15-02-2025
‘Old and new coming together': Former home of Dominican Sisters becomes senior housing
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — What was once the home of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids has taken on a new life: senior housing. Among the first residents of Academy Manor is a sister who has known the building for decades.
Sister Kateri Schrems has been a Dominican sister for more than 60 years. She told News 8 that the sisters taught at her school in Saginaw and had a strong influence on her life.
'(The sisters) gave a scholarship to Aquinas for one graduating senior,' she said. 'And that's how I got the tuition to go to college at Aquinas.'
In 1958, her sophomore year of college, she entered the congregation. Near the beginning of her time as a sister, Schrems spent a year living in the Marywood Motherhouse — the massive neoclassical building at Fulton Street and Lakeside Drive near Aquinas College that was the home of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids for about a century. The Motherhouse hosted events, welcomed visitors and housed many of the sisters.
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'I have memories of doing a lot of things in a group and in a community,' Schrems said of that early year living in the Motherhouse. The sisters prayed together, ate meals as a community and worked to keep the building clean.
Schrems didn't stay in Grand Rapids for the next 60 years. She told News 8 that she moved around quite a bit over the years, working as a teacher and school principal.
In 2013, she returned to Grand Rapids. Two years after that, she moved back into the Motherhouse.
'I've been in the community 60-some years in Grand Rapids,' Schrems explained. 'It's time to be where I have been involved for most of my life, almost all of my life.'
But , the sisters decided in 2020 to sell their longtime Motherhouse and move elsewhere. PK Companies and Third Coast Development would transform the historic Motherhouse into a mixture of affordable and market-rate senior housing.
'It was a very big effort between the sisters and the company to try and just hold their heritage and their morals and values to a T,' said Kristen Guel, director of marketing for PK Housing. 'And so it was very important to them to partner with somebody who was going to use the space for what we're using it for, which is low-income housing for seniors that need it.'
'There's such a cry for affordable housing these days in general,' Schrems said. 'And the building needed a good overhaul of the infrastructure for anybody to continue living in it. We could have continued, but we would have been piecemealing the changes and the repairs and the structures in order to accommodate the needs of older citizens.'
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Schrems told News 8 that she and the other sisters moved out of the Motherhouse in 2022 so that construction could begin. She moved into a small apartment building in the Grand Rapids area.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Sisters chose a new Motherhouse: the former Marywood Health Center, which is just across the street from the old Motherhouse.
In October 2024, the first few residents moved into the new 55+ apartment community known as . It includes 109 units, about half affordable and half market-rate. Some are studio apartments; others are one- or two-bedrooms.
'We actually are about halfway filled,' Guel said. The goal is to be completely full by April or May.
Among the first residents was Schrems, who moved into Academy Manor in December. Though her previous apartment was 'a very nice place,' she told News 8 she wanted 'to be on the grounds and to be near the Motherhouse.'
'If I just looked at comfort at my age, I'd still be (in the previous apartment). Because it's no fun moving, and it doesn't get easier as one gets older — at least that's my experience,' Schrems said. 'But I have no regrets about doing it because of the light that I have in the windows. I have south windows and west windows and glorious sunsets, but I can also almost see a full sunrise. And I have trees. It's a glorious, glorious view.'
Guel told News 8 that developers kept several elements of the former Motherhouse, like much of the exterior, the chapel and the terrazzo flooring.
'That's just really cool because you can see all the hand-laid tile accents,' she said. 'It's a really cool piece of history.'
People who are familiar with the Dominican Sisters' campus have been appreciative, according to Guel.
'It's been a really interesting time taking people around and showing them what we've turned it into. They really enjoy it,' she said. 'And then we get to hear all of their stories from their time there as well, which is just a really neat thing. Because you get to hear the old and the new coming together, and it elicits a lot of emotions from people.'
They're even working on a 'legacy room' that will incorporate memorabilia from the sisters, Guel said.
Schrems lives in the west wing of the U-shaped building, in what was once the library for an on-site school. She says she feels very comfortable there.
'Even though I didn't live here many years and I didn't teach here, I have come here for 60-some years to events and worship,' she said. 'It's our home.'
When she walks the halls, it's a trip down memory lane. She recalled one hall that was known as De Profundis Hall, which translates to 'out of the depths.'
'Right now, there's just one apartment there. I don't think anyone's living there yet,' Schrems said. 'And that's where we always stopped and prayed a certain prayer in memory of all the deceased people in our lives.'
The sister is pleased that she can share some of the building's history with its new residents.
'It's kind of nice to have been among the earlier ones that moved in,' she said. 'And just now catching up with people as they move in, sharing a little bit of background.'
Schrems said though there's still some work going on within Academy Manor, she's looking forward to the future.
'I'm just eager for it to become everything it can be to serve the people who end up having housing here,' she said. 'It'll be good when it is full.'
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