$100,000 Challenge Grant Boosts Elevator Replacement at Key West Museum, Ensuring Accessibility for All

Crews from Marino Construction work inside the elevator shaft of the 134-year-old Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House, part of a community-backed project, boosted by a $100,000 challenge grant, to ensure this historic landmark remains accessible to all. Donations are encouraged through the end of 2025. (Photo Contributed)

Crews from Marino Construction work inside the elevator shaft of the 134-year-old Key West Museum of Art & History at the Custom House, part of a community-backed project, boosted by a $100,000 challenge grant, to ensure this historic landmark remains accessible to all. Donations are encouraged through the end of 2025. (Photo Contributed)

October 31, 2025 – (KEY WEST, FL).  The Key West Art and Historical Society (KWAHS) has received a $100,000 challenge grant from heirs of George and Adela Kantor and Arthur and Gladys Mulberg, honoring their families’ long history in Key West.  Funds raised through the end of 2025 will support the ongoing elevator replacement project and future building preservation efforts at the Key West Museum of Art and History at the Custom House.

The museum’s original elevator, installed in the mid-1990s during landmark restoration efforts overseen by architect Bert Bender of Bender & Associates Architects, P.A., served visitors for nearly three decades before ceasing operation in March 2023.  Demolition and structural work, led by Marino Construction, began in August and is nearing completion.  Elevator installation by TK Elevator is scheduled to begin in November.

Due to an expanding scope of work and increased material costs driven by tariffs, the total project budget rose to over $545,000.  To date, $525,829 has been raised through generous support from the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, the Dogwood Foundation, Mr. Thomas Kenan III, the Edward B. Knight and Joan T. Knight Foundation, the Fran Sessa and Norman Hunt Charitable Fund, and numerous individual donors.

“The Society is truly grateful for the Kantor and Mulberg heirs’ generosity and for the community support in raising the much-needed funding to replace the Custom House’s elevator,” said Michael F. Gieda, Executive Director.  “Our highest priority is ensuring the museum is fully ADA accessible, so visitors of all abilities can enjoy the museum.  Without an operating elevator, access has been limited to the first floor.”
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Tax-deductible donations toward the elevator and ongoing preservation projects can be made online at kwahs.org/donate-elevator, by check, or via stock transfer.  Contributions may also be made through the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys’ Custom House Preservation Fund.