The School Sisters of Notre Dame recently announced they are making progress on the sale of the buildings that housed the Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore, while also emphasizing their mission to continue to minister to the neighborhood surrounding the Aisquith Street property.
Caroline Center, an SSND-sponsored ministry, will continue to operate out of IND’s convent building and serve as a workforce training place for women with the goal of developing the rest of the property into senior housing.
Since the school’s closing in 2020, the IND board of trustees and the School Sisters of Notre Dame, with the assistance of real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield, have been searching for buyers.
The school sisters said in a media release that they are looking for someone “who would preserve and respect the history of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, allow the Caroline Center to remain and to restore IND to a structure that would be beneficial to the surrounding community.”
Sister Charmaine Krohe, provincial leader for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, said in the media release that buyers have been identified who would turn the facilities into affordable housing for those 62 and older.
“We believe we have identified such buyers,” Sister Charmaine said. “The School Sisters of Notre Dame are currently working with a development team comprised of Severn Development Company and CAM Management, which has been developing plans to convert the existing IND building into 126 affordable housing units for seniors.”
The team is progressing and securing necessary approvals and financing, the SSND said in the release. The plans have undergone several reviews by the Maryland Historical Trust and the National Parks Service, for compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for historic rehabilitations.
“Severn Development and CAM Management collectively specializes in both affordable housing construction and historic tax credits,” said developers Grant Searfoss and Angelo Munafo in the release, “and this project would blend both government programs to facilitate an economically viable project, ensuring the IND building will stand strong and well-taken-care-of for decades to come.”
Developers hope the more than $35 million investment will preserve IND’s stature as an anchor of the East Baltimore community, restoring its original tin, wood floors and decorative trim, and bring the facility up to meet 21st century building codes and ceilings with all new mechanical and sprinkler systems.
Founded in 1847 by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, IND closed after 173 years due to what the sisters described as “COVID-19, declining enrollment, the economy and an aging school building in need of much renovation and repair.”
“IND was a school which not only inspired students to pursue academic excellence and spiritual growth, but also the practice of justice,” said Sister Charmaine.
The IND Alumnae Association, now housed at Notre Dame of Maryland University, has continued service in the local East Baltimore community and provided scholarships to IND students who sought to attend other Catholic high schools in the greater Baltimore area. They now support students in girls’ Catholic high schools with annual grants.
IND counts among its graduates former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulksi and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
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