What do you do with a massive 185,000 square foot brick building that is no longer useful for its original intended purpose? A building with beautiful architecture and an integral component of the street scape in the local area?
We have just such a scenario in my current home town of West Hartford with the Sisters of Saint Joseph Convent. The convent, set on over twenty acres, originally housed a few hundred sisters at its height, but currently a fraction of those sisters remain.
The sisters came to West Hartford in the late 1800’s as an outgrowth of a group that started in Lee, MA. According to the Sisters of Saint Joseph site, laywoman Jane Sedgwick, a convert to Catholicism, wanted to open a Catholic school in Lee.
Not having enough sisters to run the school, Jane went to Rome to appeal to the Pope to send help. Her request was granted and five sisters of Saint Joseph of Chambery came to America to open the school. Over the next several years, groups of sisters migrated to West Hartford and to other parts of the United States.
The convent complex in West Hartford was built in stages. The first building was the brick building above with the two circular windows on the roof. There were a few frame homes constructed next to it, but in time those were demolished to make way for the large addition seen in the feature photo.
The last piece of the complex to be built was the chapel, constructed in 1962. The chapel was connected to the existing buildings to allow the sisters easy access.
In 2012, the sisters decided that they could no longer maintain the property due to the expense and the dwindling resident population. They decided to sell and issued a Request for Proposal with various stipulations including that they continue living at the complex.
Historic preservation can take many forms, one of them being adaptive reuse. Adaptive reuse means that the building’s usage changes but the building itself remains. It’s a great solution in many situations, particularly in cases like this where the existing structure is so large.
The sisters received a proposal which would preserve the existing buildings, including the chapel, and convert them into upscale apartments. An additional apartment building would be built which will wrap around one side and the back of the existing buildings.
The sisters will keep their home, the existing buildings will be preserved and the landscaping and green space will be improved with the construction of the new complex. Although any project of this size will have its concerns, such as increased traffic, on the surface it looks like it will be a win-win for the sisters, the building and the neighborhood.
Other examples of adaptive reuse I have seen include The Kendall Hotel, a firehouse converted to a hotel in Cambridge, MA (I highly recommend a stay there), and the conversion of the First National Bank building in Kansas City, KS to the Kansas City Public Library. Can you think of any examples from your hometown or travels? Please comment below!
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My name is Deb Cohen, and I am a lifelong resident of Connecticut, a lover of all things historic and New England, and a realtor who helps buyers and sellers achieve their real estate goals and dreams. When I’m not working, I enjoy life with my husband, our two adult children, and our two rescue pups. Renovating and decorating our historic home, dating to 1800, is another favorite pastime.
I went to St Joe’s for one year kindergarten 1974-75 the Principal was sister Helen and I can remember before the lesson they said the date and that President Nixon was our President 😂 yes that was a few years back. I remember a sister Frances as well. I have very fond memories of that school year like the 7th and 8th graders trying to set off their toy rocket and just as they were almost ready to do ” Blast Off” recess would abruptly end and back we all in we all went 🙂 Brian Keith Mino
I went to Saint Francis Xavier in Ecorse Michigan, was taught by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, the years are 1958-1969..our school closed in 1969…I finished my senior year at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Wyandotte Michigan…I would love to get a hold of the names of the Sisters (SSJ) that taught through these years…
would the new apartments be used in the fashion of those when Mount St Joseph Academy was converted ? Your articles are well constructed & interesting. I AM GLAD I CAME UPON YOUR SITE. !
Hi Garrett – thanks so much for your comments! I’m not familiar with what happened with Mount St. Joseph and that conversion, unfortunately. These apartments will be studio, one bedroom and two bedroom and will be priced at market rate (no affordable housing component). The Sisters will have their own wing that will be renovated so that they can continue to live there indefinitely!
I’m originally from ClevO too! Try to visit there once or twice a year
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Have not been to the downtown Heinen’s yet but you can see pictures of it at: http://www.heinens.com/downtown/history-architecture
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Regarding Sisters of St Joseph, I was surprised the initial proposal did not include affordable units. Maybe they are hoping some younger women will sign up as a way to get free housing.
Interesting – you never know! Unfortunately the way it was explained at the public hearing was that no one asked the developer to include affordable housing in the plan (it wasn’t one of the 4 requirements given by the Sisters in the proposal process) and so therefore it was too late to go back and re-do. If there was an affordable housing component the finances probably would not have come together to make the project viable and also meet the Sisters other requirements. Thanks so much for commenting and for the link!!
I much prefer re-purposing to tearing down, at least in many cases. When we lived on Cleveland’s east side, there was a firehouse that had been converted to a restaurant and I’ve seen several churches that have been converted to restaurants or other things.
janet
I would love to go to a restaurant in a church. I just saw a post on-line today about a bar in a church! Supposedly it’s gorgeous 🙂
I was born at St Ann’s Hospital in Cleveland and sent to Erie, PA through Catholic Charities for adoption. The home in Erie was St Joseph’s Home for Children. It has long since stopped being an orphanage. They converted the building into housing for elderly.The conversion was done very nicely. I always wondered how many older people that lived there had started out there as children. I will have to pull out one of my pictures and post it. As an aside St Ann’s Hospital in Cleveland is gone, I would love to see pictures of the place that I was born in 1958.
That would be interesting to see St. Ann’s – I’m sure there are pics in an archive somewhere! I’m glad the orphanage building has since been converted and is still being used!
Great places, great faces on all of them. I’m glad for repurpose, that pleases me.
This reminds me of my friend who rents her home to a cloister of nuns. Before this post, I’d never thought to ask her why the nuns had to rent her old home. Now I’m curious. I wonder if there were similar circumstances.
That may be! The nuns specifically required in their RFP that they have a home there, but if they hadn’t they would have had to re-house them somewhere. They are all like 80 years old! Not too many new members, unfortunately.
Love the history and excited for its future. It should be an amazing boon to that area and our town! Downtown Cleveland has converted a lot of existing architecture to current updated use. The one that is truly a standout is Heinen’s at the 9. They are a well known family owned grocer in the Cleveland area and they converted this amazing building into a downtown grocery store! Yes I wanted to see The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame(so much fun), but this store was on the top of my list to visit! AMAZING!!!!
Wow that’s so cool! I will have to look it up. I love when interesting places are converted if they can’t be used for their intended purpose anymore. It makes for such a great atmosphere! I do think this will be a very good project for Park Road and will bring some life (and $!) to the merchants and restaurants of that area. Hope you are well and are all geared up for Christmas!
I had Sisters of St. Joseph for K-8 grades. This type of change is always good and not so good, but at least they didn’t tear it down and put up a parking garage. This way the beauty and history of the building lives on. 🙂
I agree, Judy! It’s hard to see change but when there is no hope to keep it as it was I’m happy to see it live another day for something new!
I love the intentional symmetry in these buildings. Repurpose/re-use is becoming common for a lot of older catholic churches here too – quite often converting them into luxury condos.
I guess preserving the buildings is better than knocking them down and the basic structures are probably built more solid than most new construction anyways.
Yes, I would much prefer to see something stay than go. Makes me sad to think about what beauty from the interior is likely being changed/destroyed, but at least the streetscape and the exterior remain unchanged.
These are beautiful buildings and wonderful doors. I’m a little sad that the campus is being re-purposed, but I’ll save the social commentary for another day. Thanks for including these doors!
I’m a bit sad too. I sit on the Historic Commission here in town, and development is really big in West Hartford (shocker!) so I’m thrilled that they are keeping the buildings. We can thank the sisters for ensuring that happened! Otherwise who knows what their fate would be. I also hope the development does bring more traffic to the Park Road area where it is located. It is an up and coming part of West Hartford and this will (fingers crossed) bring more residents to that part of town that will utilize the local businesses.