• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Nearly Condemned, Old Courthouse in Bunnell Gavels Back to Life as Christian School

August 21, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

first baptist christian academy
Same look, new tenant: the county courthouse as a parochial school. (© FlaglerLive)

There wasn’t much hope for the old Flagler County Courthouse when the county commission appointed one more committee to figure out what to do with the thing. The building had been on the verge of being used as a sheriff’s headquarters, then not, then as a city hall for Bunnell, then not, then on the verge of being demolished if the county couldn’t find a tenant. The county wasn’t willing to keep paying the $70,000 a year or more it took just to mothball the 50,000 square foot, nearly centenarian building. Nor, at the time, had commissioners talked of investing more money in it to make it more appealing to tenants.


But in an unexpected turnaround, the committee found a tenant: First Baptist Christian Academy of Palm Coast. Then the county found $375,000 it could use to renovate the building (money taken out of the county’s share of a local sales surtax), crafted as an interest-free, 30-year loan to the school. The two sides signed the deal in February. The church backing the school poured in another $650,000. The building was made over.

Today, under an unforgiving noon sun and three days from the first day of school, the school re-baptized as First Baptist Christian Academy hosted a ribbon-cutting on what used to be the courthouse steps, ensuring that the building would not only remain a defining part of Bunnell’s identity, but turning it into a viable part of the town’s economy again. The school opens Monday with a 291 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, a total staff of 53—40 of them full-timers, and 32 of them teachers.

The private school, Pastor Kevin Lautar said, plans to grow to 500 students now that it has the room to do so: 33 classrooms, most double the size of the 20 classrooms the school had at its former location on Palm Coast Parkway. “The school kind of grew up,” Lautar said. “We were doing school in a church building. And now we have the opportunity to do school in a school building.” (Tuition is $5,000 a year per student, whatever the grade.)

The county still owns the building. First Baptist is paying the county $3,000 a month in rent, fees and loan pay-back for the first two years and four months. Rent will then go up to $6,000 a month.

“This is just a tremendous project, it’s great for the local economy of Bunnell, it’s great for our county, investments have been made,” County Administrator Craig Coffey said, standing next to Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson as throngs of people who’d turned out for the ribbon-cutting and open house walked through what used to be the main entrance to the old courthouse.

catherine robinson pastor kevin lautar
Bunnell Mayor Catherine Robinson and Pastor Kevin Lautar today at the new school. Click on the image for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)
“This is the resurrection of the death of a dream,” Robinson said. “We had a dream to bring the identity and life back to the old courthouse in the city of Bunnell, and the county could not work through that. We couldn’t handle our part, so we gave it back to the county. They talked about tearing the building down, they talked about selling the building. And look what we have today.”

Much of the ceremony was framed in prayer and thanks to God, but also to the cooperation of the county and its work crews (though the financial generosity of the county and its taxpayers was not mentioned). Across the street, standing on the porch of Holden House, the historical house and home of the Flagler County Historical Society, Sisco and Gloria Deen watched the ceremony unfold with some relief despite the oppressive heat. “It’s a wonderful repurposing of the building, I think,” Sisco said. “I have always been afraid of the movement to tear it down. And I don’t have to chain myself to the flagpole.”

“Or the front door,” Gloria said.

“To go in today and it’s all fresh, new, smells good, teachers are dedicated,” Sisco said, describing those repainted, waxed, spotless interiors that let the eye glide with pleasure over decorated walls and newly built rooms where, just a few months ago, there were vast empty spaces and a look of arrested decay. “As a matter of fact the entire faculty has been here and discussed with me,” Sisco continued, “they wanted to see what we have here so they can bring the students. This is a good field trip, across the street.” Just as he said that, the crowd across the street cheered the cutting of the ribbon, not to mention the end of the ceremony so the crowd could file back into the cool interiors.

first baptist christian academy
The old courtroom transformed into a chapel and meeting room. Click on the image for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)
Barbara Revels, the county commissioner who chaired the committee that midwifed the deal had spoken to the crowd in terms of the memories the building represents to many residents: it’s where property deeds, marriages, first mortgage payments were made (and of course where innumerable criminal justice matters were dealt with). “Wonderful, wonderful memories in this buildings,” Revels said, “and I think it’s really wonderful that today we’re going to have a group of children who, as they move through their lives, are going to have an equal, wonderful memory of this building.”

Click On:


  • As Committee Tours Old Courthouse, Size and Financial Viability Loom Larger Than Repairs
  • Angry But Cornered, County Takes Old Courthouse Back from Bunnell, Handing Its Fate to a Committee
  • No Thanks: Bunnell Votes 4-1 to Return Old Courthouse to the County, Citing Costs and Liabilities
  • Now Leery of Old Courthouse, Bunnell Fears Money Pit and Talks of Giving It Back
  • Bunnell’s Burden: A Photo Gallery of the Old Flagler County Courthouse and Annex
  • A Divided Bunnell Accepts Old Courthouse Despite Mounting Questions About Mold and Other Issues
  • In a Historic Breakthrough, County Will Cede Old Courthouse to Bunnell for Its New City Hall
  • County Welcomes, With Cautions, Bunnell and Sheriff’s Interest to Use Old Courthouse
  • On Again: Sheriff Agrees to Terms for Moving to Old Courthouse; $6 Million, Anyone?
  • Old Courthouse Revival Plans Die with Sheriff’s No-Show
  • House-Hunting Bunnell Hopes for an End to Old Courthouse Feuds Tonight
  • Old Courthouse Plans Collapse; Holland Charges County Administrator “Railroaded” Her
  • Who has Dibs on This Old Thing? Hint: Sheriff Not Too Interested)

Mary Ann Clark, president of the historical society and a member of the last and previous courthouse committees, declared herself satisfied with today’s results. “It’s as I envisioned it,” she said, “and I’m just so happy. It’s so great for the city of Bunnell, the county, the church. It really was a perfect solution, and our county officials did a good job.”

Inside, the old portion of the courthouse, built in the 1920s and still reflective of old-style architecture, was converted into the school’s administration. The classrooms are in what used to be called the courthouse annex, a 34,000 square foot addition dating back to the early 1980s. The only surprise during the renovation, Laurat, the pastor, said, had to do with the boundaries of the parking lot, which hazed from county property to Bunnell city property. That’s been worked out with a fence. The building itself yielded no structural surprises, though it retains some of its immovable features, such as the big vault that used to be in the clerk of court’s office. John Winston, the leader of the districts mentor program, joked with a student as he passed by the vault that it would be the detention area.

It’s not clear what’s been made of the old jail holding cells that neighbored the courtrooms upstairs, but one courtroom was transformed into a chapel and meeting room, preserving the old pews—a room that would be made available to community meetings as well, Lautar said. The renovation includes a kitchen that could eventually serve hot meals to students, but not this year.

The school’s growth is part of the broader picture of private and charter schools slowly eroding the base of the public school district’s population, which hasn’t grown in five years, though charter, private and homeschool enrollment has. Moving away from the church building in Palm Coast may only increase the appeal of the school to people who don’t necessarily identify with its church, Lautar said. About 60 to 75 percent of students are from a faith background, he said.

“Many of the people who came to us,” Lautar said, “it was because of the education choice, not because of the church. Moving from palm Coast to Bunnell I believe puts us in a better position to really maximize the potential around us, puts us in the center of the community, north, south, east and west, and I think it’s going to be beneficial for us moving forward.”

Click on the image for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)
Click on the image for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DwFerg says

    August 21, 2015 at 4:14 pm

    Good outcome for all parties concerned. Great for Bunnell’s Econ Dev’l. Congratulations on solving a problem with a solution that keeps on giving !!! Rare these days, that everyone seems overjoyed with no opposition.

    Reply
  2. Layla says

    August 21, 2015 at 6:36 pm

    Awesome! Really glad to see this historic building put to good use.

    Reply
  3. Nice Real Nice says

    August 22, 2015 at 12:22 am

    How Beautiful. What a wonderful transformation.

    Reply
  4. Gia says

    August 22, 2015 at 6:53 am

    Bravo. Kids have a much better education & discipline in a private school.

    Reply
  5. Jim WjamjAmes weames whim w says

    August 24, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    Judge Deen would have been very proud

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
  • WNZF Creekside Festival

Recent Comments

  • Endless Dark money on No Evidence of Wrongdoing, But GOP Launches Impeach Biden Spectacle Anyway
  • ban the GOP on UCF May Close Three Campuses
  • Ben Hogarth on ‘Faith’ Bridge Over SR100 Goes from Maligned to Acclaimed as It Opens, But in the Absence of Its Champion
  • Bee on ‘Faith’ Bridge Over SR100 Goes from Maligned to Acclaimed as It Opens, But in the Absence of Its Champion
  • Pogo on Covid Deaths in Florida Near 91,000
  • James on Rezoning Enabling Up to 850 Homes in Seminole Woods Causes Sharp Debate Before Palm Coast Approval
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 29, 2023
  • Linda on School Board Trio Will Hire an Attorney to Help Them Fire Board’s Attorney of 17 Years
  • R. C. Y. on ‘Faith’ Bridge Over SR100 Goes from Maligned to Acclaimed as It Opens, But in the Absence of Its Champion
  • BLINDSPOTTING on Rezoning Enabling Up to 850 Homes in Seminole Woods Causes Sharp Debate Before Palm Coast Approval
  • Pogo on A Mixed Bag in New Rankings of Florida’s Colleges and Universities as DeSantis Polarization Dims Luster
  • James on Rezoning Enabling Up to 850 Homes in Seminole Woods Causes Sharp Debate Before Palm Coast Approval
  • Ben Hogarth on ‘Faith’ Bridge Over SR100 Goes from Maligned to Acclaimed as It Opens, But in the Absence of Its Champion
  • BeachGuy on Felony Charge for Mom Who Left Child Alone With Dead Man After Night of Sex and Drugs at Hammock Resort
  • Right on Covid Deaths in Florida Near 91,000
  • Edith Campins on School Board Trio Will Hire an Attorney to Help Them Fire Board’s Attorney of 17 Years

Log in