MONROE, MI — Plans for the 93-year-old, five-story former St. Mary Academy were unveiled to the public during a community forum Sunday, June 29.
The 26,000-square-foot Monroe building has been vacant for more than 20 years. Plans include 100 apartments, a 1,001-seat auditorium, an event center and retail businesses.
Developer and builder Keith Masserant of Newport is half-way through a two-year due diligence period before purchasing the property from Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He spoke outdoors to about 150 people on academy property Sunday afternoon.
Accompanying Masserant were his sister Patsy Masserant, a 1984 SMA graduate who leads community development and fundraising for the project, and Mark Cochran, assistant city manager and director of economic and community development for the city. Also attending were Monroe Mayor Robert Clark and many members of the SMA Alumni Association.
Masserant envisions residential apartments on the top three floors.
“100 some units for families,” Masserant said.
“There are housing challenges in Monroe. There is a lot of funding from the state to address housing needs,” Cochran said. “The future of this campus contributes to the state of Michigan’s growth.”
The city is working with organizations such as the Michigan Municipal League, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Michigan Environmental Development Corporation and the Community Foundation of Monroe County on the housing project.
“Architect Quinn (Evans), who designed Michigan Central Station, is working on the project,” Cochran said.
The lower two stories of the former SMA will house offices and commercial businesses, including a barber shop/salon, a fine dining restaurant, spa, coffee shop and boutiques.
“Daycare is needed in Monroe County. We want a section for secure and safe daycare. The (Monroe Family) YMCA is maxed out and wants to expand and partner with me,” Masserant said.
There also will be event venues in the building.
“It has six ballrooms. We will keep three for meetings, fundraisers and weddings. The chapel inside, we will restore to the original configuration,” Masserant said. “The auditorium, we will keep open. I want to see arts, meetings, movie nights, ballet. It’s the largest auditorium in Monroe County. It had 999 seats. I put in two more, for 1,001. The marble steps, everyone knows about them, and the chapel will be under Alumni Association ownership to maintain. This is the jewel of Monroe. We want to make sure we do this right and bring in the right people.”
Sister Maxine Kollasch is president of the IHM Sisters, which currently owns SMA. The Motherhouse and the rest of the Elm Avenue campus is owned by St. Therese, based in Minnesota.
“Thank you for showing your interest and concern for this place,” Kollasch told the audience at the community forum. “It is an exciting time. Nov. 10 is the 180th anniversary of the IHM Sisters. In 2002, during the renovation of the Motherhouse, the sisters moved in here (SMA). Since then, the academy has been closed, but hope always stayed open. It was a hope that everyone carried together, hope of resurrection.”
Masserant has a long association with the former SMA.
“I’ve been a farmer my whole life. I don’t know why God chose me,” said Masserant, a 1988 graduate of Monroe Catholic Central High School. He was part of the last Catholic Central class before the school merged with St. Mary Academy to former today’s St. Mary Catholic Central High School.
“We walked over here for science, English, history. This building means a lot to me. My sisters graduated from here,” Masserant said. “I knew what this building has to offer. It was an opportunity hidden for all these years. It will take an entire village to make this happen. Having all of you here today really inspires me.”
A year of studies and planning
Since signing the option to purchase agreement with the IHM Sisters last July, Masserant has spent a year on engineering and planning.
“The prints were outdated. We reengineered the entire building, every square inch. We did an environmental study. All the fibers are horsehair, not asbestos. Horsehair makes the plaster strong. Plaster’s kind of weak and breaks easily. Not having the asbestos really made this thing a lot easier to work with,” Masserant said. “There’s lead paint in there, but it’s not too bad. The sisters built a 500-year-building. That passion is what we’re trying to carrying on for the next 100 years.”
Michele Lipinski Matuszewski, 82, was among the attendees at the forum. She traveled from Westland to hear the presentation.
She first came to SMA in September of 1951. She was 8 years old and was a boarding student.
“My father was a police officer who died in the line of duty. My mother wanted my sister (Laurentine Lipiski Gates) and I to have this wonderful opportunity,” Matuszewski said.
Matuszewski met a lifelong friend at SMA and has many memories of the building. She’s excited about the project.
“I’ve kept in touch with the sisters and Kathy Miller from the Alumni Association,” she said after the presentation. “There’s not a room in that building I can’t tell you a story about. I spent hours roller skating in the gym. I spent hours on the ice pond. I had tap and ballet lessons there.”
Several in the audience thanked Masserant for redeveloping the property.
“I couldn’t imagine this building being demolished. That’s why I stood up,” Masserant said. “We have a whole village with us. So many people have stepped forward. It’s been very humbling.”
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: ‘This is the jewel of Monroe’: Keith Masserant shares plans for former St. Mary Academy
Reporting by Suzanne Nolan Wisler, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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