WHEELING -- Sister Joanne Gonter, VHM. announced today that Wheeling Hospital is acquiring the Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy property in Wheeling. The three remaining Sisters of the Visitation are leaving Wheeling on Saturday, she said.
Speaking at the Ohio County Public Library's Lunch With Books program at noon today, Gonter confirmed speculation that Wheeling Hospital would become the new owners of the Mount property.
Citing the rumors regarding Wheeling Hospital's acquisition of the Mount property, Gonter said, "That is going to go forward." She said "that (the hospital) is the only group that has shown interest," in buying the property.
"Wheeling Hospital will take over security this Saturday," Gonter added.
Gonter also said she thinks that demolishing the historic Mount building is inevitable because it would cost "tens of millions" of dollars to restore the structure.
"Eventually the building will have to come down. I hate to say that. It is a fact," Gonter told the library's large audience. "I have lived with that reality for a number of years."
She added, "We tried. If that building goes down, I want you to remember we tried.
- as published by LINDA COMINS Life Editor at The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register
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The Wheeling College campus was carved out of the Mount de Chantal estate back in the 1950s. If Wheeling Jesuit and/or the Diocese had the funds, they could purchase this beautiful property, continue its use for educational purposes, and guarantee expansion space for WJU indefinitely into the future. Alas, it is not to be. Mount de Chantal stands on 36 acres, a proud and picturesque 140-year-old school building now crumbling into brick dust, and a small, peaceful cemetery where generations of devoted Visitation nuns lay at final rest, mission accompished. The Mount could not survive into a new century when there are no religious vocations, so few girls from well-to-do Wheeling families seeking an exclusive education, the Linsly school poaching the few prospects who remain, and the economy of the Ohio Valley sinking slowly into ruin. Farewell, Mount de Chantal, and let us pray that your neighbor, Wheeling Jesuit, is not destined for the same fate!
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ReplyDeleteMount de Chantal Visitation Academy
Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling, founded in 1848, was a college preparatory school for girls and boys from Montessori through the fourth grade and girls only through the 12th. The institution was established by Richard V. Whelan, first bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling, who invited eight Visitation Sisters from Baltimore to open a school for girls, the Wheeling Female Academy. The school was first located at 14th and Eoff streets but in 1865 moved to a new building on the former Steenrod farm three miles outside the city. It was named Mount de Chantal after Saint Jane de Chantal, co-founder of the Visitation Order. Architecturally, the Mount de Chantal building is a good example of eclecticism with ‘‘Mission’’ style features. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. A boarding school until 1982, the Mount was known for its strong academic and fine arts programs. Declining enrollment and financial support led to the school’s closing. Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy graduated its last class on May 31, 2008, after 160 years of operation. Wheeling Hospital purchased Mount de Chantal in 2011 and demolished the building.
This Article was written by Margaret Brennan
Last Revised on October 20, 2010
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