Midnight in Issaquah: The Struggle to Save Providence Heights

By Frances Pope

Providence Heights Campus in Issaquah, Washington, was designed in the 1950’s as state-of-the-art modern gothic architecture and completed by the Sisters of Providence in 1961.
The purpose of the campus was to give equal opportunity to women religious on an equal basis to the men of the Catholic Church. Providence Heights was only one of two for that purpose in the United States. Times were changing in the Catholic Church during the 1960’s and by 1969 the original purpose of Providence Heights as an educational opportunity for women became untenable. The campus was sold to Lutheran Bible Institute and eventually to The City Church.
In 2016 the property was listed as endangered by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
Local and regional groups fought hard to preserve the campus. Preserve Providence Heights was the last. This is their story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669863137

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Copyright © 2023 by Frances Pope.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 01/26/2023

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CONTENTS

Preserving Providence Heights: Introduction

Providence Heights History

Efforts Mount to Save Providence Heights

New Efforts emerge from Providence Point Advocacy

Personal Memories of Providence Heights

Fran Pope Memories of Providence Heights

Ethel Crosser Memories of Providence Heights

Appendix

Endnotes

Bibliography

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Preserving Providence Heights:

Introduction

Who are these crazy church window ladies? Who, or what, is Preserve Providence Heights?

In short, hundreds of people worldwide worked in so many ways over several years to preserve the physical and metaphysical spirit of the Providence Heights Campus in Issaquah, Washington. The organization, Preserve Providence Heights, hereafter referred to simply, as PPH formally became a not for profit in record time on Nov. 17, 2017 to continue the efforts of other groups such as Sammamish Heritage Society https://sammamishheritage.org, and the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation https://preservewa.org

PPH board members were municipal planner and artist, Susan Hass; Christian minister, Elizabeth Maupin; garden enthusiast, Karen Lee; and librarian, musician, writer, Fran Pope. All of us were middle aged with various work and volunteer backgrounds. Ageism being what it is, we were ridiculed as Those crazy church window ladies by those in the community who wanted the campus destroyed for their own reasons. This included a vocal number of parents who wanted a new school to relieve the overcrowding that resulted from lack of foresight and finance parameters that restricted the ability of Issaquah School District 411 to appropriately respond to the demanding population growth.

There was the perception in the community and verified by District 411 that the campus had to be cleared so students would not be confronted with the religious iconography depicted in the world-class stained-glass windows and mosaics.

By the time PPH was formed the district had already claimed eminent domain due to non-payment of property taxes by the owner, The City Church, then renamed Churchome, had not used the property for religious purposes for many years and were therefore owing back real estate taxes.

https://www.churchome.org

PPH knew from the start that the odds of success were very small. The Seattle law firm, Bricklin & Newman LLP, we retained told us that up front. The main issue was the church’s claim to First Amendment blanket ability to use or dispose of the property as they saw fit. Our environmentally focused law firm would argue that the site had historical, ecological, and cultural significance. Their small firm was to face one of the top Seattle law firms, Davis Wright Tremaine, funded by ample church resources. We were on our own as two health compromised board members, candidate for ordained ministry, and a semi-retired substitute librarian.

A fellow minister who offered us meeting space noted that we were like his own grandmother; stubborn, resourceful, and very determined to do the right thing. At one of our meetings, Susan Hass was telling about her mother’s admonishment to her when she complained about something as a child. Tough bunnies, the mother said. From that moment forward we were the Tough Bunnies, holding warren meetings and burrowing as fast as we could to try to save our scared space.

The struggle to preserve Providence Heights, though the physical campus was demolished, continues in the spirit of preservation with this book. With plans for a work of art and an attempt to influence the Issaquah School District 411 to embrace the value of equal education for female students, we continue to preserve the spirit and memory of the campus. PPH.org will dissolve soon, but the friendship of these four determined women will last the rest of our lives. * As one last effort at preservation we used the remaining funds and a match to commission a work commemorating Providence Heights for cello and piano by local composer Angelique M. Poteat. This book is that story.

* Sadly, September 6,2021 the life of Karen Lee ended due to the pandemic.

Karen loved her pets and was an enthusiastic gardener. She served as president of Issaquah Garden Club, 2004-2007, and president of Avant Designers in East Lake Washington District, 2007-09. She won WSFGC Artistic Craft Award for her floral designs.

With a background in marketing and difficulty seeing, she advised WSFGC to use a larger font in its membership brochure. (From her obituary Winter Issue • Jan Feb Mar 2022 WSFGC Washington Garden & Design)

Her computer skills, determination, and friendship were invaluable to PPH

Providence Heights History

Providence Heights was built in 1961 by the Sisters of Providence as a four year college. Designed by the Mother Superior and Seattle architect John Maloney, it was the culmination of years of effort by the Catholic Church begun in the 1940’s to enhance the education of nuns.

Their mission statement in the Providence Heights Progress Report of 1960 reflects high aspirations of the college:

With the upheaval of two World Wars, the shrinking of the world by unheard of advances in communications and air travel, and the advent of the atomic age and missile warfare, the face of our civilization has changed to a startling degree, bringing about contemporary trends in the patterns of thinking and acting in all areas of society. Realizing this, the Church has called upon the Catholic sisterhoods to prepare themselves spiritually, intellectually, and professionally to meet the demands of our changing era and bring to those for whom they work the results of an education and professional preparation of the highest quality. Throughout the United States, the sisters answered this plea by formulating what is now known as the Sister Formation movement. This movement, to work toward a better education for sisters, has as its aim the finest type of spiritual, cultural, and professional preparation for every sister, whether teacher, nurse, or social worker. The Everett Curriculum is the outcome of a national workshop held in Everett, Washington in 1956, under the sponsorship of the Sister Formation Conferences. From the beginning, one of the objectives of the Sister Formation movement has been the sharing of the spiritual, and intellectual resources of the various religious communities. Providence Heights is a testament of this.

The Sisters, in the late 1800’s had established a group in Vancouver, a curriculum Review group. As work continued in the 1950’s, they were urged forward in a campaign for expanded educational expectations for teachers in Catholic schools by Sister Madelena Wolff of the Saint Mary’s University in South Bend, Indiana. The Sisters gathered in a national conference at the Sisters of Providence Hospital in Everett, Washington where they developed, in 1956, a course of study known as the Everett Curriculum. It was supported by Pope Pius XII in order to bring the education of women in the church on a par with that of men. The sisters raised the needed building funds and with the support of Seattle University designed the campus. According to the above progress report 286 individuals, families, archbishops, religious order members and even the Governor of Washington were among the supporters. Construction began in 1961.

To facilitate the educational goal, the design included dormitories housing 200 single rooms, classrooms, offices, a chemistry lab, swimming pool, gym, auto shop, fallout shelter and nature trails. It also included barbecue, three dining rooms, sports fields, set in 243 timbered acres all but twenty of which were left in their natural state. The campus was self-sufficient with its own power plant and water system.

Sister Ellen Elizabeth Kelly, SP focused on securing the most prominent artists for the college, among them Gabriel Loire, regarded as one of the world’s finest stained-glass artists. He also created the mosaic Stations of the Cross for the chapel.

The jewel of the campus was its neogothic modern chapel. Hand carved pews, a pipe organ 3 ranks, 195 pipes, 1 division, 2 manuals, 20 stops, 3 registers (present location and condition unknown) *https://pipeorgandatabase.org/organ/22460, magnificent altar all bathed in the light from 14 floor to ceiling triangular dale de verre stained glass windows by world renowned artist Gabriel Loire. Seven windows depicted the Seven Sorrows of Mary; seven the corporal works of Mercy the work of the Sisters of Providence. Each window was made of 39 segments locked in a u-channel using gravity and a steel and aluminum frame for support. (As reported in Spring 2019 Vol 25 #3 of Providence Archives Newsletter: Past Forward p. 1,3).

Constructed of a relatively new process of steel reinforce poured concrete, the chapel exterior was finished with heavy copper roof and sides - a modernistic abstract image, to some, evoking a nun’s wimple.

But the attention to art and finest quality was not limited to the glorious chapel. Here is standard the construction has for even the most mundane places as printed in the Progress Report 1960:

the power plant is functioning; terrazzo floors throughout the buildings in harmonious beiges, greens, and white are finished; stairways with new-design terrazzo risers have taken shape; service tunnels connecting the various units of the extensive structure are in actual use; and on the exterior, the greater part of the unglazed natural building brick, accented with yellow and turquoise ceramic brick facing, is rapidly reaching completion. A macadamized road winds into and around the college campus illuminated by sturdy lights standing sentinel-like along the edge of the campus road. Plans for a simple landscaping of the grounds are moving for ward and the finished product will be in harmony with the beautiful wooded areas which can be seen from almost any window in the building. Much of the operative equipment for the laundry, kitchen, and power plant are ready for use.

The needs of the students both intellectually and physically were further documented:

In the college is the library, a spacious, well-lighted area that will house over 50,000 volumes to meet the American Library Association’s recommendation for colleges. Also provided is an outstanding periodical library. Students will have full access to the Seattle University Library as well. Since man is a creature composed of body and soul adequate provisions have been made for the recreational needs of the sister students. A swimming pool and gymnasium will be supplemented by tennis and volleyball courts on the spacious campus.

The Sister Formation curriculum is a five-year program. In addition to freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years, the sisters spend an extra year of their training in special studies required by Canon Law. The courses followed by the sisters include the regular three quarters of study required by the normal college curriculum plus a fourth quarter of intensive study which will result in a liberal arts degree. This curriculum is especially designed to prepare Sisters to meet the needs of the Church through per-formance of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Carefully planned sequences in theology, philosophy, psychology, and the social sciences are designed to help form the sister spiritually, intellect-tually, culturally, and socially.

The Providence Heights Sisters Formation College opened on 07/21/1961 The dedication ceremony was attended by the Apostolic Delegate to the United States, the Most Rev. Egidio Vagnozzi as well as other high church leaders.

Education at the five-year college included not only religious training, but counseling, medical training, teaching and other disciplines that would prepare the sisters for work in the modern world.

But the world was changing faster than the college could keep up. Social movements for women’s rights and equality, a decline in interest in women aspiring to become nuns due to the opportunities emerging in the laic world, and the declining enrollment in religious seminaries and colleges all meant the campus could not be sustained financially. By 1968 the educational facility closed. For a few years it had some success as a destination conference center with such clients as the State Department of Public Instruction, Washington State Education Association, Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Parks and Recreation. Weyerhaeuser, Paccar, Boeing, Pacific Northwest Synod of the Lutheran Church, Archdiocese of Seattle, Virginia Mason Hospital, University of Washington School of Nursing to name just a few. Source: undated promotional brochure.

A quote from the School of Medicine sums up various comments about the facility. "The Participants unanimously agreed that it was an outstanding meeting for several reasons, not the least important of which were the superb food, the comfortable accommodations, the excellent meeting facilities and most of all, the very warm and pleasant attitude of your staff. You not only have an excellent physical facility, but an outstanding group of people-the two ingredients essential to the success of any meeting.

And this from the Leadership Institute for Community Development, Washington D.C.

LICD had occasion to utilize dozens of training facilities, hotels, and motels throughout the country in its training efforts, but rarely have we been so impressed as we are with the Providence Heights Training Center. The location and the facility itself are obvious positive factors, but most impressive of all is the attitude of your fine staff. - From Providence Heights late 1960’s promotional brochure.

Such a transformation still could not sustain Providence Heights and in 1971 the campus was for sale.

It was purchased in 1978 by Lutheran Bible Institute where it served as theological school for clergy and theological students for the Lutheran ministry until the early 2000’s. Noah’s Ark Preschool and a Montessori school were housed there and the campus welcomed community groups, summer string quartet music camps, recitals, and other performing arts groups.

It became a nesting site for emerging congregations on the Eastside. The Holy Week and Easter listing of services in the Issaquah Press 3/30/1988 p. 8 lists multiple services for Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran, Pine Lake Presbyterian, Pine Lake Covenant, and Mary Queen of Peace Catholic parish.

The move by Lutheran Bible Institute in 1979 was a joyous one with students moving the previous offices in Seattle using their own vehicles completing the move in a single day. Ninety percent of the students lived on campus. It started with 168 enrolled, about half capacity. Their outreach was generous and forward looking with plans to host a Special Olympics banquet almost a decade before the Special Olympics were recognized as a world organization. They stressed a commitment to share with the greater Issaquah community

The courses in addition to theology, philosophy, and history also included ministry in the fields of nursing and prison ministry. The magnificent chapel was the site of so many weddings it got the nickname of Lutheran Bridal Institute. One alum noted that even on cloudy days the windows of the chapel glowed.

Once again, financial issues caused LBI to close. In 2008 the campus sold to The City Church for $22.7 million (valued by 2017 at $26.6 million according to Scott Greenstone of the Seattle Times June 3, 2017.)

Although the campus was exempt from real estate taxes if it served as a dedicated religious property, taxes would contribute greatly to the demise of Providence Heights. While The City Church had hoped to use the campus as an Eastside satellite church to extend its evangelical message to the Seattle suburbs, the facility did not easily lend itself to their style of worship. I attended a music recital sometime during those years and noticed huge speakers hung on the chapel’s vaulted ceiling and the altar displaced by drum sets. At the time I prophetically thought, This place is doomed, never imagining that within a few decades I would be trying desperately to save it.

Member participation did not warm to the setting either and by 2016 the property had been virtually abandoned for religious purposes.

Nicole Jennings wrote in the Issaquah Reporter, October 9, 2017 p. 1 regarding a lawsuit by The City Church:

According to the complaint, owning the campus has cost City Church about $1.45 million per year since 2011. The church further stated that the campus did not effectively further its religious mission because the Property was too far from its primary locations for its bible college program to flourish [sic].

The church added in the complaint that it wished to use the money from the sale of the property to further its ministries at its locations in Lynnwood, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Guadalajara.

On the last page of the last issue of the Issaquah Press (p.12 2/23/2017) a story about the reasons for withdrawal by Sammamish Heritage Society of their petition to declare the campus a historical site included a statement that the Department of Revenue Audit denied City Church claims that activities of a religious nature were ongoing. According to the King County Department of Assessments, by tax year 2018 accumulated back taxes were on a value of $27,049,100. In that year the property was assessed at $18,857,100. By tax year 2022, the property now owned by Issaquah School District was assessed at $27,657,100 Back taxes of Parcel: 162406-9001-082014: $258,406.57 2015: $230,665.09 2016: $224,855.25 2017: $215,859.04 Source: Brynn McKinney | Property Tax | King County Treasury201 S Jackson Street Suite 710Seattle, WA 98104 had opened the way for Issaquah District 411 to file a court claim of eminent domain.

Preservationists argued that retaining and repurposing the campus for the school district would require little modification and would be far more ecologically and financially responsible