BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese Seeks to Lease Nome Area Mission By Mary Beth Smetzer News-Miner January 19, 2009 http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jan/19/diocese-seeks-lease-nome-area-mission/ FAIRBANKS - From the age of 3 to until he was 12 years old, Robert E. Lee lived, worked and was educated at Our Lady of Lourdes Mission at Pilgrim Hot Springs, an isolated oasis located in the midst of treeless tundra, 60 miles north of Nome. "That's my favorite spot on earth," said Lee, 80, who now resides in Delta Junction. Lee and others who lived at the mission and were cared for by Ursuline nuns and Jesuit priests and brothers, are carefully watching what the future holds for their childhood home. The site, all 320 acres of it, is part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization of the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese. Today, the hot springs property is being brokered as part of the diocese's bankruptcy reorganization. In March, the diocese filed for bankruptcy to settle multiple child sexual abuse lawsuits. With abuse claimants now nearing the 300 mark, and a long list of creditors, the diocese is obligated to file a plan of reorganization that will repay its claimants and creditors on a fair and equitable basis. The diocese doesn't plan to sell the property, said George Bowder, diocesan director of finance. "We have been advised by counsel that we will be going through lease sale option." The diocese recently regained control of the hot springs. In early December, the bankruptcy court rescinded a 99-year lease made in 1969 with Pilgrim Hot Springs Ltd., represented by Arthur Neumann of Washington D.C. According to Bowder, the diocese had negotiated with the Pilgrim Hot Springs Ltd. several times previously in an effort to regain control of the land, claiming the group hadn't lived up to the lease agreement which included developing the property's geothermal, agricultural and tourism potentials, and historical preservation. Neuman didn't contest the lease demise in court, but has since filed a substantial claim as a creditor against the diocese. Requests for lease proposals on how to develop the property will kick off in Nome with a public meeting on Feb. 2, time and place to be announced, said Tom Buzek, diocese finance administrator. Proposal packets will be available after that date at the diocese's office as well. Proposals will be accepted through April 29. Originally, Pilgrim Hot Springs was known as Kruzgamepa Hot Springs. It was homesteaded by Henry Beckus, at the turn of the 20th century at the time of the gold rush on the Seward Peninsula, and catered to miners. Back then, it featured a a roadhouse, saloon, dance hall and spa baths. The roadhouse and saloon burned down in 1908, and in 1917, the James Halpin family bought it and deeded it to the Catholic church. Shortly afterward, it was developed into an orphanage and boarding school by a Jesuit missionary, the Rev. Bellarmine Lafortune, to care for the many children left without parents after the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. The mission closed in the early 1940s. "It's a beautiful, beautiful spot," said Lee, who easily remembers the orphanage director's name, Mother Superior Mary Louise, during his time there, as well "the little Italian nun" who ruled the kitchen, Sister Thecla, and the names of many priests and brothers who worked there. Lee also recalls the daily routines of cutting wood with a Swede saw, bathing in the big bathhouse every Saturday, transplanting plants from the hot springs-heated greenhouse to the fields each summer and harvesting heaps of vegetables in the fall. For Lee and his three siblings, Marion, Nina and Conrad, the mission was home for many years after their mother Mary Willook Lee died after giving birth to her fourth child. Their father, Pete Lee, a miner at Candle, paid the mission $700 a year for their care, Lee said. The U.S. Army housed troops at the site during the Second World War and built an airstrip. During the 1950s and 1960s, various agricultural projects were attempted. Some weathered buildings remain including the mission school, dormitory, church and an elevated pool. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and features a small forest of birch and cottonwood trees in an otherwise treeless landscape. Today, access is by charter air service from Nome or via an 8-mile gravel road that joins the Nome-Taylor Road at Cottonwood. Diocesan administrators foresee developing the property in phases and are working together with the University of Alaska Fairbanks on a grant to explore the source of the hot springs and long-term geothermal potential. According to Buzek, if the university is awarded the grant, the research will be done this summer. "So much hinges on where the geothermal zone is located," Buzek said. Another consideration in developing the property, Buzek noted, is being sensitive to the survivors and the descendants of the people who lived and worked the property when it was an orphanage. "We are looking for whatever commercial development that will have minimum impact," Buzek said. Because of high energy costs, the geothermal potential of the property is paramount and would be especially beneficial to surrounding communities on the Seward Peninsula. But it is not the only area of potential. Tourism, agriculture and historical preservation are some others. "This is going to be an exciting ride," said Bowder, "Not only for what it can do for the diocese in the long term, but what it can do for and enhance the quality of life for the people of the Seward Peninsula. "We see this as a challenge, to seek opportunity for people have been harmed in the past and to seek ways to give them, as well as others, a better life. What a blessing. What a blessing." Contact staff writer Mary Beth Smetzer at 459-7546.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.