Transforming St Paul’s: A Cathedral for the Keys
At St Paul’s, Key West, we have the privilege of stewarding four buildings on a campus in the heart of this island city. Three of these, Kipany House (the historic rectory, 1857), the Parish Hall (1905), and the church building (1919), are over a century old. As with the stewardship of all building assets, the costs are ongoing, and the work is never completely finished.
We hold all these assets in trust for all the people of the Diocese of Southeast Florida. We know that St Paul’s is not our clubhouse but rather a cultural, spiritual, and material asset that belongs to God and should be increasingly of benefit to the wider Key West and Lower Keys community.
As we transform, with God’s help, the buildings of the campus to be used for the greater good, we are transforming our model of mission and ministry. St Paul’s will remain the meeting place of the oldest congregation of any tradition south of St Augustine in the contiguous US, and, increasingly, St Paul’s will be a gathering place for more cultural, arts, social, and worship events for the wellbeing and welfare of the wider community. As a house of prayer for all people and a venue for a variety of events, St Paul’s will assume more and more the role of a cathedral for the Keys.
Some years ago, a committee was formed to imagine the restoration of the 1857 rectory. Though their plans have been somewhat modified, their intention of addressing deferred maintenance of the house and transforming it into a more functional, multi-purpose space is happening in full view. The exterior restoration of Kipany House, named in memory of Tiffany Hendry and funded by her husband, Kip Colligan, is well underway under the supervision of Ray Pritchett and the skilled crew of Pritchett Construction. You can follow the restoration progress on Instagram @pritchettconstruction. We hope to be able to begin the restoration of the interior of Kipany House before the end of 2025 as more funds become available.
There are significant structural issues requiring attention and repair in the church building. Consequently, we are turning our attention to those next. We have an architect, David Salay, of Bender & Associates Architects, Key West. You probably know Bender’s work all around Key West: the Custom House Museum, City Hall, the Gato Building, Williams Hall. Among our many blessings in this great restoration and transformation is David’s expertise and his availability: his office is 3 minutes from St Paul’s campus.
We have been talking for many years about a capital campaign at St Paul’s—since 2012, in fact! A capital campaign committee was formed over a decade ago, but there was no forward movement made. The parish profile to which Padre Donna responded in 2021 made clear that the 34th rector of St Paul’s would need to lead a major capital campaign. At long last, for the first time in 193 years of the life of St Paul’s, a capital campaign is underway. A lot is happening even though it may not appear to be. The final structural engineering study needed so that architect David Salay can complete his detailed architectural drawings of the spalling repair has been delayed. We eagerly await it because a number of things are in a holding pattern until it is in hand.
When that final engineering study is in hand and David’s drawings are complete, we will be able to receive the first half of the capital grant we were awarded in 2023 by the National Fund for Sacred Places.
And, when David’s drawings are complete, he, as our client’s representative, will bid out the contract for the substantial spalling repair of the church building to general contractors with expertise in masonry repair. As the spalling repair nears completion, we will be eligible for the second half of the capital grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places.
There is much more to come and much more that we will be able to share as things progress. For now, just below we provide an FAQ (frequently asked questions) regarding the spalling repair work to be done on the church building.
FAQ
When will the work on the church building start?
Once architect David Salay has the final structural engineering report and can complete his final drawings, he will bid out the job to general contractors with masonry repair expertise. Once the vestry approves a bid, the work will commence based on the contractor’s schedule.
- When will St Paul’s close?
Never. What? The church is the people, not the building. We will continue to worship, work, and witness as a vibrant congregation here at the end of the road. The church building will close when the general contractor is available to begin work.
- How long will St Paul’s church building be closed?
Based on the architect’s estimate, we anticipate that the spalling repair will take at least a year from when the repairs begin.
- Where will services be held?
We anticipate holding services in different locations, determined by factors like attendance, occasion, and weather. These locations will include the Memorial Garden and the Parish Hall and possibly Kipany House and other outdoor locations as well. We may join St Peter’s for joint services at their campus sometimes, but the intention is to occupy the campus somehow throughout all the restoration work.
- How much is the construction going to cost?
This number will not be finalized until we have received additional information from our key personnel, but we anticipate a goal in the range of $10 to $15 million to complete all the work that is needed on campus (on all four buildings) and to build endowment for ongoing, proactive maintenance for all buildings going forward. Building endowment is key so that we don’t have to do another huge capital campaign in another 25-30 years.
- How are we going to raise the money?
The multiple millions of dollars which will ultimately be needed will be raised in a four-phase, professionally-managed capital campaign, of which we are currently in Phase 1. The phases are as follows:
Phase 1: quiet phase for internal lead gifts from known donors of St Paul’s (gifts of $250,000 to $1 million). As of May 2025, we have $2.25 million in internal lead gifts pledged, and other internal lead gifts are in process.
Phase 2: quiet phase for external lead gifts from generous members of the wider Key West and Lower Keys community and stakeholders (gifts of $250,000 to $1 million).
Phase 3: public phase for internal gifts of varying sizes (up to $250,000) from known givers to St Paul’s.
Phase 4: public phase for external gifts of varying sizes (up to $250,000) from community stakeholders and supporters.
We have already been awarded one grant for $250,000 and one gift of $100,000 from the Anne and Ross McKee Fund. We will be writing additional grants for preservation funds, Tourist Development Council funds, and other money that is available for these kind of brick and mortar restoration projects.
- Will we have fundraisers?
Much more effective—and faster—than many, many small fundraisers (dinners, sales of St Paul’s swag, etc) is focusing on development of the internal and external lead gifts. $2.25 million pledged since January 2025 is a strong example of that.
If you will not be able to give a lead gift of more than $250,000, what can you do? We hope you will prayerfully and carefully consider what the Holy Spirit is laying on your heart to contribute to the total restoration of the St Paul’s campus (all four buildings) over the next several years. This is a gift in addition your regular pledge and gifts to the operating fund of the parish, not in place of it. If 100 St Paul’s giving units give an additional $20,000 over the next three to five years, that’s another $2 million.
Will there still be fun events? Yes. We will likely have a variety of celebrations as we reach certain critical goals throughout the campaign. Everyone will be very welcome to give more money at these celebrations.
- What will happen to the stained-glass windows?
The stained-glass beauty in the church building is a museum of stained glass in the US. The work of five important stained-glass studios is represented in St Paul’s windows. The windows will be removed before the spalling repair and its necessary jackhammering and other such work begins. The best bid we have received for the cleaning, restoration, and releading of the windows is from Willet Studios, the only remaining US firm that works exclusively on stained glass.
When the windows are returned to St Paul’s, they will be reinstalled in new custom frame systems. The window frames themselves will be of a long-lasting composite material (no more termite damage and water damage), and they will be attached to state-of-the-art impact glass that is vented so that heat, which damages the stained glass, is not held in by the impact glass.
- Will the first chime of bells in all of Florida be restored?
Yes. The McShane bells themselves will be restored, along with the bell tower and the platform on which the bells rest.
- What is going to happen to the magnificent organ?
The organ console will remain in place in the church building and will be secured to prevent damage. All of the pipes that are visible in the nave will be removed and stored in specially-built pipe crates. The organ chamber will be sealed with vinyl and plywood as necessary to protect it from construction debris.
While the spalling repair and restoration of the nave are the most obvious and also the most pressing needs, our other buildings need work as well. As noted above, we will continue with the exterior restoration of Kipany House (the 1857 rectory) and then segue to the interior restoration. The needed work on the Parish Hall will have the shortest timeline. We also anticipate some work on Holy Innocents’ Hall so that it more closely aligns with the post-pandemic and post-restoration of other buildings needs of the campus and parish.
Following is a sequence of the key steps (mostly in order) involved in the restoration of the church building:
