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HISTORIC IMAGE: An early undated photograph of the Mission -style St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, which opened in 1912.
Wrecking St. Stephen's was a sin
BY BETH DUNLOP
bdunloplaaMiiam,Heraldcom
A week ago, I thought this colttmn would be al]
eloquent plea for saving Miami's oldest house of
worship. Instead, I'm writing an obituary for the
historic St'. Stephen's Church, just shy of a century
old at the time of its wanton demolition. I thought
the Bible said, "Remove not the ancient landmark,
which your fathers have set." and not "down with
the old and up with the new," but I must be reading
a different testament.
The church had deep roots: among its members
were the Munroes, the Matheson and the McFar-
lanes — names that form a cornerstone of Coconut
Grove history. St. Stephen's opened in 1912 as a
simple, little Mission -style chapel, but a few years
later, the colonnade was added, giving the church a
more imposing presence. The building was
"deconsecrated" in 195S when a new sanctuary was
built, and over the years a few unfortunate cos-
metic alterations were made — but nothing perma-
nent.
Some time back, Jennifer Briley, a parishioner
whose background is in modern design, was
selected to develop a plan for new classrooms and
offices for St. Stephen's Episcopal Day School and
for what the church called a "new, green and
LEED-registered" two-story commercial building
along Main Highway. Briley is an architect who
shows promise as a modernist but who has already
gained a less -than -stellar reputation in the world of
preservation for her role in the demolition of
another, albeit entirely different landmark — the
swooping, parabolic Americana Motor Inn in Fort
Lauderdale.
RENOVATION PLAN
The original plan called for renovating a portion
of the old church and keeping the loggia. Late in
the game, plans changed: The commercial space
grew and the historic building was eliminated. But
the drawings didn't change, which lulled many into
thinking that at least part of the church building
was safe. The fundraising brochure stated paint -
blank: "To preserve our rich heritage, great efforts
have been made in the design to incorporate the
historic bell tower and the facade of the original
building."
The required legal notification to neighbors was
vague enough that many didn't know the historic
church was coming down. St. Stephen's application
to the city stated that the project would include "an
entry building incorporating elements of the origi-
nal front facade of the Mission Style Chapel that
occupied the site in the early part of the 1900s; cur-
rently very few of the original details remain" —
when in fact, the original structure was all but
intact. (And one wonders: Where was the city
planning department in all this? Didn't anyone take
a look?)
It was not until another parishioner, architec-
tural designer Melissa Meyer, called attention to
the. demolition — she had worked on the project
for several years but stepped down when it became
clear that the church was to be destroyed — that
the preservation community sprang into action.
Here's where the story becomes really sad.
Almost immediately, meetings were scheduled by
some of Miami's leading preservationists — among
them Arve Moore Parks, Dolly McIntyre and David
Doheney — to talk with St. Stephen's officials. The
group gained a promise that no demolition would
occur until all sides could meet. Preservationists
left their meeting believing they had a week to seek
alternatives. Two days later, a construction fence
went up.
Then came workmen wielding sledgehammers,
destroying the most irreplaceable historic ele-
ments. The bulldozing began in earnest Monday
and, by the time it was over, almost nothing was
saved for history or for reuse — not the concrete
cast columns, Ludowici tile, cypress brackets, the
original tongue-lh-groove ceiling. Most of the irre-
placeable Dade County pine roof beams and
VNOTOM OVININ F AMU/ alAaI MAID ttArF
NOW AND THEN: Above, major demolition began last Monday on Miami's
oldest church. Below, the church as it looked in 1918, with an added
colonnade.
trusses were slashed to bits, though Briley was abi
to extract four trusses and continues to search fc
other reusable timber. The bell, cross, plaques an
cornerstone were also saved, along with three co
umns from a later addition to the building.
I have trouble with all of this demolition
architecturally, philosophically, theologically, env
ronmentally, historically. I've heard St. Stephen':
side of the story, and I'm not persuaded. In 30 year
of writing about historic preservation here (and
decade of writing about houses of worship a
across America for House & Garden magazine). I'v
never seen such blatant disregard for civic dis'
course. I've seen some developers demolish precip
itously. even illegally, out Manger or in an assertio
of private property rights, But this is a chinch and
school, where the basic lessons of life — and let
start with the Golden Rule — ought to be at th
forefront.
It's doubtful that this plan was the only possibl
one Did a new building (which will be subject t
taxes, one presumes, in thatit is commercial space
have to go in the place of a powerful marker of hi!
tory? One wonders if, restored to its original beaub
that chapel might not have yielded the church fa
more income from weddings.
Philosophically, I look to the example that
being set, in the community, in' the parish, in th
schoo1.1 weep most for the children who now lend
that bullies win, that you should hit first and noLtr
to "use your words." That's not how I would want
my children — or any children — to be educated
but it's the message that St. Stephen's has pre
sented: Do what you want and don't listen to others
True, the letter of the law was met, but barely.
there no longer any role for civil discussion in uu,
society?
St. Stephen's rector, the Rev. Wilifred Alter
Faiella, sent an after -the -fact e-missive to her cot
gregatioa in which she invokes a passage in th
New Testament (John 2:19) that says "Destroy th
temple and I will raise it up," adding that her mat
date is to serve the living. I am no theologian, but
have a problem of confext here. This particul:
chapter of John tells the famous story of Jesus' cas
ing of merchants and moneylenders out of the ten
ple, saying, "Do not make my Father's house into
house of merchandise." This makes me wood,
about using the verse to explain away the decisio
to tear dawn a house of worship fora retail bulk
ing.
NOT VERY GREEN
The pile of rubble that once was historic St. 5t,
phen's makes a total mockery out of the state
intent of making the new building "green" as th
first step was nothing but waste — waste
resources, wasted materials and debris that wi
now go to a landfill and further despoil the envirm
meat. The intent of building green is to do so (roe
start to finish. The greenest of all architectun
practices is reusing historic structures. It's hard t
deny that schools should have good facilitir
(though I sent my son to a historic, landmarked ele
mentary school in which only half the classroom
were air-conditioned, and he managed to survive
well enough to graduate with honors from Yale).
But this was never an either-or proposition. S
Stephen's set up a series of false choices — chlldre
or buildings, past or present, religious mandate vs.
secular world — that were all predicated on a ran
pant disregard for history, even a hatred of it.
Not far down Main Highway are two step:
examples of the alternative. Two pioneer buildin(
— the Pagoda and the "Band Cottage" — sit beauti
fully restored on the campus of Ransom Everglade
School. Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart h:
done a masterful job of saving its architectural eel
n•rpiece, the exquisite El Jardin. On those can
pules, it's clear that who we are has deep roots i
the past, that we are here because of those wh
came before us, and that it is worth honoring the
legacy. In the end, historic preservation is abm
respect,