The Westminster congregation established itself in 1924 as a branch of the Northern Presbyterian Church. With rapid growth, the congregation was soon ready to construct their own sanctuary and decided to do so in the North Shore neighborhood (today known as the Historic Old Northeast). Westminster was the neighborhood's first church, opening on February 14, 1926. It was designed as a Late Gothic Revival influenced building by the firm, Spencer and Phillips, the principals being prominent architects from Memphis who were known for their church design across the southeast The St. Petersburg Times described the sanctuary as a “beautiful structure” with an auditorium capable of seating 400 as well as Sunday school rooms and a kitchen. In 1963, Archie Parish, a well known local architect who has been called an “architect of city landmarks.” was hired to design a $100,000 renovation and expansion.
In 2015, services ended at the church building. In 2019 the property was listed for sale. Also in 2019, at the urging of the neighborhood association and PTB, City Council initiated a landmark application for the building. The property received landmark designation in 2020.
1925: Church constructed, dedicated on Feb. 13, 1926.
2015: Services end at church, future for property unknown.
2019: City Council initiates the process to designate Westminster as a local historic landmark.
2019: Church property is listed for sale.
2020: City Council approves local landmark designation for the church.
With a shrinking congregation, the church is considering selling its historic building and applied to remove its landmark designation. The pastor believes that removing landmark designation will make the property easier to sell, even though its landmark status allows a future owner to take advantage of tax and adaptive reuse incentives.
If sold, the 10th Street Church of God could easily be positioned for adaptive reuse, like a number of other church buildings in St. Petersburg. Recently the Westminster Presbyterian Church in the Historic Old Northeast was sold. Earlier this year, the former Church of the Beatitudes in the Crescent Heights neighborhood was converted to a single family residence and it was sold on its first day on the market Additionally the former First Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Central Oak Park neighborhood was adaptively reused for office use in 2018.
PTB spoke out against removing landmark designation and was pleased when City Council unanimously voted against delisting. Council asked PTB to help the church find a solution that would allow the building to continue as one of our community's historic resources.
