ACADEMY MAKES HISTORIC PURCHASE!
The following story appeared on the Front Page of the June 21, 2006, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, which granted reprint permission. The story coincides with the historic announcement that the Academy is purchasing six acres of the landmark St. Vincent Hospital property.
Academy to buy part of former St. Vincent site
Aquatics center, fields planned
By Bronislaus B. Kush, T&G STAFF
bkush@telegram.com
WORCESTER — Back in 1894, the Worcester Academy Board of Trustees considered purchasing a strategically located patch of land on the northeast corner of Providence and Winthrop streets on Vernon Hill that would have allowed the school to expand.
But Trustee Joseph H. Walker, a powerful local politician who, at the time, was Worcester's congressman, failed to see the academy’s immediate growth potential and persuaded the board not to purchase the parcel.
Shortly after, the Sisters of Providence bought the land and constructed a building that would serve as the new home for St. Vincent, a small Catholic hospital that the nuns had founded nearby in 1893.
One hundred and twelve years later, and about five years after St. Vincent had vacated the premises for the Worcester Medical Center site downtown, academy trustees got another opportunity to purchase a substantial portion of the property.
This time they took it.
School officials said yesterday that they have signed a purchase and sales agreement with Liberty Properties of Boston to buy six acres of the 13-acre parcel, including the towering building that served for decades as the hospital’s main campus.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
The central brick hospital structure will be demolished to make way for a new aquatics center and a sports field. School administrators said they're not sure what they will eventually do with the rest of the land, but one official said a new indoor athletic center may be built to replace the basketball courts and other aging sports facilities now at the academy's Daniels Building.
"This was an opportunity we couldn't pass on," said James Pietro, the board's chairman. "There’s very little land that we can purchase in the area for expansion purposes."
The hulking hospital campus, which sits atop Vernon Hill and can be seen from many points across the city, has remained relatively vacant since St. Vincent moved in 2000 to a swath of land wedged between Worcester Center Boulevard and Summer Street.
Liberty had hoped to convert the hospital's main, seven-story building into 190 apartments.
The firm worked for months with city officials to address complicated zoning and planning issues, but dropped the apartment project when housing market conditions changed.
"We are enthusiastic about working with Worcester Academy and its expansion plans," said Mohsin Amiji, chief executive officer of Liberty Properties. "We are confident that the school’s plans would enhance and complement the development of the remaining portions of the former St. Vincent Hospital campus."
Negotiations began in the spring of last year after academy officials were approached by Liberty.
The school had hoped to purchase the entire parcel, but academy officials dropped that idea because of long-term leases held by tenants occupying three wings off the north side of the hospital. The academy purchased land on the Winthrop Street side of the campus.
"We didn't want to become landlords," Headmaster Dexter P. Morse said. "There might be an opportunity in the future to purchase the rest of the campus."
Under the agreement, Liberty is charged with demolishing the main building and addressing any environmental concerns. School officials said Liberty must complete the work and turn over the property 270 days from June 19, the date the agreement was finalized.
The school has been cramped for space for some time but has not moved to purchase nearby triple-deckers and other homes.
"We’ve always tried to be good neighbors," said Mr. Morse. "When we talk about expanding, our options are very limited. If we didn’t purchase the St. Vincent property, we would have had to buy a number of three- deckers, and that would have meant displacing residents."
Space concerns drove trustees in the early 1970s and about 10 to 15 years ago to seriously consider moving the school.
"In the end, it was decided that Providence Street was our home," Mr. Pietro said.
By building an aquatics center with accompanying locker space and a parking lot, the school will be able replace its four-lane pool, which was built in 1914. That space will be renovated for other academic or recreational uses.
Mr. Morse said he doesn’t expect the aquatics center and field, which will be opened up for neighborhood use, to be built before 2008.
Mr. Pietro said the board originally thought about paying for the St. Vincent land from its endowment fund, but is now looking at alternatives, including a capital fund drive.
The school, founded in 1834, successfully completed a $31.5 million campaign in 2003 for work to its main campus.
The academy, with a student population of 640, is primarily on a 12-acre campus on the northern end of Providence Street.
It also operates a football field and other sporting facilities at Gaskill Field, a 12-acre parcel purchased in 1909 and abutting Vernon Hill Park. The school also owns about 30 acres off Stafford Street, where it has built fields for various sports.
