New 11/11/2006:
I have discovered some historic data about the very start of our
School. By digging into the Dade County records, I found the 1954
documents that put us on the map. Literally. Click on the
documents underlined below to see the drawings and letters that were the very beginning.
What was proposed to become a High School we now know became a parish, grammar
school, a high school and our seminary.
Zoning Hearing Record Process Number Z1952000516
Application Name: JOSEPH P. HURLEY, AS BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF ST. AUGUSTINE Application Date: 3/22/1952
Location: S.W. 87 AVE. (GALLOWAY RD.) TO 90 AVE. FROM S. W. 30 TO 32 STS.
County/Muni: MIAMI-DADE COUNTY Processor:
Appeal: N App Type: Request:
Units: Lot Size: Bldg Sq Ft:
Contact: Phone / E-mail: () - /
Address: City, State Zip: ,
Current Zone: Zone To:
Board Resolution Result Hearing Date Item #
ACC 7031 APPROVED 5/25/1954
ACC 6817 APPROVED WITH CONDITION(S) 3/16/1954 Folio S T R
3040160000000 16 54 40
View Documents (click on the line to see it in a new window)
RESOLUTION [1]
RESOLUTION 2ND [2]
SKETCHES [2]
APPLICATION [2]
NOTICES [1]
OTHER [2]
HEARING PLAN [2]
ADDED ITEMS-COV/UT/DIR INTER LTR ETC. [9]
OTHER LETTERS [1]
DEPARTMENT COMMENTS MEMO [1]
OTHER LARGE [2]
TRANSCRIPTS [1]
Also, for those that might want to do some research on zoning changes at our
campus: http://www.miamidade.gov/planzone/track/home.asp
| Process Number Z1952000516 (1952) |
| Process Number Z1959000966 (mentioned in history in 1964 application) |
| Process Number Z1961000700 (portable incinerator, 1961 denied) |
| Process Number Z1964000623 (Chapel construction, 1964) |
Some
pictures used for applications
I also found a blueprints from 1961 and 1977 The 1961 white lines on blue document was part of an application for the Seminary to install an incinerator. Apparently, there was no reliable garbage pick up in those days, so it was common for businesses to install incinerators to burn waste. The application was eventually denied. It's interesting because it shows some details no longer on the campus:
| The Refectory & Laboratories building is shown as under construction.
|
| An 80 foot wide "service building" where the High School or "B" building is now. I don't know what this was used for. Was it replaced by the HS building? Or was the HS building built around it?
|
| The old swimming pool behind the Refectory. Would be interesting if there was still some remnants of it under the parking lot. While we've seen it in pictures, we now we have measurements to show where it was.
|
| This document clearly shows that the Admin Building was the "College" building in 1961. The current college building didn't exist. The "Minor Seminary" building is clearly on the Christopher Columbus side of the fence. The circle between the campuses seems to be gone on the CC side. I suspect the division of the campuses is in progress at this point.
|
| An "Existing Caretaker's Residence" approximately where the gym is today.
|
| The residence that used to be in the very NW corner of the property isn't shown so it must have come after 1961.
|
| The transformer vault pre-dates the College building. That could explain why it seems somewhat in the way of the view of the Chapel. It may have been planned to service the whole campus.
|
The second plan in this document, black lines on white from 1977, was used for the modifications to the campus for St. Brendan's High.
| It added parking spaces near the gym
|
| Conversion of the second floor dorms to classrooms
|
| New tennis and basketball courts
|
| Opening of the north gate on 28th Street.
|
From what I've put together, this is the order of the
buildings on campus:
| A building, now within Christopher Columbus, was shared by both schools.
I'm not sure what this building contained.
|
| I think CCHS predated SJV by at least a year. The building
was referred to as the "High School Building" in the year books. I would
like to hear more about how the two schools worked together. Was there shared
faculty? Where did the students live in the early days?
|
| Next came the Administration Building, now called the A building.
This was a dorm for the college students on the second floor. It is now
part of St. Brendan High. There was a short-lived chapel on the first floor.
|
| Faculty Residence in February, 1960.
|
| Fall, 1961: Refectory and the labs upstairs. Shared
between the SJV and SBHS today.
|
| January, 1963 College building, now called the Coleman F. Carroll
College Building. Home of the last temporary chapel before the Main one.
|
| I think it at about this time SJV stopped using the building which is
now part of CCHS. SJV was self sufficient.
|
| "This sentence in the blueprints section
interested me and got me thinking....we lived in the CCHB until Christmas of
1966 and then when we returned from vacation it was a matter of weeks before
we all moved in to the New HS Building after which we would have been self
sufficient from Columbus. It looks like your time line has it much
earlier...just a thought...for you to muse...love the page and thanks for the
press on the CDs...I'll send you a progress report soon... Jim Blachura/69"
|
| 1964-65, Main Chapel, the heart of the Campus.
|
| Feb, 1967 the New High School Building. Now called the B building
and part of St. Brendan.
|
| The Gym/Pool Complex. Now dedicated to Fr. Thomas
Dennehy, the Founding Principal of St. Brendan.
|
| The was the end of construction for many years. In
1975, the High School Seminary ends and St. Brendan High opens. The Admin building,
High School building and labs are used by St. Brendan. The Refectory is owned
by the College, but used by the high school for lunch.
|
| 1982? The Maytag Library. This moved the College
Library out of the College building.
|
If anyone can add to this information, or offer corrections, please let me know by
e-mail. |