Local Catholic academy looking to move into Portage Manor property

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A public meeting was held Tues. evening at the German Township Library by a South Bend Catholic Classical School, St. Thomas More Academy (STMA), and ecological expert Steve Sass to share possible plans for turning the Portage Manor property into a school and civil habitat.

“…gave a presentation on a plan to save and restore Portage Manor. Talking about what to do with the manor itself from the school’s perspective and then for the surrounding land, Steve gave a presentation on how to cultivate the land and restore it back to its native history,” said Head of School for St. Thomas More Academy, Kevin Powers.

After being built in 1906, the manor was transitioned into a mental health and disability facility in the 1980s, before it was shut down by a St. Joseph County Council vote due to high operating costs in the summer of 2023, with the residents there being rehoused.

That history was a major point of concern for several of the residents at the meeting. Powers said he hopes to shine a light on that past if they were to obtain the building.

“Portage Manor has a rich history, over 100 years it’s been in the community and for us, we want to value that and we want to hear from people because we know it’s such a great landmark… obviously a lot of emotion from when Portage Manor closed a few years ago. From our school's perspective if we had that space… we’d love to honor the residents. If there’s any still in the area, bring them back for events, but finding a way to honor that legacy. One thing we talked about a lot tonight is we’re not looking to downplay what Portage Manor was, we want to highlight it, we want to be stewards of its rich history,” said Powers.

Powers said the academy is looking at obtaining the manor itself with some possible land around it, but hopes the remaining more than 120 acres could be a civic habitat that’s open to the public with plans to restore the native environment with the help of Steve Sass, an ecological expert who recently completed an in-depth ecological study on Portage Manor.

“I’m not affiliated with the church, I’m here to help, and I hope we can consider at least doing some restoration with portions of this property. Ideally, the more of it, the better certainly, but… it’s going to take a long time. Things are going to have to be done in phases, we’re going to have to identify certain areas that have the largest demands, we’re gonna have to figure out what it takes to do them, how to get the money to do it whether it be via grants of fundraising,” said Sass.

Based on what they know with research and conversations, Powers said STMA plans to invest 5 to 7 million dollars initially to bring the building into compliance for an educational environment.

He explained this wouldn’t include major renovations for the manor, saying the school likes the layout that exists. Rather, they expect to do some smaller remediations to places like the boiler room, basic renovations on the third floor, and other safety compliance fixes to operate a school.

Later down the line they want to add in some school attractions like a field but said they would work hand in hand with Sass to preserve the land.

Powers said STMA is currently split between three campuses in downtown South Bend and projects to have 400 students within the next few years. He said their attraction to Portage Manor is for a few reasons.

“We are looking to create a long-term unified campus to better serve our students and better meet the enrollment demands. Portage manor is an exciting opportunity for our school, and we believe this would be an excellent benefit for South Bend and St. Joe County… our students study the classics… we thought what better way to integrate our curriculum than to use a building in the same style as one of the major time periods we study,” said Powers.

Despite some rumors swirling the community, Powers said there has been no offer made to the academy or to Sass at this point.

“We’ve talked with various officials, they know that we’re interested, they know that we’d like to move as soon as they are able to put an offer to us, but there is no offer for one dollar. If there was, I’d sign it right now, you know give me that paper, but no. We’re very excited about it, we’re committed if we get this space to invest in it and be open to the community, but no, there’s been no back-room deals. We had a public meeting, we’ve been talking with lots of people, we got feedback tonight, we want to be good members of the community and that means open and honest communication,” said Powers.

Powers said it’s now up to the county to decide what’s next. The Saint Joseph County Commissioners can be contacted with questions or email Powers at [email protected].