Monastery planned at stronghold may move
A Greek Orthodox monastery to be constructed near Cochise Stronghold may be moved in response to critics who say the height of the project will mar a sacred area.
Area residents who had been debating construction plans with the monks say they have reached a tentative agreement. The monks may move their planned church, which had been planned for a hill and was expected to exceed the local zoning height limit of 30 feet.
”From my understanding they are moving the church off the hill to make it blend in with the landscape,” Cochise County planner Daniel Coxworth said. ”But the agreement won’t mean anything until it’s approved by the Board of Supervisors.”
The matter is set to go before the Cochise County supervisors at an Aug. 6 meeting in Bisbee.
Father Nektarios ”Nick” Arvanitakis, who has been acting as a spokesman for the Dormition of Theotokos Greek Orthodox Monastery, confirmed that the monks held a private meeting with some of the critics. He said they reached an agreement about moving the tall buildings off the hill where they were supposed to be built, but he declined to elaborate.
”We are moving in the right direction, but it’s just verbal at this point,” said Eve Searle, co-owner of the Grapevine Canyon Ranch, near the site of the planned monastery.
The original plans for the monastery called for a church and a bell tower and spire to be built on a hill underneath a popular rock landmark called Rockfellow Dome, considered a visual gateway to the eastern Cochise Stronghold. The Cochise County Planning and Zoning Commission in May granted the monastery a modification, allowing the church to exceed the zoning regulation for the area and build a church of up to 60 feet – six floors – high. The zoning law for the area limits structures to 30 feet high.
When some area residents learned of the height modification they became concerned, arguing a church that tall built on a hill would be a blight on a scenic view of the stronghold.
The monastery also wanted to build a bell tower and spire up to 80 feet tall. The zoning code exempts bell towers and spires from zoning restrictions.
Coxworth said his understanding of the agreement is that the monks would move the church, bell tower and spire off the hill.
The stronghold, in the Dragoon Mountains about 70 miles southeast of Tucson, once served as a natural fortress for Chiricahua Apache leader Cochise and his people. Cochise is buried inside the stronghold, which is a blend of public and private property, though the exact location of his grave is unknown.
Members of the Fort Sill Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache Tribe in Oklahoma have yet to officially weigh in on the matter, however. The tribe’s members are direct descendants of the Chiricahua Apaches, and own four acres inside the stronghold.
Much of southeastern Arizona was Chiricahua Apache territory until 1886, when Geronimo and his beleaguered band of men, women and children surrendered to the U.S. Army.
Lupe Gooday, Fort Sill Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache tribal vice chairman, has said that based on what the tribe knows so far, it is opposing the monastery plans. Gooday said Thursday that the Tribal Council is planning to review the plans in more detail and send a letter to the Cochise County supervisors before their meeting.
Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or at sinnes@azstarnet.com.