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 The building located on Fifth Street was officially
donated to Lincoln College. In the near future the building will be
repurposed into a student living center. The location creates an
opportunity for the college to continue its growth in the community
by enhancing its ability to offer housing for out-of-area students.
On February 14, 2018, the residents of St. Clara’s Manor were
relocated to the new St. Clara’s Rehab and Senior Care facility on
the city’s west side. The board at that time announced that the
former St. Clara’s would be given to Lincoln College. Since that
time, work has been ongoing to complete the transaction. On
Wednesday the final paper work was signed and the keys were handed
over to college president Dr. David Gerlach by St. Clara’s Board
President Clyde Reynolds.
The official ceremony took place at St. Clara’s. Dr. Gerlach opened
the ceremony thanking those in attendance, then spoke about how the
donation came about.
He said that all the credit was due to LC trustee Quentin Sparks. He
recounted the day Sparks came to his office to ask if Gerlach had
read an article published about St. Clara’s. In that article St.
Clara’s board president Clyde Reynolds had stated that the future of
the old St. Clara’s building was unknown.
“So, I met with Clyde, and said Clyde, we're growing,
we’re expanding, we need housing space. How about giving me St.
Clara’s Manor. And to my surprise Clyde said, ‘Well that would save
me money from tearing it down. It would add $1.2 million to your
balance sheet, you could take all the furniture…and the deal started
processing from there.” Gerlach went on to say it took a while to
get through all the legalities, but it has finally all come
together, with much credit due to Sparks.
Gerlach went on to mention that the St. Clara’s facility has great
memories for several within the Lincoln College community. He
mentioned board member and LC graduate Brenda Chapman, who was in
recent years granted an honorary doctorate from LC, worked at St.
Clara’s while in high school.
He went on to say he felt that St. Clara’s was going to add a new
dynamic to the school's housing program. He said the building would
be open to upper classmen and that it would give them a new sense of
community as they lived within walking distance of downtown.
Gerlach then handed the floor over to St. Clara’s Board President
Clyde Reynolds. Reynolds said that he wasn’t keen on public
speaking, and had struggled with what to say because there was so
much that could be said, and he had worked to edit his talk to a
reasonable amount of time. He said among other things, there was not
time to properly acknowledge the many board members, nor would he
have time to talk about the new facilities as he could speak for
hours on that fine facility alone. He also said he would not be able
to give justice to comments about the St. Clara’s staff.
He said what he did want to do was talk about the
Fifth Street facility. He said that walking through the building
after the move was a “bittersweet thing.” “I walked through here as
the auction was going on and the building was empty, it was like an
episode of the Twilight Zone, you could hear the voices speaking to
you.” He went on to say though that he was very excited to have the
building remain an important part of the community. He was excited
to hand the keys over to Dr. Gerlach and Lincoln College, and know
that the building has a vital place in the community for years to
come.
Reynolds then handed over the large ring of keys to
the building to Dr. Gerlach.
Reynolds then asked that board member Tonita
Reifsteck step up and say a few words. Reifsteck has been a big part
of St. Clara’s for years. She and her husband, the late Wallace
Reifsteck, ministered to the residents of St. Clara’s, and also
Wallace served on the board early in the history of the Manor.
Tonita serves on the board now. Both Tonita and Wallace volunteered
at St. Clara’s, plus her father-in-law and father were both
residents at St. Clara’s, and their daughter worked at St. Clara’s
as an intern.
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Reifsteck noted that Lincoln College came to be in
the 1860’s and in 1886 a hospital was built on the site where
everyone now stood. St. Clara’s Hospital served the community until
1970 when it became St. Clara’s Manor. She said, “From that time on,
we cared for families, and we became a family. And now a new family
moves in. I hope the community and the people in this area will give
them the respect and the friendship that we have enjoyed all these
years as a facility that cares about and for people.”
Next to speak was Quentin Brackenridge, the LC
Director of Residential Life. Brackenridge began saying he was
grateful for the gift to Lincoln College. He said, “The mission of
the Office of Residential Life is to create a sense of community by
providing a safe, inclusive and well-managed living environment that
complements and supports the academic and social goals of Lincoln
College.”
Brackenridge said that he and the Director of Student Engagement,
Zach Landers, had walked through the building many times, and had
the ability to envision the space and how it would be utilized to
fill the mission of their offices. He noted that it was an amazing,
“We are so excited to occupy this facility. There are a lot of
things we have in mind for this facility.” He went on to add that
there would be a full time professional staff member living on site,
there would be student Resident Assistants living in the building as
well.
Brackenridge went on saying that when the topic of moving into St.
Clara’s came about, he personally was not familiar with the Fifth
Street area. He said he came into the area one day to look around,
and actually found a house just within a couple of blocks of St.
Clara’s and has since moved into that home. He said that worked out
very well because it puts him in close proximity to the new resident
facility.
When Brackenridge finished speaking, members of the
Lincoln College Trustees and Board were asked to join members of the
St. Clara’s Board behind the table as Reynolds and Dr. Gerlach
officially signed the transfer documents. Gerlach noted that this
was the real thing, and Notary Public, Kathy Papech, would witness
and notarize the documents as they were signed.
After a few moments for photo opportunities, the event came to a
conclusion.
Lincoln College was founded in 1865 as a four-year-university. It
served the community as such until 1929 when it became a two-year
degree private college. In recent years, the college administration
and trustees have been working to bring the college back to its
university status offering as of 2018, twelve bachelor’s degrees.
Wednesday, Dr. Gerlach shared that his Vice-president Dr. Hamin
Shabazz is preparing to within the next month submit applications
for two additional bachelor degrees, as well as two master degree
programs including masters of business and of criminal justice.
The college plans to invest about $2 million in renovations at the
former St. Clara’s Manor, initially adding between 65 and 80 beds to
the school’s existing stock of residence halls. Regular shuttle
service between the facility and the campus will keep the impact on
traffic to a minimum. Off-street parking will also be provided for
students that do have their own vehicles. As with all of Lincoln
College’s current campus housing options, meal service will be
provided and there will be no kitchens in individual units.
The construction timetable has not yet been determined, but will be
phased to align with the school’s projected housing needs.
[Nila Smith with excerpts from Mark Gordon, Lincoln
College] |
