As Trinity Christian College prepares for its final commencement in less than a month, library director Kyle McCarrell is handling a more behind-the-scenes transition: organizing and packing up the documents that tell the Palos Heights school’s story.
“In the last 15 years, we’ve never had a part-time or full-time archivist,” McCarrell said. “So essentially, it was all up to the librarians to kind of make the decisions on what we’re keeping or not, but it was never, from an institutional perspective, a high priority. Until November, when it became a high priority, right? Because of circumstances changing.”
After the board of trustees voted to shutter the college Nov. 3, the future of Trinity’s records as well as the Van Namen Dutch Heritage Center housed there largely remained a mystery to the general public. McCarrell said about half of the archive’s materials were well-organized ahead of the impending closure announcement, but categorizing what remains has been largely left up to him.
As McCarrell opened the door to Trinity’s archives on the library’s second floor Wednesday, the difficulty of sorting nearly 70 years worth of history over the course of six months immediately became clear. McCarrell dodged a large area of carpet littered with papers and photos waiting to be sorted, pointing out seven boxes of duplicate materials he’s managed to compile, copies he’s offering to Trinity community members.
“Otherwise, it’s going in the trash,” he said.
While plans have not yet been finalized for the Dutch archives including immigrant newspapers, church and school records, society minutes and individual family histories, Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will soon house the majority of Trinity’s historical documents, the private Christian university confirmed.
“Calvin University is honored to partner with Trinity Christian College during this season of transition to help steward and preserve its institutional history,” a spokesperson for Calvin said in an email, noting the college has “a long track record of caring for historically significant archival records and special collections and making them available to researchers, alumni, and the broader community in ways that are both responsible and meaningful.”
McCarrell said Trinity has worked with Calvin in the past to digitize some of the Palos Heights college’s student writings, but there’s no guarantee the documents they receive from the closure will become available to view online.
“They’re taking it more as a, ‘we’re gracious and willing to help you, but we’re not probably going to be able to do a whole lot, or will only be able to as much as we have time with,'” McCarrell said.
McCarrell said he hopes the student newspaper in particular is able to be digitized but perceives a gap between “the dream of what could be done and the reality of the time and money that it will take to have to be able to do that.”
Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills will accept a small collection of records, including a photo of both the college’s presidents, standing and smiling. McCarrell said the Palos Heights Public Library is accepting a few items as well.
“They wanted some of the things related to or thinking about the place or the space of Trinity, since it’s in their service area,” McCarrell said.
Outside interest in Trinity’s archives is new to McCarrell, who was hired during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020. But he has established a connection to college’s documents in addition to its students and staff and has mixed emotions about their leaving.
McCarrell said when staff from Calvin University came to Trinity a couple of weeks ago to look through the college’s materials, giving up even six boxes to them felt like a loss.
“As he was loading up, I felt a little bit of a — that’s never coming back here, that’s going away, you know?” he said. “There’ll more of that as we box up everything.”
He showed a program for the college’s first ever convocation, celebrating the opening date of Oct. 1, 1959. A group of Dutch businessmen purchased the former Navajo Hills Golf Course for the college’s campus.
Classes began in October, McCarrell said, so the golf course could maximize its season before closing down. The former clubhouse was remodeled into Trinity Christian College’s administration building, and the original curriculum focused on philosophy, history, English and theology.
Current enrollment is 985 students, according to the college, with the college offering about 70 majors and minors.
Campus sale
The college’s 60-acre campus, including its 22 buildings, is now listed for sale by commercial real estate firm CBRE. The site could serve as an operational campus for another institution or be evaluated for other uses, including residential, senior housing, medical, recreational or mixed-use redevelopment, according to CBRE.
There’s no listed price on the property, but those interested in purchasing the campus can reach out and offer feedback to agents Matt Ishikawa, Tom Svoboda and Anne Rahm.
Palos Heights Mayor Robert Straz said he and other city officials toured the property a couple of weeks ago and he said he’s referred multiple people with potential interest in the property to CBRE. He said he could see some campus buildings repurposed for mixed-use or residential, such as dormitory buildings providing housing for seniors.
Straz expressed some interest in buying the gymnasium to possibly turn into a city-run athletic facility but was concerned about the cost.
“I’m not going to put the city into debt,” he said.
He also said he recognized the historic significance of a few buildings, including the former clubhouse, but wasn’t sure whether they would be preserved as the college had already renovated them.
Trinity Christian College’s final commencement will begin at 7 p.m. on May 8 at Ozinga Field, 14011 Kenton Ave., in Crestwood.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
