WINONA, Minn. – Winona State is reviewing several offers to buy its former West Campus, which includes Lourdes Hall, the once grand centerpiece of the old College of St. Teresa, and two abandoned dorms. University spokesperson Andrea Northam confirmed the offers were in hand but declined details. It is known that the offers are being reviewed by the real estate office at the Minnesota State colleges system headquarters in St. Paul. Winona State invited offers in October after governmental entities had first dibs but none were interested.
Earlier: Shrinking college enrollments: Students vanishing
Classy dining room. When Lourdes Hall was the lively heartbeat of the St. Teresa women’s college. Now abandoned and for sale by Winona State, as arethe Maria dorm and he Tau Center, a dorm and money-losing conference center.
Wobbly concept turns wobblier
The university acquired the three structures in 2000 in a brainchild initiative that President Darrell Krueger called the Residential College, but the concept was muddy and the buildings became just a few auxiliary dorms, albeit old and uninviting to a new generation of students and also an inconvenient 1-1/2 miles from the main campus. The term “residential college” was slowly abandoned under Krueger’s successor, Judith Ramaley, and became the more mundane “west campus.” Last summer the current Winona State president, Scott Olson, decided to shut it down. Olson’s hope was to save expenses and raise funds to offset financial losses resulting from major enrollment declines.