About NMH Northfield

Hello Northfield Campus Advisors and Interested Others,

This comes to update you on the various activities of the Northfield Campus Initiative and the Northfield Stewardship Committee.

NMH continues to work with Dick Perkins and his colleagues at LandVest; Frank Parker in Boston and Norm Schoenfeld in NY have joined Dick to help expand the audience.  Rick Wood has assumed a greater day-to-day leadership role in the initiative.

To date the school has not received any offers to purchase the campus.  However, we have been in contact with many interested parties and the activity is increasing.  This is consistent with the 3-5 year time frame we were told to expect when marketing efforts began not quite two years ago.  The reactions to the campus have varied.  Some have found the size of the campus to be beyond their means to acquire, fill, and maintain.  Others found the age and remoteness of the property did not fit their needs.  All fell in love with the campus, and many are working hard to develop a program and business plan.

The prospects with whom we have worked most closely have been from the non-profit realm.  Most have explored a model of secondary and/or college education with a mission particular to the individual philosophy, but not much different from a traditional boarding school model.  The Moody legacy also has drawn groups to us; the interest has been Christian education across many age levels and in the form of school, camps, and conference centers.  Other faith-based groups have also emerged.  The leaders of each of these enterprises struggle with developing a plan to use the campus that is within their means.  A particular point of concern and decision comes as they consider a beautiful campus with old buildings compared with newer, more-efficient-to-maintain facilities.

Recent interest has come from leaders of projects with a more international focus.  The use of the campus would become a coordinating center for education and conferences for projects around the world or a specific piece of a multi-faceted educational enterprise.  We also are investigating the potential for a center for collaborative work involving several established entities that are considering expanding their current missions or operations.  Interest in tourism and facilities for research are also in the mix.  This set of uses promises more significant financial capacity.

It is interesting that several prospects, who took a long look a year-and-a-half ago, are now back with new interest and firmer footing.  Also interesting is the list of new inquiries that continues to grow.  There clearly is a word-of-mouth network that reaches potential users in ways that print announcements do not. 

In summer of 2006 the campus was at least half-filled each week with conferences, camps, and other activities.  This academic year there have been several degree-related conferences for students of literature and poetry as well as other retreats.  Several NMH offices with about sixty employees continue to operate at Northfield.  In this second year of light use of the campus, the buildings are wearing well.  The attention the school pays to its stewardship responsibilities resonates well with visitors and prospects.  The current condition of the facilities impresses clients.  Reservations from groups for summer 2007 are very strong.

The NSC has not changed the original criteria the members established for reuse of the campus.  The marketing effort has, however, been expanded to investigate multi-use pairings of projects that cannot fill the entire campus.  Some part of an arrangement of this kind might include commercial enterprises, e.g. tourism.

The History Project, the most active of the NCA committees, has made great progress.  The architectural and landscape histories of the Northfield campus are done, and the Mount Hermon ones are well underway.  A number of oral histories have been completed, and the committee is imagining ways in which to expand this part of the effort to include more voices.  Bonnie Parsons and Lori Tanner of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission have been intent and inspired in their work.  They have our heartfelt thanks.

Becky Kennedy has pulled the committee together each month, and significant planning has been done toward the goal of two publications: a “picture” book with significant text that will showcase the school over the years and a serious academic history in the context of education in America.  This is exciting work that you will hear much more about.  The constant message: the project requires financial resources.  This obviously is not an endeavor that can draw from the needed operating budget of the school.

At the school’s urging, the town of Northfield has compiled a “wish list” of their strongest interests in particular parts of the NMH holdings in Northfield.  This document, which includes a significant proposal for the Mill Brook area just south of the golf course and extending to the Connecticut River, was presented to the trustees in October.  It remains too early to consider parceling out pieces of the outlying properties, but discussion and planning do continues.  Rick Wood and I also have been in conversation with the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust concerning various possibilities for outlying lands. 

You and many other interested parties continue to feed me ideas and tips.  These are very much appreciated and well recorded.  We realize that the ultimate disposition of the campus is of great importance to many individuals and we want to keep everyone informed. Please do not think that "no news is bad news."

Hoping that I have caught your attention and piqued your interest, I now ask you to save Saturday, March 17, 2007, for a full meeting of the Northfield Campus Advisors.  We’ll gather from noon to 3:00 p.m. in MacKinnon Dormitory for a light lunch, presentations, and discussion.  Alumni Hall will be closed for Spring Vacation; I ask that you let me know of your attendance as soon as possible to help me plan the logistics.

Before I close, I want to tell you that NMH on one campus is an exciting and stimulating school.  The energy of the students, the high quality of program and community, and the emerging The Rhodes Arts Center infuse the atmosphere with what we all know as the “NMH Spirit.”  You will recognize this when you visit.

I hope to see you all in the “nearly” spring.

Best wishes,
Carol

Carol Durbin Lebo
Director, Northfield Campus Initiative
Northfield Mount Hermon School

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