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UUF History, 1960s
During the 1960s, the
Unitarians met in the Faculty Lounge of the Florida Student Union. Sunday
School classes were held in adjacent rooms. The Student Union was only a
temporary host. Later the congregation moved to the basement of the old Hotel
Thomas (now the Thomas Center). This era ended when a rainstorm flooded the
basement rooms and ruined a great deal of the stored materials. In 1963, the
congregation moved to the Seventh Day Adventist building. The Adventists’ using
the building on Saturday, and the UUF’s occupying it on Sunday was a reasonable
accommodation. But shared storage facilities were tight, and security and
midweek meetings were always a problem.
In 1961-62, Glenn Hoffman
and Morris Storer found a plot of about five acres of land on NW 43rd
Street (then called Millhopper Road) that was for sale. The cost was about
$5,000. The congregation bought it with donations from a dozen families.
Securing a clear title was not a simple task, as there were numerous descendents
of Mrs. Clifton, who had the deed registered in her name when she died. The
property passed to one of her children who lived on the land, but the ownership
was less than clear.
The importance of a clear
title came into focus when the UUF wanted to obtain a loan to start constructing
its own building. Glenn Hoffman and Morris Storer spent many hours visiting
various Clifton family members securing signed “quit claim deeds” in exchange
for typically $25. These deeds freed the property from any further claim by the
signer of the deed. Slowly, step-by-step, a clear title was obtained.
The banks were then
willing to lend the congregation money provided that there be a $12,000 loan
guarantee. So 12 families each co-signed the note to the bank in case the
congregation failed to pay the loan of approximately $100,000. Harry Merritt
was the architect and M.M. Parish the builder for the building, which was
finished in 1966-67.
At just that time, the
Unitarian Universalist Association provided a series of fund raising training
sessions. The congregation sent John Soderstrum and Ron Dalton to the nearest
one, in Ft. Lauderdale, for two days of training. The congregation decided to
follow the UUA-recommended procedures, and a pledge drive was organized in about
1968. It began with a campaign kickoff catered dinner paid for by the
congregation. All members and potential contributors were invited to the event
at the old University Inn on SW 13th Street.
A big issue concerning the
new building was the extent to which the congregation would make it available to
community groups. The first request was from a group of families who wanted to
start a cooperative nursery school to serve the diverse segments of the
community. The school was the first integrated nursery school in the community,
and it continued to thrive as the Millhopper Nursery School for about 30 years
until the building was sold. Other groups used the building for receptions,
weddings, political rallies, and even meetings of a tropical fish club.
10/31/2006
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