| By
Michael Wacht
TAMPA — Seminole Heights United Methodist
Church here is the second most important historic building in the
Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa and the most important church
in the area, according to the National Register Historic Designation
Report. Because of its importance, the church recently received a
$237,000 grant from the State of Florida to help fund efforts to
preserve the structure.
The church was built in 1927 and is an example
of Gothic Revival architecture, which was the preferred style for
churches from the 1750s to the early 20th century. Gothic Revival
buildings feature pointed arches and vaults in windows or doors,
steeply-pitched gables, and tall pointed towers and roofs. The
Seminole Heights church also has cascading steps and stained glass
windows, and the exterior is entirely yellow brick.
At the time the church was built, Seminole
Heights was one of the only suburbs of Tampa, according to the Rev.
Ron De Genaro, the church’s pastor. The church was one of the first
structures built there, and the area is now considered an inner-city
neighborhood located near the center of Tampa. “The area is
experiencing a renaissance, and there is a lot of historic
preservation being done,” De Genaro said.
The church, however, has been showing its age,
according to De Genaro. Water seeping in through the exterior brick
and mortar caused major interior damage. To repair it, the church
needed a process called brick tuck-pointing, during which the bricks
are repaired and the concrete between the bricks is redone to make it
water-resistant.
“Only working with the tuck-pointing was going
to be a $400,000 job,” De Genaro said. “The church had put
$160,000 into it already.”
The church applied to the Florida State
legislature for assistance in completing the project. “We wrote the
grant ourselves,” De Genaro said. “It was our first attempt at
writing a grant, and we went in thinking we wouldn’t get it.”
The hope of getting the grant was furthered
dampened when the grant was presented Sept. 11, 2001. “With the
economic difficulties that followed, we weren’t sure we’d get the
full grant,” he said. “But the legislature was able to fund it
all. There was a lot of prayer that went into this.”
The grant benefits the church by allowing it to
do the restoration work without spending any more of its own money and
will save the church money in the long run by reducing maintenance
costs, De Genaro said. “It saves money on maintenance so this
project won’t take away from the mission of the church…and it will
free us up to do ministry in other areas.”
Due to its historic designation the church’s
exterior cannot be changed and must reflect the era in which it was
built. Any new construction must stay within the area’s historic
guidelines. |
