand.

"I'm hoping against hope that we'll maybe begin construction before July," Johnson said. "All of that is going to be driven by construction costs and whether or not the condominium market holds up, but we're excited."

Bullard, of Cathedral Partners, said the project is moving ahead.

"We're working on names for the project and preliminary sketches and drawings and construction assessments. We're anticipating hopefully starting our preconstruction sales campaign after the first of the year," he said.

Bullard said a marketing firm has met with focus groups to determine the types of amenities potential condominium buyers might want, as well as the size of units they're likely to buy and the prices they would pay.

"We're still in the exploratory phase of it, but I think we're going to have prices ranging in the low $400,000 to the $750,000-plus, even a couple in the million-dollar range. The penthouses probably will be in excess of a million," Bullard said.

His father, Fred B. Bullard, a longtime developer in Pinellas County and throughout Florida, is the head of Cathedral Partners. The Bullard Group, which he owns, was one of the developers of BayWalk.

The younger Bullard said he is unconcerned by recent announcements of condos being planned downtown.

"I don't worry so much about what properties are on the drawing board," he said. "We take into account more the properties that are being built and what's working for them."

[Last modified November 13, 2005, 03:00:43]