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St. Pete neighbors trying to save church from development

The church land was sold, and the developer is planning houses, but neighbors want the building to stay.
The land that The Church of the Beatitudes was sold last year.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- As St. Petersburg continues to grow, more developers are buying property to build on. But one recent purchase in the Crescent Heights neighborhood has a lot of people upset because it’s a local church.

The Crescent Heights Neighborhood Association is now working hard to make sure the Church of the Beatitudes on 28th Avenue and 8th Street doesn’t get demolished.

The property the church sits on was sold last November, but the neighborhood association didn’t find out until January.

“For the beautiful church to be knocked down to rubble and hauled off to a landfill is shameful,” longtime resident Jim Tomlinson said. “We are attempting to save the structure. It can never be used as a church again now that the parking lots will be destroyed because having parking lots are a code requirement for churches to operate.”

According to Tomlinson, the church owner sold the property to JMS Consulting because they were running out of money.

“We have filed an application with the city to consider awarding local historic landmark status to the church,” said Jennifer Wright, president of the Crescent Heights neighborhood association. If approved, it would make it harder for the developer to demolish the church.

Wright says they are negotiating with the developer but no promises to keep the church as is have been made.

“They want to build single-family homes there. We have seen some plans, I think they’ll be in the $600-$700,000 range, but it depends on what they actually build on the lots. So I’d have to refer you to the developer for more information,” Wright said.

We reached out to JMS Consulting asking them what they plan on doing with the property and what they plan on doing with the church, but they have yet to respond.

On Saturday, neighbors came out to show their appreciation for the church, writing positive messages on paper hearts and sharing them. They hope this momentum will be enough to protect the church’s structure to keep it as is.

“We know there can always be an exception. You can always find a way, if you want to, that’s the key,” Tomlinson said.

The city of St. Petersburg is scheduled to talk about the church’s status as a historic landmark on April 10.

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