See You In Church

Here’s the church. Here’s the steeple. Open the door, and here are the people—watching a play, enjoying date night over a nice chablis, or binge-watching Netflix in their jammies.

In Cape May, at least four historic former churches have been repurposed—left structurally intact, at least on the outside, but reclaimed for other uses and sometimes dramatically altered on the inside.

So-called adaptive reuse not only spares the beautiful architecture of yore—the bell towers, the steeples, the stained glass—but in some cases, also spares neighbors the sight of yet another parking lot. At one time, that was the fate awaiting the former church at Lafayette and Bank streets in downtown Cape May, now the home of Cape May Stage.

Next to Godliness

In 1853, the Cape Island Presbyterians bought the land and engaged local builder Peter Hand to design a new church. The resulting structure has a curiously Moorish look, complete with an “onion-curved, mosque-like belvedere,” or cupola, according to a history on the website of Cape May Stage.

The Presbyterians were soon out of there—within months of occupying the church, they sold it to the Methodists, who in 1898 passed it to the Episcopalians. In the mid-1950s, city officials bought the property for just $2,000, with a plan to demolish it for parking (apparently scarce in the city, even then).

Luckily, preservationist Tom Harris convinced city fathers to turn the space into a community center that would go on to host everything from art exhibits and plays to dances, banquets, and community meetings. In 1973, the versatile space became a visitors’ welcome center. In the 1980s, thanks to visionary actor-director-playwright Michael Laird, it finally opened for theatrical
performances.

After Laird’s passing in 2001, his supporters took up his cause to establish a “real” theater in the city. Hundreds of residents raised $1.4 million to renovate the deconsecrated structure, by then “in terrible disrepair,” according to Roy Steinberg, producing artistic director at the now-celebrated Equity playhouse. An exhaustive renovation replaced uncomfortable wooden pews with plush stadium-style seating; installed new sound and lighting systems; and even turned the ramshackle restrooms into minor works of art, with imported Carrera marble sinks. The overhaul was complete in 2008.

Today, the Robert Shackleton Playhouse— the permanent, dedicated home of Cape May Stage, named for the Broadway and London stage actor—“is just beautiful inside,” with acoustics that are simply divine, says Steinberg. “The apse of the church, which is the curved area of the stage, acts like a sounding board. If I turn upstage, I can be heard all the way up in the mezzanine because of the wonderful construction.”

Historically, the theatrical profession has been frowned upon by some stricter religious sects. But in many ways, Steinberg points out, “churches and the theater have always been aligned. The first play in western civilization was Agamemnon and the Libation-Bearers, which was part of a three-day religious festival. The medieval mystery plays of the Middle Ages were literally performed on the steps of churches, and would tell the biblical story from creation through the resurrection.”

Today, the church once called “the architectural jewel in the city’s crown” is a respected performing arts center that routinely attracts award-winning talent from both Hollywood and Broadway. At Cape May Stage, Steinberg notes with satisfaction, “We get the highest level of people doing churchlike things in a modern theater.”

On the Side of the Angels

A short walk from Cape May Stage is the former Franklin Street Church, built in 1879 at the corner of Franklin and Lafayette, in a largely African-American section of Cape May. With its pitched roof, cross gables, pointed arch windows, ornate wooden embellishments and of course, stained glass windows, the former First Baptist Church designed by Charles Brown typifies the Gothic Revival style. It cost just $19,000 to build.

In 1917, the church was acquired by a Methodist congregation, but by the year 2000, less than a dozen elderly congregants remained. For a time they struggled to keep up with maintenance on the massive church, but eventually merged with another congregation and moved on.

For two years, the old church stood empty, its weathered cedar siding slowly eaten away by swarming ivy. Several ideas were considered for the site—a restaurant, an antiques store—but lack of parking made those plans impractical. That’s when Cape May contractor William Saponaro suggested transforming the space into residences. He paid $750,000 for the property, carved the interior into three residential spaces, and invested another million-plus in improvements.  

The restoration uncovered striking details—like rustic truss beams hidden behind an old dropped ceiling—and added new ones, all in keeping with the standards of the Cape May Historic Preservation Commission. Planks from an 1890 Hush Puppy shoe factory became the flooring. Period-style gas lamps were added outside. The originalstained glass was removed, releaded, and reinstalled.               

Of course, all the modern gizmos and gadgets were added too, including “smart house” amenities like remote-controlled heating and cooling and up-to-the-minute appliances like Wolf and Sub Zero. In 2006, the former church became the second annual Designer Show House for the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities. It was among MAC’s most successful show house exhibits, says Director Michael Zuckerman. “I don’t think any other show house comes close in terms of being jaw-dropping.”

The appeal for homeowners is all the elements that are typical of churches: soaring interior spaces, extraordinary curved contours, abundant carved woods, peaked windows and doors, rainbow-colored windows.

“For people who want to get out of a square-box environment, there’s nothing more dramatic than a church,” says Zuckerman. “The show house spaces were spectacular, with very steeply pitched ceilings and a lot of original woodwork and stained glass.”

Alas, the real estate market began to dip just as the lavish condos hit the market. All three of them sold, says Zuckerman, “but my understanding is that the peak prices made them a hard sell. And it was a challenging location on Lafayette Street, one of the most traffic-clogged streets in town, with suboptimal views.” Moreover, he said, “they’re right across from the fire station. I imagine the fire alarm could give you a bit of excitement.”

Despite those drawbacks, the project preserved a valuable, beautiful historic structure in a community that treasures them. “My first choice is always to have strong, vibrant church congregations that maintain these buildings,” says Zuckerman. “But things change. Congregations dwindle. When that happens, I strongly support adaptive reuse as a solution.”

A Spirited Revival

When you move into a 19^th-century church, it helps to have a ghostbuster in the family. Psychic medium Craig McManus believes several spirits “live” in the former Cold Spring Chapel, bought as a vacation home by his cousin, Virginia Mangano and her husband, Jon, of North Jersey.

“I have sensed several children in the building” in West Cape May, writes McManus in his Ghosts of Cape May series of books.

He’s not the only one to pick up on their presence, says Virginia. “A former neighbor said she saw three girls sitting out on the front steps. It’s funny, really—every once in a while, I’ll hear something, too. And when my grandson was little, he’d be in the crib in the other room, talking to people and looking up at the ceiling.”

According to Jon, the late family pet, an American bulldog named Socrates, also seemed to respond to an unseen presence. Despite the apparent haunting, the Manganos say these must be friendly ghosts. “If they’re here, they don’t cause any trouble,” observes Virginia, “and Craig told us there are no harmful influences around.”

Any spirits in residence likely date to the mid-1880s, when the former chapel was built as a way station for members of Cold Spring Presbyterian Church on Seashore Road. Back then, when travel was more arduous, “they would build these little chapels so people didn’t have to go so far,” says Jon. In the late 1950s, with the new Cape May Canal in the planning stages, the one-story Victorian building was relocated to a rural tract of land on Jonathan Hoffman Road.

In 1972, according to records provided by the county clerk’s office, church trustees sold the chapel to the New Jersey Stake of the Church of Latter Day Saints (price tag: $40,000). The Mormons used the property until 1990, when it became a private residence. In 2001, Jon Mangano bought it, almost whimsically, when he was visiting his summer place in Town Bank.

“I just love to restore things, and I loved everything about this place,” Jon recalls. “One day, I was going to the beach and saw the old church was for sale. I had to buy it—but I didn’t tell my wife for a couple of days.”

A dedicated do-it-yourselfer, Jon tackles repairs on a piecemeal basis, whenever he’s in town. But it could take several years to undo the sins of the previous homeowner, who not only divided the airy central space into cramped, smaller spaces, but also dropped the ceilings, slapped drab wood paneling over the original wainscoted walls, and boarded up a spiral staircase that once led to a Sunday school downstairs.

But Jon relishes the challenge. And as in most restoration projects, this one has led to some fun discoveries, like a chalkboard covered with notations about the Psalms, and a trio of angel statues that seem to represent the three benign spirits who reside with the Manganos.

The biggest problem, in Virginia’s view, is the lack of central heat and air. In wintertime, she’s loath to fire up the costly oil burner. In summertime, though, she keeps shades and curtains drawn to keep it cool, because, as she put it, “It gets hot as hell in here.” 

Take This Bread

Like the Manganos’ house, the simple, shingled building at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Street in West Cape May was once a chapel associated with Cold Spring Presbyterian Church.

Per the county clerk, the land for the former chapel was first acquired by the Presbyterians in two conveyances, in 1883 and 1897. First known as Presbyterian Cape Chapel, it changed its name to West Cape May Union Chapel in 1947, and then passed into the hands of the First Assemblies of God in 1963.

Now the home of Panico’s Bistro, it’s one of several historic structures cited as examples of adaptive reuse in a 2009 sustainability study prepared for the borough. According to the study, the chapel-turned-restaurant—along with the Westside Market, Weddings by the Sea and Dock Mike’s, all in the Broadway Historic Commercial District—represents what we all seem to know intuitively: that older buildings, more than their contemporary counterparts, provide “architectural beauty and local character, richness and warmth in design, human-scale buildings and streetscapes, and a sense of place and quality and life.” The study called for more adaptive reuse and the preservation of as many historic structures as possible.             

“Visitors are attracted to small-town destinations because these places hold a quaint historic charm that is difficult for many to find on a daily basis,” the study continued. “These town centers provoke a sense of relaxation and Old World character that many newly developed regions lack.”

From the street, with its steeple, belfry and stained-glass windows, Panico’s Bistro might still be mistaken for a house of worship. But step inside, and you’ll find a modern upscale eatery, best known for its brick-oven pizza and Greco-Italian menu. Interestingly, there’s no clash of interior styles, despite the restaurant’s minimalist décor. It imposes up-to-the-minute polish on 19^th century architectural “bones” for a look that’s simple yet welcoming.

According to the provisions of the 1963 deed—which is rich in legalese, including “parties of the first part,” “promises and appurtenances,” and “successors and assigns”—the building was to be used only for Christian services and related activities for 100 years, or through 2063.

But, as previously noted, times and tastes change. Congregations come and go. Cape May is fortunate that these church buildings remain, in whatever form. And besides, good pizza is always in demand.

Can I get an “amen”?