Since its formation in 1895, Sacred Heart Parish has unceasingly served the Tampa community, offering weekly mass, charity, and faith formation services to its members. The historic structure the Parish currently uses to hold mass was erected in 1905. Designed in the Romanesque style, the church was built with stunning white marble, and adorned with 70 stained glass windows illustrating various biblical scenes and Catholic figures. The church has become a local icon for Tampanians.

In 1931, Sacred Heart Parish built Sacred Heart Academy at the North Florida Campus to educate elementary students, and quickly extended services to middle school students as the community grew. The historic campus is occupied by commanding red brick buildings and a canopy of oak trees. The school served the Tampa Bay area for 81 years before closing in 2012.

Shumake Architecture, PA has had the honor of supporting Sacred Heart in restoring and improving its historic properties. Before establishing his own firm, Primary Architect Bob Shumake, along with fellow parishioners, built new polished wood pews for the church and painted the school’s gym on the North Florida Campus. Since then, our firm has collaborated with the Parish, the Franciscans, and the Diocese on several projects. Our firm helped the church update their AC system, which had broken down in the height of Summer. More recently, Shumake Architecture designed a new fence bordering the school’s property.

The fence was the beginning of an extensive plan to restore and modernize Sacred Heart Academy with the hope that the campus could once again be of use to the Parish. Made with solid black bars, the new fence replaced the chain link fence that had surrounded the property for over a decade. Our firm chose to design the fence with an updated front gate and better fire escape features. The new fence gives the property better boundaries without distracting from the charm of the old campus. It is our hope that the fence creates a safe area for the future operation of the North Florida Campus.

We are proud to have assisted an institution that has done so much for our community, and we look forward to seeing how Sacred Heart Parish grows. Contact us for information on how Shumake Architecture, PA can help you plan and realize your future projects.

-Margret Shumake
(Margret is an alumnus of Sacred Heart Academy, graduating elementary school with the distinction of valedictorian. She graduated from Penn State Dickinson Law in the Spring of 2021. She enjoys traveling, reading, painting, hiking, and swimming).

We have had the great privilege of working on some amazing higher education projects within the last few years. Here’s a glance at some of the representative projects we would like to share with you all. From student housing to studios, from classrooms to food service, we have experience fulfilling a wide array of higher education needs. Many thanks to our clients for the opportunity, and the talented team of engineers and contractors who contributed to making these projects a success!

Key Projects:

• The University of Tampa – Fab Lab
• Keiser University Student Housing, West Palm Beach FL
• Beacon College Phase I (RAP Hall) and Phase II
• Rollins College – Skillman Dining Hall Renovation

The University of Tampa – FAB LAB

Since the start of our firm back in 2005, we have worked on various behavioral health projects in the central Florida area. Take a peek at some of our projects over the years.

“A vision that continues [the] center of worship in [the] downtown church but provides the ability to seek space and opportunity that will serve during this new wave of growth. …[This] vision will set our sights on the North Campus, a 9.5-acre facility we already own and operate, as [the] designated center of ministry and family life. [With] a new, centralized location for ministry, primed for continued growth, [there will be] a greater opportunity for collaboration between ministries. [The church] can sustain and support new and expanded ministries to strengthen outreach to the larger community, and can provide a gathering place for families and youth to continue to build up our growing community of faith.” -Sacred Heart website https://sacredheartfla.org/giving/truenorth/

Our work on the Sacred Heart North Campus improvements has been a collaboration between the design team, the parish, and the Archdiocese of St. Petersburg.  The improvements presented in the report are part of a long-term plan that will be accomplished in successive phases.  Currently, Phase 1 is underway, which comprises of building a brick fence along the Florida Avenue side of the campus, renovating the two main entrances, and installing new fence along Lake Avenue to the north.  The main goal of Phase I is to improve the curb appeal of the site.  Future plans include renovating the parish center (old school building), and cafeteria, as well as adding a new gym and daycare center.

FUN FACT:  There is a small bee farm on site!  Father Zachary Elliott, OFM of Sacred Heart Church has been its beekeeper for some time now, and raw honey has been sold at the parish shop.  To learn more, click here.  

Thank you to the talented team design and construction team working on the fence project as we speak, including Brian Bunbury from RJ Bunbury, Inc. (General Contractor) and Austin Goff from Mills & Associates (Civil Engineer).

A significant portion of our projects has been in behavioral health. They have their unique set of challenges, and our team has the time-tested expertise to bring these projects into fruition. Please take a look at some of our key projects, ranging from small renovation work to large new construction.

We are proud to have been a part of the “Kicks For Bricks” Gala hosted by Beacon College on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 at Lake Receptions in Mount Dora, Florida. The event was a fundraiser for the school’s capital campaign to build a state-of-the-art academic center and raise scholarship funds. To give the audience a glimpse of the campaign’s vision, the school commissioned our team to produce a 3D fly-by/walk-through animation of the proposed design we have developed for the project, which was unveiled during the evening.

Our sincerest gratitude to Beacon College for continuing to put their faith in our team and for allowing us to be a part of their expansion to better serve their students and community. We would also like to thank all the sponsors of the event for your generosity towards such a significant cause. To learn more about the school’s capital campaign “Continuing The Journey,” please visit https://www.beaconcollege.edu/giving/capital-campaign/

For more information on the event, please visit: https://www.beaconcollege.edu/…/event/kicks-for-bricks-gala/

(Video link: https://youtu.be/JdtxTCkBtHA)

We would like to thank Sodexo for giving us the opportunity to design Keiser University’s newest student housing. The four-story, 51,000 square foot facility will be built alongside the lake between the student life center and Dalby Commons buildings at the campus on North Military Trail. The dormitory is scheduled to open in the Fall semester of 2020.

For more information, you may see the coverage from multiple news outlets regarding the project’s groundbreaking ceremony:

Keiser University holds groundbreaking for new residence hall: https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/west-palm-beach/keiser-university-holds-groundbreaking-for-new-residence-hall

Sodexo and Keiser University Break Ground on New 51,000 Sq.-Ft., 208- Bed Residence Hall Today: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sodexo-and-keiser-university-break-ground-on-new-51-000-sq-ft-208–bed-residence-hall-today-300831536.html

Keiser University in West Palm Beach given $10 million for dorm: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20181031/keiser-university-in-west-palm-beach-given-10-million-for-dorm

It has been a truly remarkable and fulfilling experience designing Beacon College’s Resnick Alpern Plung (RAP) Hall.  Located in Leesburg, Florida, the new dormitory will provide plenty of much needed rooms for their growing student population.  The building’s dedication was held on May 4, 2018.  To view images of the event, click the following link:

RAP Residence Hall