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News and Events : News 04-05
Press Release
April 13, 2005
NMH Launches New Initiative Seeking Alternative Uses for Its
Historic 300- Acre Northfield Campus
NORTHFIELD, Mass.—The Northfield Mount Hermon School Board of
Trustees recently approved the launch of a next-phase initiative
to find an educational enterprise for its Northfield campus. The
school, in collaboration with real estate consultants Bidwell
Advisors of Northampton and LandVest of Boston, is reaching out
to a broad range of potential users. A full-color brochure will
be mailed to heads of school, college presidents, and
educational organizations in New England and New York, as well
as groups that previously expressed interest in the campus. In
addition, NMH is sending an update on this initiative to its
25,000 alumni and friends, and residents of Northfield, Gill,
and Bernardston. The board of trustees has
been considering options for the 300-acre historic Northfield
campus since its January 2004 decision to become a smaller
school on one campus. A year of extensive research and
investigation confirmed that one of the best uses of the
Northfield campus would be for a single educational purpose.
Lease, joint venture, or sale of the property will be
considered. The school has built maintenance costs for
Northfield facilities into its budget to provide time to find
the right user. It will consider interim uses for some buildings
while seeking a new long-term user for the campus. Every effort
will be made to keep the property intact and to preserve the
legacy buildings associated with school founder D. L. Moody.
President Richard W. Mueller, who came to
NMH seven years ago as head of school, said, “We will continue
to work closely with the town of Northfield and our friends in
the Pioneer Valley with whom we have longstanding, excellent
relationships. The availability of the Northfield campus for
alternative use provides a unique opportunity for the region.
We appreciate the strong interest in the appropriate future use
of the campus and the surrounding properties owned by the
school.”
To serve its mission best, the NMH board of
trustees decided in January 2004 to reduce the size of the
student body and operate on one campus. In September 2005, 725
boarding and day students will attend NMH on its Mount Hermon
campus in Gill.
“These are exciting times for Northfield
Mount Hermon School,” said Head of School Thomas K. Sturtevant.
“As we move to one campus, we will be a closer, more intimate
community better able to serve our students. We will continue to
build on our academic strengths and our founder D. L. Moody’s
vision as we begin a new chapter in the history of NMH.”
Northfield Mount Hermon School began as two
schools—the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies, founded in
1879, and the Mount Hermon School for Boys, which opened two
years later. The schools, both founded by the well known
Christian evangelist Dwight L. Moody, merged in 1971 to become
one coeducational school operating on two campuses.
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