Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy was a Catholic all girl's school in
Wheeling, WV that Wheeling Hospital bought and is now tearing down. There
is a group trying to stop the demolition,
http://savethemount.com/ which has
already started and will be completed in about a month. The school is also
described at,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_de_Chantal_Visitation_Academy
There have been incidences of molestation and rape during the school's 162
year history of warehousing teenaged girls, which the Catholics who run the
place have taken great precaution to suppress. But when the hush money for
the girls and their parents began to run out, so did the operating expense
money for the school run out; leaks about the abuse surfaced, and their
enrollment plummeted. Then the place went bankrupt.
Of course the blame for the molestations and rapes were transferred onto the
girls themselves to save face. They were children, just girls, expected to
have the strength and character of adults and all incidences reduced to
consensual sex.
But in Mount de Chantal's best the school was filled to capacity and many
lifelong friendships forged between the girls themselves and the staff, most
of whom practiced ethical behavior.
Those who had bad experiences at Mound de Chantal want the joint torn down,
and they are justified and right. The joint needs to be demolished for
their sakes.
Those who had positive experiences at Mount de Chantal want the place
preserved. Maybe they would like to buy a brick from the old building for
consolation. The organ in the sanctuary may go up for auction. The stained
glass windows might make a memorable addition to their kitchen if they
bought a couple.
If I had my way the place would be preserved as a bad example... and a good
one. I'd like to walk through the place just once as it were a museum. I
don't know what use it would be to Wheeling Hospital. Probably the heat
bill alone would justify tearing it down in favor of building a Green
structure in its place. If I were Wheeling Hospital I'd be sympathetic with
alumni wanting memories and make artifacts available to them to buy, even if
it is just a brick from the structure or a hanging light from the sanctuary.