The Chapel faces outcry over Lakeland church conversion

LAKELAND ― A proposal to convert an abandoned Lakeland church into a special events venue has riled up religious-minded residents.

Lakeland commissioners heard of businessman Stewart Simm's plans to convert the building at 417 N. Massachusetts Ave. into The Chapel for the first time Monday morning. Simm, former co-owner of The Federal Bar, has plans to establish a new business model in the white building easily identified by the brightly colored paint dripping along its exterior.

“We want to elevate the best of what we did and get rid of the parts not comfortable for either downtown or for us,” Simm previously told the Lakeland Downtown Development Agency board.

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His idea has drawn criticism after a photo posted on The Federal Bar's social media accounts depicting five women dressed in nun costumes, consisting of short, black-and-white dresses with fishnet stockings and boots, pretending to pray on the bar's front steps.

"It is my belief that the actions seen in the image attached depicting scantily dressed nuns bearing crucifixes and praying hands at the Federal Bar during the Chapel Bar kickoff event demonstrates a blatant disrespect for Christians throughout our community by purposefully mocking people of faith," James Ring, of Lakeland, wrote in an email to commissioners.

Simm said the photo was taken by employees who were aware The Federal Bar was closing and dealing with concerns about when they would find work again. He shared his future business ideas for The Chapel with the bar's staff, according to Simms, who then asked if they could dress up for their last day of work.

"They put that picture up, it was inappropriate the way it was going," Simm told The Ledger. "It was taken down. Not before it was used out of context, screen shotted and used on a particular individual's Facebook thread."

Simm said he didn't get involved in the Facebook thread but will present the facts of his business proposal to city officials at the Jan. 17 public hearing.

The city had received 14 emails as of Monday from residents speaking out against The Chapel as of Monday, according to Lakeland spokesmen Kevin Cook. Many reference the photo, assuming it was a purposeful marketing tactic.

"My opinion is that the marketing of the space has been irreligious and grossly offensive, as if the nature of turning a place of divine worship into hedonism," Stevan Novakovic wrote in an email.

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Commissioner Stephanie Madden asked city staff if there were any other examples where a church, synagogue or other religious building has been turned into a bar.

Vogue Magazine published a September 2021 article about Chapel Bar in New York City, calling it "a bit sacreligious in all the right ways." A bit closer to home, NarCity reports how a Fort Lauderdale church was turned into a bar, nightclub and ultimate brunch spot earlier this year.

Chuck Barmby, the city's planning and transportation manager, told Madden the city's code doesn't consider how a specific location is marketed as long as it complies with regulations and doesn't consider its former use.

Commissioner Bill Read asked if the proposed bar would be too close to a neighboring building at 412 N. Massachusetts Ave., that similarly was used as a church. It has been vacant since 2015.

Barmby said Lakeland's laws prohibit a bar or alcohol-serving establishment from being within 500 feet of a church, synagogue or other religious center of worship. In downtown Lakeland, the distance is shortened to 300 feet measured by the shortest legal pedestrian route from one building to the other.

Based on this, The Chapel's new home would be approximately 400 feet from the neighboring church, Barmby said. As it is not currently occupied or in use, he said the city's limitations would not apply.

City Attorney Palmer Davis warned the commission that their future decision on whether to grant a conditional use permit had to be based on zoning laws and issues like traffic. It should not be based on individual feelings about the building's former use as a church, the proposed business name or a social media photo. Otherwise it could be legally challenged under the First Amendment, which grants freedom of speech.

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Mayor Bill Mutz made clear he stands against the proposed business plan.

"As a person who worked on the CRA decades ago for developing this area and watching it grow and become its potential, I am vehemently opposed to this idea and use and will remain so," he said.

Mutz said he feels putting a bar on the site would limit what else could be done on the rest of the block. He cited there's nearby event space available at Haus 820, and The Yard on Mass, two Lakeland CRA redevelopment projects. Mutz said as "designers of the corridor" he would like to see other businesses and amenities move in.

"To me, this is a gross misuse of that facility," he said.

Davis asked the mayor to hold off making any further comments until the public hearing at 9 a.m. Jan. 17 at City Hall, 228 S. Massachusetts Ave.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on Twitter @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Changing Lakeland church into event venue, bar riles religious critics