Historic
Derby Street Chapel
The small chapel belonging to the First Baptist Church of Cocoa has had a long, religious heritage. Located at the corner of Brevard Avenue and Derby Street in downtown Cocoa, it is within the area of the Downtown Heritage and Historical Preservation section of the city. It was first constructed in 1916 by the all-volunteer congregation of the Cocoa Seventh Day Advent
ist Church to be used as a meeting place and also a church school for children. The same group of volunteers expanded the building in 1923 to form the worship center and also the church school. In 1955 it was sold to the First Church of Christ, Scientists, who, in turn, sold it to the First Baptist Church in 1964. For years it was used for church services, prayer meetings, children and youth activities, and a distribution center for food and clothing for the needy. After the First Baptist Church built a new activities center, the charming little chapel became a storage room and fell into disrepair. In the mid-1990's, they decided to tear it down and build a parking lot. The first committee to "Save the Chapel" was formed within the First Baptist Church in the mid-1990s led by the passionate twosome of Juanita Baxley and Jo Barbara Kowalski. On June 26, 2002, the little committee considered the offer from Cocoa Main Street, under the guidance of Ed Lanni, to make the restoration of the Derby Street Chapel its long term historic preservation project. In July 2003, the First Baptist Church leased the property for 25 years of Cocoa Main Street to restore the Derby Street Chapel and operate it for community activities. The committee of volunteers began the project with less than $8,000.00 in donations. A $75,000 matching grant was obtained in 2006 from the Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation in Tallahassee. From that time on, everything that was done had to meet the requirements of the Historical Society and the City of Cocoa. Funds were matched by donations, rummage sales and volunteer hours. The volunteers were responsible for the immediate repairs, removal of non-historic fixtures and cleaning that was required before restoration could begin. Community interest in using the chapel for weddings, memorials, club meetings and religious services was growing rapidly. The City of Cocoa required that commercial grade restrooms be built before the cultural center could be open for public use. A private loan was obtained for the new stand-alone building that includes the restrooms and a multi-purpose room. The official groundbreaking ceremony was held on Sunday, October 19, 2005 with an "Old Fashioned Day" celebration at the chapel. The Chapel was officially open for business in 2009 and on-going operation and management of the Chapel is accomplished by a team of dedicated community volunteers. Weddings, memorial services, church services are just a few of the events taking place in "our chapel". The chapel is rapidly becoming a "must see" for visitors to Cocoa and compliments the "historic" atmosphere of Cocoa Village. The work of maintaining and operating the chapel is all done by volunteers. If you are interested in becoming involved in this amazing work, you are invited to attend one of their monthly meetings and become a member. Meetings are usually held on the second Monday of each month, at the CAC building across from First Baptist Church of Cocoa or call the Chapel office at 321-720-9410.
