By Rafael Hernandez

After five months, Parishioners at the Church of the Little Flower are experiencing the fruits of an ambitious restoration project that has breathed new life into one of Coral Gables’ most iconic landmarks.

The Indian Mound Trail church, which took its first worshippers in 1952, recently completed extensive interior work costing about $6 million that Father Manny Alvarez describes as miraculous in both speed and scale. From June 9th through November 1st, crews tackled everything from water-damaged ceilings to worn pews.

“We wanted to restore it pretty much to what it looked like back in the 1950s,” said Father Alvarez. “But also, there was a lot of extensive water damage in the ceilings, and our pews that were installed in 1987 needed to be replaced.”

As the Church of the Little Flower prepares to celebrate its centennial next year, Father Alvarez hopes its latest renewal will help both the building and its guest stand strong for decades to come.

A long time coming

Founded in 1926, the church could not lay its first stone until 1951 after weathering the Great Hurricane of 1926, the Great Depression and World War II.

“Back then, it was pretty bold. The church was built for a little over $500,000 back in the 1950s,” Father Alvarez said. “To be able to bring back some of that splendor and that sense of awe and wonder that people felt when they first walked into the church in the 1950s, we kind of felt that first weekend.”

The restoration demanded intricate coordination, with contractor Vilar-Hoynak managing multiple subcontractors in charge of installing scaffolding, protective barriers for the marble sanctuary and travertine floors, and acoustical paneling to improve sound clarity for both preaching and music. 

The most dramatic change greets visitors when they look up. 

The dome, which remained largely unadorned throughout most of the church’s history, now gleams golden with a canvas mosaic of the Holy Spirit installed at its oculus.

“Seeing their reaction that first weekend when we opened was just a thrill,” Alvarez said of longtime parishioners. “They were awed by it, that they loved it”

But some changes were more subtle. 

Father Alvarez recounted teenagers asking him if the restoration changed anything at all–an observation he felt validated by. 

“I’m like, actually, that’s a compliment,” said . “Because, yes, some people will notice a change. Those that have eagle eyes. But we want you to be able to feel like, okay, this has always been like this.”

From the past to the future

Standing atop scaffolding 40 feet above the church floor during construction, Alvarez found himself reflecting on the building’s legacy.

From that vantage point, which he referred to as “God’s point of view,” he considered the generations who had worshipped below and the priests and religious who had served there.

“To be a steward of that history, to me, it’s very important to be able to continue that history and continue the legacy,” he said. “They were pioneers. They built up the city, they built up this church, and everything was done with a vision.”

The Father noted he’d never seen so many cameras out during services before the start of the month. Some have even compared it to the Vatican, a comparison the priest clarifies was not the restoration’s goal.

“You want to be awed when you walk into any church, whether you’re in the Vatican or in Little Flower, or even the humblest churches in a country town,” he said. “You want your senses to be drawn towards the heavens, towards God.”

With fundraising ongoing and minor work continuing, the restoration won’t fully conclude until next summer, but Alvarez hopes his successors will inherit a building that won’t require major intervention for another four or five decades.

“My hope is that my successors don’t have to deal with the same headaches that I did in terms of fixing roofs and painting,” he said. “What we want is for people to continue to be awed by the Church of Little Flower.”