Client: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Diocese of St. Petersburg
Location: 509 North Florida Avenue
Site: A 100 year old church in the heart of Tampa’s downtown corridor.
Program Challenge: To remedy the water intrusions around the church’s original windows, roof, and wall joints while allowing the church to remain open for services throughout the process. The renovation also complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings. While the building is not on the National Register of Historic Places, the parish felt it was important to remain true to the original structure and appearance of the building.
Solution: Rowe Architects’ historic preservation work on Sacred Heart focused primarily on eliminating sources of water intrusion, repairing cracks and frame damage to the church’s historic stained glass windows, and cleaning up the superficial interior water damage.
The church was built in 1905 and by the time of this renovation in 2004 the original Franz Mayer of Munich stained glass windows were as much as two inches out of plumb. The windows were also cracked and broken in some places and were covered in a century of dirt and grime. To allow for weekly masses to continue, the windows were removed and replaced gradually in phases. They were carefully pulled from the frames, an exact pattern was made of each, and they were cleaned and reassembled inside new aluminum frames with protective laminate glass on the exterior. Broken panes were repaired where possible and in other instances the glass was replaced.
The church’s copper roof, installed in 1975, was still in good condition, but Rowe Architects’ renovation called for its perimeter roof flashing and counter flashings to be replaced to eliminate leaks where the roofing joined the backs of parapet walls and other vertical surfaces. The gutter joints were also sealed.
The third area of water intrusion – caulking on the exterior marble wall joints – was also addressed. The caulking, which replaced the original mortar during a mid-century renovation, was removed and the joints were filled with mortar.
The interior walls of the church were steam cleaned and plaster repairs and repainting were administered to water damaged regions of the building.
Rowe Architects’ renovation work on Sacred Heart Church was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation in 2005, as well as a Banner Award from Tampa Preservation Inc. and a Community Design Award for Outstanding Historic Renovation from the Tampa/Hillsborough Planning Commission the same year. In 2004 it was honored with the Award for Outstanding Rehabilitation Project from NAIOP Tampa Bay.