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Mount Carmel Visioning: |
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Deconstruction is a cost effective, environmentally friendly process of selective dismantling and removal of materials from buildings before or instead of demolition. Deconstruction salvages the most readily available components and extracts additional materials such as flooring and structural timbers. Items removed through deconstruction can be reused or sold, normally by a contractor selected to perform the deconstruction.
During the land exploration in May, one of the specialists from the Swiss Valley Nature Preserve identified a prairie flower that is on the federally endangered species list on the Mount Carmel land. The Jeweled Shooting Star was discovered on one of the promontories on the bluff facing south overlooking the Mines of Spain. Check the web at <www.photomigrations.com/
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Vision: the power of anticipating that which may come to be—foresight. In 2002, the officers of the BVM congregation initiated the Mount Carmel Visioning project, a move which engaged all BVMs in taking a long view of the physical and property needs of the congregation, particularly the land and buildings in Dubuque . Early this summer the first recommendations of a ten year plan were presented to the congregation members and approved. The will begin to be implemented within the year. The Visioning process was necessitated by congregational demographics — the declining numbers of sisters, the increasing needs of the old and infirm, fewer active sisters — and the responsibility for making wise financial decisions as the buildings need major repairs and improvements. The Visioning Committee engaged the congregation members in a carefully designed process and consulted architects, contractors and engineers throughout. What became clear to the committee along the way was, as they wrote, the “devotion of the sisters to the heritage and legacy of the Motherhouse…and the desire to honor the most recent planning, including the construction of Caritas Center and the renovation of Philomena Hall,” the newest buildings on the Mount Carmel campus devoted to skilled care and assisted living. The first of several recommendations has to do with the renovation of the Mount Carmel Motherhouse. Built in 1892, the building is solidly constructed and has been well maintained. However, it is in need of significant renovation. A new geo-thermal (heat, air-conditioning, ventilation) system will be installed, as well as a new sprinkler system and upgraded fire alarm system. Additional bathrooms will be constructed on the second and third floors (residential floors). In addition, the north wing of the Motherhouse, “the professed wing,” will be deconstructed. This is primarily a residential wing with some peculiarities of architecture which make it undesirable for further renovation. The annexes, an early add-on construction which housed most of the bathrooms in the building, will also be deconstructed. During this time of major renovation, all those occupying the Motherhouse, over 90 residents and office personnel, will be relocated to other places either on the Mount Carmel campus itself, or alternate locations, primarily in the Dubuque area. The other congregations in Dubuque have offered some of their available space. The projected time frame for the renovation is one year, beginning in early spring 2006. Other areas identified for deconstruction as demographics demand are the areas behind the Motherhouse chapel now used for residences. The Roberta Kuhn Center (the barn) will be closed between 2008-2009 and the programs the Center housed will be moved to the Motherhouse. When necessary (12-20 years), the north wing of Marian Hall will be deconstructed. Land Committee Researches Options It became clear to the Mount Carmel Visioning Committee in reading the hundreds of suggestions from BVMs about the future use of the Mount Carmel buildings and land that it would be wise to create a parallel committee to look at the future of the land. The purpose of the Land Committee is to study the options on disposition of the Mount Carmel property, including the cemetery, over the next several years, to dialog with the Sisters about desirable options and to make recommendations. At the first meeting of the nine-member committee in December 2004, the group set as its mission to know the Mount Carmel land deeply and work to preserve its precious heritage. Specifically, the group will
The Mount Carmel land of approximately 110 acres is situated on wooded bluffs above the Mississippi River and includes heavily wooded areas with steep ravines in addition to the cultivated tracts surrounding the buildings. Aged oaks and tall pines dominate the forested landscape next to areas that once were, certainly, prairie. Deer, wild turkey, an occasional fox and bald eagles are at home on the land. It was not surprising to any BVM that in the early stages of the Visioning process the most mentioned places with which most BVMs felt a real connection were land sites. The Land Committee is in its early stages of its research, becoming familiar with the principles of land conservancy, land trusts, land audits, bluff preservation. Last May, the committee walked the land with a specialist from Swiss Valley Nature Preserve on plantings native to the Dubuque area. At its third meeting in November the committee will spend a day with a specialist in land sustainability. As decisions are being made which will affect BVM life over the next 20 years, the Visioning Committee, sensitive to the emotional quality of many of the proposed changes, sent this prayer as part of a ritual of affirmation: “Mary, Mother of Mount Carmel, all BVMs, past and present, call on you to bless and protect our “dear Mount Carmel home.” May the changes that will be made be life-giving and may this blessed place be our home for as long as we will need it. Protect all those who will be involved in the construction and bring those sisters who must leave for awhile safely home. We ask this in the name of your dear Son, Jesus. Amen.”
“The Mount Carmel property of 110 acres was situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi , giving a panoramic view of Illinois and Wisconsin at their juncture. The owner of 91 of those acres, Henry L. Stout, a wealthy lumberman and fancier of fine horses, used the property for grazing purposes. “The purchase was effected in 1889 for $15,000. An additional 19 acres purchased from the Vincentian Fathers of St. Louis for $5,000 brought the limits of the property to the end of Grandview Avenue …. “It was to be a stately structure, with a frontage of 250 feet, a wing 220 feet long on the south for the chapel and novice quarters and one on the north, four stories high, referred to as ‘the professed wing' to extend 245 feet. “Limestone quarried on the grounds and faced with Bedford stone, gave a solid foundation, seven feet thick at its base…. Interior partitions fifteen inches thick and of solid brick were to be finished with plaster. “All flooring, even that on the ground level, to be of hard maple, and with all other woodwork in solid oak, it was built to last.” Coogan, Jane. The Price of Our Heritage, Vol 2 1869-1920, Mount Carmel Press, 1978, pp 226-7. About the author: Mary Pat Haley, BVM ( St. Thomas ) is professor emerita of Loyola University , Chicago ; she is currently researching religious congregations' adaptive uses of their buildings and land. Return
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