St. Lawrence gets a 'makeover'

By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic

Photography: MARLENE QUARONI | FC

NORTH MIAMI BEACH | St. Lawrence Church has replaced its parish offices and rectory with two new state-of-the-art buildings. It’s a much-needed makeover from the rundown former convent which previously housed both the offices and the rectory. And it coincides with a time of new beginnings for the northeast Miami-Dade church.

The parish, established in 1956, also has a new parish administrator to replace longtime pastor Father William Elbert, who retired in July 2018. Father Cletus Omode came to the parish during construction, which started in May 2018. He didn’t have a place to stay.

“Thanks to the pastor of St. Matthew Church, Father Robert Ayala, in nearby Hallandale Beach, I had a place to stay since the old rectory was uninhabitable,” said Father Omode. “I came into the water and I had to swim. Now, I’m onboard and am walking into a miracle.”

The offices and rectory were built as two structures, the 2,400-square-feet offices in front and the 2,000-square-foot rectory in back. They were built on part of St. Lawrence School’s playground. Because of existing underground power lines, the contractors couldn’t build one big building, said Carlos Sanabria, project manager for the archdiocese’s Building and Properties Office.

They also couldn’t build on a grassy area south of the old rectory because it provides natural water drainage to the nearby Oleta River. A small courtyard separates the new buildings. Florida Atlantic Construction Company handled the construction of the new facilities.

“Both buildings are built to the latest building codes including impact doors and windows, LED lighting and energy-efficient air conditioning,” said Sanabria. “Both buildings are interconnected with the rest of the campus through a network, and the infrastructure is in place to connect via fiber optic in the future for improved communication. Both buildings have wireless (internet) and a new phone system. These will be the basis for a new phone and data system for the rest of the campus.”

Unlike the old building, the new offices and rectory are visible from N.E. 22nd Avenue, the main street in front of the parish grounds. The old structure is slated for maintenance and renovation, work to be paid for under the same budget as the chapel and a classroom which are housed in the old building. It will be re-roofed and minor damages will be fixed.

The building has one of the few basements in South Florida. Because the area is on a flood plain, the basement often gets flooded and floors need replacing, said Sanabria. Originally a convent, the building housed the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary and later the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who used to staff the school.

St. Lawrence Parish was originally founded to serve North Miami Beach. When the church was established, the founders had no idea that a new city would rise to the east, Aventura, which was incorporated in 1995. The area, which began development in the early 1970s, has grown over the years. Aventura Mall, the fifth largest in the United States, opened in 1983. The city now has about 40,000 residents living mostly in high-rise condominiums.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who concelebrated a Mass before dedicating the new rectory and offices, compared the parish’s new facilities to a human makeover.

“You could say that in the past several months St. Lawrence parish has undergone a make-over of sorts,” he said. “You have a new pastor, new parish offices and a new rectory which we will bless after Mass. And you are not finished yet. Like Jesus in today’s Gospel, who transfigured on Mount Tabor, for Jesus, for Peter, for each one of us that final makeover awaits us in heaven but passes along the way of the cross.”

The Mass took place March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland, who coincidentally, the archbishop remarked, is also the patron saint of Nigeria, Father Omode’s home country.