{"id":582,"date":"2026-05-16T16:31:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=582"},"modified":"2026-05-16T16:31:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:31:19","slug":"how-a-boys-illness-led-a-fort-lauderdale-church-to-build-a-living-seawall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=582","title":{"rendered":"How a boy\u2019s illness led a Fort Lauderdale church to build a living seawall"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>It started as just a swim in the canal for 12-year-old Cruz Yturralde, explains his father, Harry Rozelle.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=580\">DeSantis signs bill expanding school guardian program to colleges, universities<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCruz loves the water, and he loves to fish, and so does my other son, so they\u2019re always in the water. I used to tell them, \u2018You guys, that water is not so great all the time. Make sure you jump through the pool.\u2019 At the time I was thinking I was a good parent telling them to go through the chlorine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Just a few days later, the child\u2019s stomach began to hurt. The pain got so bad he was taken to an emergency room and had to stay overnight. He had contracted E.coli and salmonella from his short swim.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>It was during his son\u2019s hospital stay that Rozelle had a conversation with a neighbor who told him a potential solution to the water-quality problem that led to the boy\u2019s sickness \u2014 living seawalls.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201c What is a living seawall? I have no idea. I never heard of it, but I\u2019m all ears,\u201d Rozelle recalled.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Living seawalls use 3-D printed designs to promote marine biodiversity. These \u201cbio-mimic\u201d designs look similar to mangrove roots embedded in the printed slabs. One of the main benefits is oyster repopulation. Oysters are exceptional for water quality. A single oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons of water per day.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><b>READ MORE: Reinventing the South Florida seawall to help marine life, buffer rising seas<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rozelle took the idea to The Church by the Sea where he serves as treasurer. Located east of the 17th Street Causeway on Fort Lauderdale\u2019s barrier island, the church has 980 feet of seawall. That seawall has been in place for decades and the looming threat of sea-level rise meant it needed to be replaced and raised.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=579\">More AI data centers are coming to South Florida. Could one open near you?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople got very excited about the chance to fix the seawall \u2014 that we need to do \u2014 and benefit the whole community by cleaning up the water,\u201d said Brian Cecchio, the church\u2019s senior pastor. \u201cThe spiritual side of that is that we\u2019re commissioned by God all the way back in Genesis 1 to take care of the Earth that He\u2019s provided for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>A new living seawall is expected to attract enough oyster growth to filter 1 million gallons of water per day.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The church teamed up with Kind Designs, a Miami-based firm that creates living seawalls, and began soliciting donations for the project, which came with a $1.75 million price tag. But the church says the living-seawall design actually saves about a dollar per foot of seawall.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Donations began pouring in for what the church claims is the largest privately-funded living-seawall project in Florida\u2019s history. While many members of the congregation gave, some donors were from as far away as Australia and gave through the project\u2019s website. To date, the church has raised nearly $1.6 million.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The church also got a boost from Fort Lauderdale, which recently launched a living-seawall incentive program. That program covers up to 100% of the permitting fees for living-seawall projects.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The project also includes an observation deck, which Cecchio says can inspire others to take on similar projects.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201c Our hope is that people in the community that are curious about what we\u2019ve done being able to do that in their own property so that the cleaning effort continues around Fort Lauderdale,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=577\">\u2018That could have been my story\u2019: Black femicides spark hard talks in South Florida<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The project is expected to break ground soon and finish in the spring of 2027.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p><i>This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner WLRN Public Media.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Church by the Sea raised nearly $1.6M for a living seawall in Fort Lauderdale to improve water quality , support oyster repopulation and combat sea-level rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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