St. Mary's still an option for NWACC
Posted on Sunday, October 12, 2008
BENTONVILLE - One of the future tenants of the old St. Mary's Hospital in Rogers could still be the Northwest Arkansas Community College, according to an NWACC committee discussion Thursday.
NWACC's Land Use and Facilities Committee discussed the plans, including which programs might be moved to the old hospital, which has been vacant since March.
On Monday, Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas announced the donation of the former 13-acre St. Mary's Hospital campus by the Sisters of Mercy to the Jones Trust of Springdale. The campus includes the former main hospital building, the former convent and five out-parcels, totaling nearly 300, 000 square feet along South 13 th and West Poplar streets in downtown Rogers. The plan is that the Jones Trust will use the facility to create a center for nonprofit organizations. According to a press release issued Monday, there are several entities that are interested in becoming partners in the endeavor, but no other specific organizations were named.
NWACC representatives have been in discussions with the Jones Trust and Mercy Health about becoming one of the tenants. There are many details to work out, including renovation costs, who would provide auxiliary services such as custodians and security and which programs would best fit in the new center.
Steve Gates, NWACC vice president for institutional advancement, has been the primary person from the college working with Mercy and the Jones Trust regarding the agreement.
The current plan calls for both the culinary arts and hospitality programs to move into the building. Both programs are housed at the Regional Technology Center in Fayetteville, which NWACC will vacate later this year. The two programs would use an estimated 18, 000 square feet. There have also been discussions about placing the new Child Protection Training Center and the early-childhood education department in the facility, which would require an additional 12, 000 square feet. The latter two programs would require separate negotiations because they involve other entities outside NWACC, Gates said.
There had also been discussions about moving the entire allied health department to the old hospital, but that move now seems unlikely because the college, through the NWACC Foundation, is in the process of purchasing the buildings that currently house the Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute and Highlands Oncology.
NWACC President Becky Paneitz said the foundation has plans to close on the building by the end of 2008 but that the entities would continue to use the buildings through 2009. The organizations would pay NWACC rent to continue using the buildings, she said.
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