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TRINITY CATHEDRAL
464 N.E. 16th Street, Miami, FL 33132 • (P) 305-374-3372 (E) 305.373-6155
March 25, 2008
The Hon. Michelle Spence -Jones, Chair
Community Redevelopment Agency
Office of Commissioner Spence -Jones
3500 Pan American Drive
Miami, FL 33133
Dear Commissioner Spence -Jones:
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is one of the oldest houses of worship in the City of Miami (the
congregation is the oldest in the Miami area, assembled in 1 893 by Bishop William Crane Gray) and
one of the Eve oldest buildings in the city. Built in 1925 under the direction of M.iarni architect
Harold Hastings Mundy, the Cathedral was fisted on the National Register of Historic Places in. 1.980
for both its architecture and historic significance. Today's congregation of approximately 500
members fully represents the rich diversity of Miami and South Florida in race, ethnicity, nationality,
gender and sexual orientation, We are currently embarking on what we estimate could be a
$5-7 million comprehensive restoration and preservation initiative, one of the major elements of
which is the City of Miami's 40-year recertification requirement. As we seek to restore the physical
structure of the Cathedral, we also seek with much anticipation to partner with our neighbors in
restoring a sense of community to this corner of Miami's downtown Omni District. It is with this in
mind that I write to respectfully request a grant from the Community Redevelopment Agency for the
2008 funding year in the amount of $1 million to assist us in working toward that goal.
Historic Slit:nce
Trinity Church, Miami's first Episcopal parish, and the oldest church within the original city
limits of Miami, held services in several buildings prior to the Cathedral's construction in 1925. One
of the founders of Trinity Church and an early pioneer of Miami, Julia Tuttle, donated the land for
the parish's first small wooden church and actually held services in her home prior to the
construction of the first church structure. Due to the growth of the city, by the 1920s the Church was
actually located in what was then considered the commercial sector of Miami (Northeast 2" d Avenue
and 2 Street) but suffered from the downtown problems of congestion, noise, and lack of parking
facilities, The Vestry (Board of Directors) voted to sell the property for $275,000 in 1922 and
purchased the site of the present Cathedral. This site was selected because, at that time, the area was
considered to be the center of Miami's Episcopal population. The building was completed in 1925 at
a total cost of $470,000 — $70,000 more than the projected cost. When the boom collapsed in 1927,
Trinity Church was faced with a large mortgage debt that was finally paid off in 1946 after almost 20
years of sacrifice and struggle.
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Designed by Miami architect Harold Hastings Mundy, construction was completed in 1925 by
• builder George A. Fuller Co. of Miami. The Cathedral represents an outstanding example of religious
architecture in Miami -Dade County from the 1920s and is one of the great monuments of boom architecture.
It further represents an excellent example of the Romanesque Revival style, which prospered during the
1850s and 1860s and was predominantly used for churches and public buildings. Although not extremely
popular in England, the Romanesque Revival made its way to America from France and Germany where the
movement was quite strong. The style, which featured the semi -circular arch, arcaded corbel tables,
buttresses and towers, was predominantly used for public buildings until 1900. Mundy's design of Trinity
Cathedral was specifically inspired by the Romanesque Church of St. Giles near Nimes, France, and the.
interior Romanesque arches and mosaic encrustments on the wall surfaces were inspired by Mundy's visit to
the famous St. Remi Cathedral at Ravenna, Italy, Several of Trinity's symbolic details include the
following; the three entrances to the Church (the north and south transepts and the main entrance)
symbolize the Trinity; the panels on each side of the main entrance, consisting of palms and lilies,
symbolize Easter and the Resurrection; and the capitals of the interior arcades feature the carved symbols of
Christ (shepherd) with Matthew (young man), Mark (lion), Luke (ox) and John (eagle). Finally, the
superimposition of a large cross over the rose window at the west end of the Cathedral is one of Trinity's
most unique and interesting details, standing today as one of only three memorials to Julia Tuttle in the city.
In addition to Julia Tuttle, members of Trinity's congregation have included Alfred I. Barton
(founder of the Surf Club, Miami Beach), Rodney and Freeman Burdine (founders of the Burdine's
Department Stores), Diana Manson Hull, and Ernest Seiler (founder of the Orange Bowl Parade).
Benefactors of the church have included Harvey Firestone, Arthur Vining Davis, Margaret Pace, and Col.
Robert Pentland, Jr. In addition, world dignitaries, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mother Teresa
have preached from the pulpit of Trinity Cathedral. Although primarily a house of worship, over the years
Trinity Cathedral has served as a site of numerous public concerts and events. The Cathedra! interior has a
sound reverberation of more than four seconds, a feature that greatly en\ances the musical effectiveness of
its renowned pipe organ and making it one of the "warmest" rooms for *sic. Over the years organists such
as Virgil Fox, Frederick Swan, Marcel Dupree, and Jean Langlais have performed on the Cathedral's E.M.
Skinner/Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ of 56 ranks.
Community Outreach
Since the early 1980s, Trinity Cathedral has provided food in some form for the homeless and
marginalized members of Miami's society. Over the years the program has evolved to include the
distribution of food packets two mornings a week, a sit -dawn dinner on Monday evenings and a sit-down
breakfast Friday mornings. We also offer a healing service with communion on Tuesday evenings now
largely attended by homeless men and women (and occasionally children). Some of these feedings are done
in partnership with the City of Miami. At this time Trinity Cathedral provides approximately 25,000 meals a
year to those in need. The only funding support these programs receive is from Episcopal grant sources and
contributions from our parishioners. The Cathedral is currently working with other faith communities to
help identify ways to address the needs of the homeless, as the current program places extensive wear and
tear on the Cathedral infrastructure.
In addition to its feeding programs, Trinity Cathedral serves the community in a number of other
ways. The Cathedral Hall has served as a polling station for elections for a number of years. We also make
both the hall and the Cathedral available to nonprofit and community organizations in need of meeting space
and have served as a site for forums and town hall meetings for city, county and state government
representatives and agencies. The Cathedral's proximity to the Performing Arts Center, along with the
building's extraordinary acoustics, also enables us to serve as a venue for many community cultural events.
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*Statement of Need
Four major factors have contributed to the critical state of restoration and preservation that Trinity
Cathedral now faces.
1) City of Miami 40-year recertification: A 2005 structural engineering study of the Cathedral
conservatively estimates the cost (in 2005 dollars) for essential repairs/restoration at just over
$l million, excluding any costs related to potential hazardous materials or environmental issues.
This also does not include significant anticipated mechanical and electrical engineering repairs
and upgrades, such as raising and leveling the altar, which has sunk over the years from
extensive development in the area. We are currently working with Church Restoration Group,
Inc., to develop a master plan study that will outline thc overall scope of work and related costs
of repairs, restoration, and preservation work. The cost to develop the plan, which includes an
allowance for professional architectural and engineering fees, is approximately $60,000.
2) IZurricane Kjttrina/'Wilma Repairs/Roof Replacement: Trinity Cathedral sustained
approximately $850,000 in hurricane damage from Wilma and Katrina that involves damage to
the stained glass windows and extensive interior water damage as well as complete replacement
of the Cathedral roof. Only 80% of the replacement costs of the entire copper roofing system
were attributed to hurricane damage and therefore included as part of the insurance claim. En
addition, the Cathedral Hall copper roofing section, which may not be covered by insurance,
must be replaced at a cost of just over $18,000.
3) Stained Glass Windows/Itajian Mosaics: In addition to damage caused by recent hurricanes, the
Cathedral's stained glass windows and Italian mosaics are in critical need of restoration. Church
Restoration Group has estimated the stained glass window restoration, which involves complete
removal of the windows for repair and installation of temporary replacements, at approximately
$850,000 (excluding scaffolding). In addition, CRG estimates the restoration of the interior
Italian mosaics, ornamental plaster and smooth plaster at approximately $350,000.
4) Deferred Maintenance/Neighborhood Beautification: Trinity Cathedral is currently suffering
from approximately 25 years of deferred maintenance. A large part of this is due to the changing
face of downtown Miami over the past quarter century as well as a migration of many former
members of the congregation to the suburbs or to other retirement locations. Over the years, thc
congregation alone has been unable to sustain the enormous costs of maintaining a facility of
this size. As a result, ongoing maintenance of the facility was deferred and the Cathedral must
now address the following critical issues: 1) extensive repair of exterior masonry; 2) complete
replacement of the Cathedral's regular windows with impact glass windows; 3) sealing and
repainting of exterior structure; 4) installation of an upgraded and expanded sound system; and
5) redesign and upgrade of the Cathedral Hall kitchen to accommodate current usage. In
addition, in keeping with the beautification of the neighborhood, the Cathedral is seeking to
upgrade its landscaping, install an irrigation system, enhance exterior lighting, repair the
perimeter fence, resurface the parking lot, improve signage, and install a labyrinth in the north
garden. All of the elements of our neighborhood beautification efforts are related to restoring a
sense of community to our area.
2008 Projected Budget
Our projected budget request to CRA for 2008 funding is $1,000,000, which will used as follows:
1) to complete the necessary hurricane repairs to, in essence, restore the building envelope; 2) to develop the
master plan study; and 3) to begin immediately essential assessments, upgrades and repairs as required by
the City of Miami 40-year recertification. As mentioned initially, we currently estimate the overall repair,
restoration and preservation costs conservatively at $5-7 million over three to five years. To date, in addition
Soto the insurance claim, of which we have already received partial payment, we have raised $100,000 toward
our Capital improvement Fund and $50,000 toward our new Friends of Trinity Cathedral program,
established specifically to promote and support the restoration and preservation of Trinity Cathedral. We
also are pursuing the following grants with full understanding that none of these are guaranteed sources of
revenue for restoration and preservation of Trinity Cathedral and that all of them have matching fund
requirements:
l ) $50,000 — State of Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation 2009 Small Matching Grant
2) $500,000 — National Park Service Save America's Treasures 2008 Grant
3) $350,000 — State of Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation 2010 Special Grant
4) $250,000 — M-Dade County Building Better Communities Historic Preservation Fund
Summary
As the 2008 hurricane season approaches, it is imperative that we secure the building envelope to
prevent further damage. Replacing the roof, which is currently underway, is the first step toward that. The
development of the Master Plan Study will provide an essential overview of the scope of work and a game
plan of both the work involved and the estimated overall cost. We also must immediately begin work on the
40-year recertification of the Cathedral to bring the structure up to current code standards, to secure the
structural integrity of the building, and to upgrade the mechanical and electrical systems. In addition, we
would like to undertake some of those projects that would most immediately enhance the beautification of
our neighborhood community. For 2008, these are the most critical/urgent needs for which we are seeking
funding. It is my hope that the City of Miami Community Redevelopment Agency will partner with Trinity
Cathedral in preserving not only the integrity and beauty of this historic structure but also the integrity and
beauty of this historic and vibrant neighborhood by awarding us a grant of $1,000,000 for 2008.
Sincerely,
e Ve v. Douglas Wrn McCaleb
Dean
cc: ` Marc David Sarnoff, Vice Chair
Angel GonzAlez, Commissioner
Joe Sanchez, Commissioner
Tomas Regalado, Commissioner
Barnes H. Villacorta
Clarence Woods
Lucretia Allen, Sr. Warden
Laura Jamieson, Jr. Warden
James T. Nolan, Treasurer
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