Trinity Presbyterian raises $4.5M to revive Baytreat on the Eastern Shore

Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairhope is giving new life to Baytreat, a retreat center on Mobile Bay with a history dating back 164 years.

The journey from Beach Hotel to Presbyterian retreat center

The property, located at 18249 Scenic Hwy 98, started as a log home and was remodeled in 1904 as the Beach Hotel, where guests arrived by Bay steamer to escape the city.

After the Mobile Bay Causeway opened in 1926, hotel use declined. The Meador family later gave the property to Government Street Presbyterian Church in 1957, and it became a ministry and retreat center that hosted hundreds of youth mission groups.

Use dropped after the COVID-19 pandemic and as youth mission trips changed. In June 2024, members of Government Street Presbyterian asked Trinity’s senior pastor, the Rev. Matt McCollum, if his congregation wanted to buy Baytreat before it went on the market.

Trinity’s Baytreat campaign tops expectations

Trinity raised the initial $1 million payment within three weeks, then launched a capital campaign for the $4.5 million purchase price. A consultant estimated the church could raise $1.9 million, with a stretch goal of $3.4 million. Pledges eventually passed that stretch goal.

As of August 2026, the congregation is $100,000 short of its total goal.

Campaign chairperson Darrell Adams said the response surprised him.

“The pledges just kept coming and kept coming.”

Darrell Adams, chairperson of Trinity Presbyterian’s capital campaign

What’s happening at Baytreat now

A $250,000 renovation added a new roof, new furniture, fresh paint and updated landscaping. Baytreat has 200 feet of shoreline and a wharf that extends into the bay. Church and community members can visit to watch the sunset from the wharf when it isn’t in use.

• Groups using the facility include the Presbyterian Home for Children in Talladega, Living River retreat center and the Presbytery of South Alabama
• Baytreat has scheduled 125 events for 2026, and the 2027 calendar is already filling up
• Trinity is still working out which ministries use the space for free and which groups pay facility fees

McCollum said the project has exceeded his early concerns that the property would go unused.

“This is the most exciting movement of God that I’ve ever been a part of.”

Rev. Matt McCollum, senior pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church