Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. purchased the campus in 2009 from the Northfield Mount Hermon School.
The future of the former Northfield campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School is scheduled to be announced Sept. 21.NORTHFIELD— The future use of the former Northfield Mount Hermon School campus in this community is scheduled to be announced at a public meeting Sept. 21.
The announcement will be made at Sage Chapel on the campus at 2 p.m. that Friday.
Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. purchased the campus in 2009 from Northfield Mount Hermon. It intends to transfer the property to a Christian educational institution that has the financial means to take over and maintain it.
Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby has selected two finalists for the campus: Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board and Grand Canyon University Foundation of Phoenix.
“Both fit the orthodoxy requirements, that is, traditional Christian beliefs and values,” said Dr. Jerry Pattengale, executive director of Green Scholars Initiative, representing Hobby Lobby.
“This is not simply because of the Green (Hobby Lobby owners) family’s personal beliefs, but their desire--and many from around the world--to see the campus return to an organization in keeping with its founder’s beliefs and intentions. Many approached us with claims to be in D.L. Moody’s legacy, but only picked a very tangential aspect and seemed to add-on a Christian component. These two finalists are solidly within the Moody tradition.”
More than 100 institutions have shown an interest in the campus.
Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. purchased the 217-acre Northfield campus for $100,000 on behalf of the C.S. Lewis Foundation from Northfield Mount Hermon School after the college preparatory school consolidated operations onto its nearby Gill campus; Hobby Lobby intended to gift the campus to create C.S. Lewis Great Books College.
The C.S. Lewis Foundation then sought to raise $5 million to open the college, but by the mutually agreed upon fund-raising deadline of Dec. 31, 2011, it had realized only about $600,000; thus the foundation lost its sole beneficiary status, and the doors opened to other possible organizations.
Evangelist Dwight L. Moody founded a Northfield school for girls in 1879 and the Mount Hermon school for boys in Gill in 1881. The schools merged in 1971 to form Northfield Mount Hermon; the Northfield campus was closed in 2005.
Since Hobby Lobby purchased the quintessential New England campus with its rolling green lawns and flowering trees, it has put more than $6 million into improvements and ongoing maintenance and will surpass $1 million in taxes.
Some of the brick and stone historic buildings have been restored and renovated. Crews of local contractors including landscapers, painters and plumbers have worked to ready the campus. Among the work that has been done is the renovation and restoration of Sage Chapel, the restoration of Stone Hall, the restoration of the Moore Cottage guest house, restoration of other buildings and work on the 1894 auditorium that seats more than 2,000.
“The gifting of such a historic campus is both exhilarating and exhausting,” Pattengale said. “It’s been a great joy, and we trust that Northfield will enjoy the next season of life on the Moody campus (and) that those from NMH--alumni and current students--with religious interests still find a place to worship on the campus.”
Commented Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby: “When we see how God has used this process to bring back the interest in the Northfield legacy, as demonstrated by the volume of inquiries and proposals, we realize that God likely used the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s interest to get us involved, and, in turn, to be able to help to preserve this campus for long-term Christian programs.”
The Sept. 21 open meeting at Sage Chapel will be followed at 2:30 p.m. with a “National Conversation” on “What is the Future of Christian Higher Education.” Journalist Michael Cromartie will moderate this. Among the panel guests will be Steve Green (representing business), Dr. David Wright (provost, Indiana Wesleyan University), Dr. Brian Mueller (CEO, Grand Canyon University), Carlos Campo (president, Regent University) and Jay Hein (president, Sagamore Institute, former director of Faith Based Initiatives for President George W. Bush). It will air at www.nationalconversations.com.
“Some of us have fallen in love with the Northfield campus,” Green said. “Both Jerry Pattengale and Les Miller (real estate analyst for Hobby Lobby Stores) helped us in the gifting process and both have made good friends in Northfield and have loved participating in the journey. I’d be very surprised if this isn’t a regular stop for some of us in the ensuing decades.”