J Magazine Spring 2018

“I certainly believe there will be someone with the
right vision and strategy. We’ve just got to find that
right person who has the financial wherewithal.”
Aundra Wallace, CEO OF THE Downtown Investment Authority
there aren’t many buildings
as beautiful as an
old church, and Snyder
Memorial is no exception.
The 1902 Gothic
Revival just opposite
Hemming
Park, with its rough-hewn granite
walls, crenellated bell tower
and intricate glass rose window,
could double as a fairy-tale
castle.
The biggest problem with a
beautiful old church is it always
looks like, well, a church. It
makes it tough to imagine a
future for Snyder Memorial,
abandoned by its suburbs-bound
parishioners decades ago and
idling on the city’s list of lazy
assets since 2006.
The Downtown Investment
Authority hopes a private partner
will deliver the capital needed to
resurrect the historic landmark.
“I certainly believe there will be
someone with the right vision and
strategy,” said DIA CEO Aundra
Wallace. “We’ve just got to find that
right person who has the financial
wherewithal.”
That vision so far has proven
elusive. Founded in 1870 as Trinity
Methodist Episcopal Church,
Snyder Memorial’s congregation
earned an early reputation as
a social safety net, tending sick
soldiers during a typhoid outbreak
in 1898.
The original church burned down in the
Great Fire of 1901, and the current building
was part of Downtown Jacksonville’s
rebuilding.
COMMUNITY CONSCIENCE
For 90 years, Snyder opened its doors
to the military, youth groups and passing
townsfolk in need of spiritual reflection.
It served as a refuge for 1960s civil rights
The Snyder Memorial Church (seen here in1964) served as a refuge for
1960s civil rights protesters, fed the poor and sheltered the indigent.
protesters, fed the poor and sheltered the
indigent. But support petered out in the
1990s as the church evolved more into an
urban ministry for vagrants than a place of
worship for the faithful.
In 2000 the building was deconsecrated
and sold, first to a band for a
performance venue and later to the city
when the band could no longer afford it.
The city has tried to sell the church once
since then, but received only one
proposal from an under-financed
bidder. The building now stands in
disrepair.
For years, Jacksonville’s pension
woes have kept projects like Snyder
off the budget. But this year the city
set aside $600,000 for the building.
To what purpose? “To be determined,”
Wallace said. It’s possible
it’ll be used for repairs, grants or
other incentives.
But Wallace wants engineers to
evaluate the building’s condition
first. The city has already put
$427,000 into roof and foundation
repairs, but Snyder is leaking
again. By spring, the DIA hopes
to publish a notice of condition,
giving potential buyers a better
idea of what a full rehabilitation
could involve.
Wallace says he’ll then defer
to the market for clues as to what
Snyder’s highest and best use
might be.
CREATIVE CHURCHES
Jacksonville has never seen
a historic Downtown church
adapted for reuse by a private
investor before. But Philadelphia
has. There are 82 historic sacred spaces in
Philadelphia that have been converted for
non-religious uses, according to a study
completed last year by The Pew Charitable
Trusts.
That amounts to about 10 percent of all
FLORIDA TIMES-UNION ARCHIVE
90
J MAGAZINE | SPRING 2018