The Sinsinawa Mound Saga #1
Witness to a Motherhouse Transformation
[FYI, I’ll pick-up the Vocation Story again soon….]
My ministry for the past three years has been working with my Congregation to navigate major, existential transitions. Of our membership, approximately 25 sisters pass away annually. When I entered in 2014 there were 450 sisters, now there are fewer than 250. The median age is 83 years. The majority of the sisters moved across the state in 2023 for access to the levels of care needed. Our motherhouse campus in southwest Wisconsin has been home to the Sinsinawa Dominicans for 175 years. Historically, it has been the place for sisters to gather, to retire, and ultimately, our cemetery. It was an extremely difficult decision and leadership made a commitment to “keep a presence” in the area into the future.
We are talking about more than 400,000 s.f. of facilities, some of which are built into a geologic mound formation in the middle of rural Midwest communities and agricultural fields. As a professional planner, and as a newer member in the community, I’ve witnessed the courage and grit of my Sisters and tried to contribute what I could to graceful endings and hopeful rebirth. I wrote this reflection piece 3 years ago this week as I stepped into this new adventure. Below is a timeline of our efforts to-date…
May 6, 2022
I wanted to give a quick update about new developments related to the future of the Mound.
In less than a year, approximately 100 of our sisters who are currently living at the Mound as their place of retirement will be moving to a new retirement complex in Milwaukee. This decision was the culmination of years of discernment, financial analysis, market studies and consultation on the part of our leadership. As beloved as the Mound is to us—it’s been our home forever—the key consideration is to ensure proper, sustainable levels of care for our sisters as they require increased levels of health and support services. However, the Congregation plans to maintain a presence here into the future by downsizing our footprint on campus and renovating the smaller so-called “vintage” buildings (est. 1846 and 1899).
This week Sinsinawa leadership also approved hiring a real estate broker to market the Mound facilities that we no longer have a use for. By aggressively marketing the Mound this summer, they believe we can expect some clarity by fall around prospects with the interest and resources to take on the buildings we no longer want. We are excited to see what possibilities might emerge from this.
If these efforts to find a new owner are unsuccessful, we are faced with millions of dollars in deconstruction costs to take down 300,000 s.f. of the more modern buildings. That would mean that this beautiful, behemoth complex will have been constructed AND deconstructed during the span of one person’s lifetime. Many of the sisters still remember when it was being built in 1962 and ‘63.
Prayers for a fruitful outcome are welcomed!
June 23, 2022
Thanks for your interest and/or support with recent developments related to Sinsinawa Mound in Southwest Wisconsin. Our Congregation is working with a real estate brokerage team to actively market several of the buildings at the Mound. The goal of this national search is to find a mission-aligned party (or parties) with the interest and the resources to take ownership and make use of over 300,000 square feet of multi-use facility space. We are open to creative arrangements and are not looking to profit from any transfer of ownership. You can see our press statement here, which links to the listing and delves into this strategy in the context of long-term planning for the Mound’s future.
We trust in the possibility of a rebirth at the Mound that could carry forward mission and/or breathe new life into the tri-state area, where there are many unmet needs. Sinsinawa Dominicans have identified and explored several promising and well-poised possibilities related to agricultural work/training, addiction recovery, vocational/workforce development, immigrant/refugee housing, and events/performance spaces. While we don’t have the capacity to lead such initiatives, we have relationships with interested local and regional partners and would enthusiastically support them.
July 17, 2022
We continue working with the team of realtors to push-out the opportunity and field interest from mission-aligned parties. I wanted to share a few developments along those lines:
The 5 minute video below gives a flavor of the history, scale, configuration and location of the campus. It’s quite inspiring.
This morning’s Wisconsin State Journal featured a story about the Mound and our current efforts to find new owners for our facilities.
Visions for the Mound’s future that really excite the sisters are: 1) Regenerative Farming Training Center, 2) Mental Health & Recovery Facility, and 3) A Place for Welcoming & Supporting Refugees/Asylees.
Please feel free to share any of these resources with parties or networks you think might have interest in this opportunity. This search is on an aggressive timeline and we are leaning heavily on the work of the Spirit.