What's Actually Happening at St. Paul's This Fall: Bids Due, a Bond on Hold, and Gardens Taking Shape
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
The first finished work at St. Paul's sits underground. A new water main for a future irrigation system is already installed on the grounds. A completed donor campaign has also paid for a $95,000 security and camera system. Both came from donations, not the village's tax base.
The building's roof, masonry and chimneys are waiting on sealed construction bids due at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 15, 2026. That is 11 days from today. For anyone following St. Paul's, the useful thing to know this fall is which money is already spent, which money is still a question, and how much of the 30-acre campus is open to residents while the board decides.
The St. Paul's Landmark Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit chaired by John Reilly. It has finished two fundraising campaigns, and it says together they saved taxpayers $220,000 on the building's ongoing preservation:
Both items matter because they also show up on the village's own list. At the September 24 Board of Trustees meeting, Mayor Ed Finneran described the first phase of the publicly funded project as the mansard roof, security, a fence, irrigation and plantings on the grounds. Two of those five categories, security and irrigation, already have donor money behind them. The mayor mentioned the Society's donations and the free grounds work contractors had done at the site in the same meeting.
The September 24 consent calendar included a $10 million bond resolution "for the St. Paul's Landmarking Project." Mayor Finneran removed it before the board took up most of the agenda.
In public comment, a resident asked the board to wait for responses to the village's request for proposals before authorizing any borrowing:
"To me, basically the $10 million bond resolution was saying 'give us a blank check' and we will figure it out. We do not know what it will cost yet and I know the village has an RFP out on the project."
The mayor said the item was pulled so the board would not act rashly, and that the village expected bids within two weeks. Another resident asked whether the initial $10 million could grow to $25 million or $50 million. Finneran answered that the first phase would "fall within the $10 million, OR we are going to have to raise money outside of the village's taxpayer base," through grants or charitable money. He described the $10 million as the total to be spent at the site, "on the building and on the grounds."
That answer ties the village's ceiling to the Society's campaigns. Any work that doesn't fit under $10 million gets pushed toward the same kind of philanthropy that already paid for the water main and the cameras.
The bid is listed with the New York State Contract Reporter as "St. Paul's Landmark Preservation," number 2138797, at 295 Stewart Avenue. It was issued September 4, 2026. Sealed bids go to the village's Purchasing Division. Anyone can read the official posting.
Garden City News reported that the bid documents run almost a thousand pages. They ask contractors to price the flat roof, the mansard roof, several parts of the masonry, the gutters and the chimneys as separate components, and the village may choose among the alternatives. In an editorial, the paper called this "working backwards" from a fixed budget. It raised the concern that everything needed to secure the building might not fit within $10 million.
Different accounts describe the scope a little differently. The mayor's short list for the first phase includes the fence, security and grounds work. The bid documents, as the paper describes them, break out roof, masonry, gutter and chimney components. Bid results should show how those two descriptions fit together. As of today, no public report says any bids have come in.
Here is the timeline so far, in order:
At the September 24 meeting, Finneran said the plan has not changed from what the four winning candidates backed over the winter. The village has also said that "landmark" is a lowercase label for its preservation plan. It is not a bid to change the building's National Register status or to seek federal landmark designation.
The Society's third campaign, "Beautifying the Future: The Gardens at St. Paul's," aims to turn the campus into a garden park inspired by Old Westbury Gardens. It is the first of a planned series of multi-year projects. Westminster Nursery & Garden Center donated its professional services to draw up a full design plan for the grounds. With that plan in hand, the village can pick which sections to build each year, funded by donations.
The Society plans to unveil the Cornelia Stewart Garden next year, in 2027, as the first section to be developed. The name is tied to the building's history. Cornelia Stewart commissioned the main building, finished in 1883, in memory of her husband, Alexander Turney Stewart, the founder of Garden City. The school ran for more than 100 years and closed in March 1991. The building is a contributing property in the A.T. Stewart Era Buildings Historic District, which was added to the National Register in 1978.
The campaign also calls for expanding the community garden. Reilly said he "could not envision The Gardens at St. Paul's without a crucial role for the community garden."
Because the garden work is funded by donations and built in sections, it moves on its own schedule. That schedule doesn't depend on the bids, the bond or the board's next vote. The water main already in the ground shows how that works. The first irrigation infrastructure on the site came out of a donation, and that donation came in before the publicly funded phase that lists irrigation had gone out to bid.
None of this closes the grounds. Garden City Recreation and Parks runs the 30-acre St. Paul's complex, and the rules depend on what you want to use:
| Amenity | How access works |
|---|---|
| Baseball field, soccer and lacrosse fields | First-come for resident and youth-group practices |
| Field House with four full basketball courts | By permit only |
| Fields next to the Field House | By permit only |
| Open greens and playground | Village park rules apply |
| Community garden plots | Free but very limited, assigned through the Recreation office |
Village park rules limit use to residents and their guests, and parks close from sunset to sunrise. The community garden came back in 2024 with free plots handed out through the Recreation office, and the village called the supply very limited. The Recreation Department also holds programs and meetings at its St. Paul's Center, including yoga, camps, DAR meetings and youth sports meetings.
The next big date on the campus is the annual Turkey Trot, set for Thursday, November 26, 2026, at St. Paul's. By then the October 15 bid deadline will be six weeks past.
If you own an older home in or near the A.T. Stewart district and want to know how preservation decisions like this one affect a sale or a renovation, Kevin Leatherman and our team track these village proceedings closely. Let's Talk.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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