NORTHFIELD — The National Christian Foundation, owner of the former Northfield Mount Hermon School campus in town, plans to use a portion of the campus to implement “The Moody Center.”
According to Larry Edge, manager of the Northfield Campus LLC, the organization owned by the National Christian Foundation that oversees the campus property and hope some day to sell it, the foundation wants to promote the ideals of 19th-century evangelist Dwight L. Moody, who founded the school.
According to Northfield Campus’ website, Moody originally founded Northfield Mount Herman School as two institutions: the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies in 1879 and Mount Hermon School for Boys in 1881. In 1971, the Northfield and Mount Hermon campuses became a single coeducational school.
The school consolidated to the Mount Hermon campus in Gill in September 2005 and the Northfield campus was sold in 2009 to Hobby Lobby, according to the website. At the end of 2012, Hobby Lobby transferred ownership of the campus to the National Christian Foundation, which plans to gift the campus to an institution that honors Moody’s legacy. The campus has been vacant for more than 12 years.
The website states that Moody aimed to educate young people who had limited access to education because of their financial status. He also hoped to create generations of committed Christians who would continue his evangelical efforts.
“This is something that the foundation is trying to pull together, because there’s really nothing there to promote Mr. Moody and his ideals,” Edge said, adding, “It’s something that we’re trying to do to create some activity there originally, at least to a part of the campus.”
“D.L. Moody was a great figure in American Christian history. He actually has his roots right there on that campus,” said Emmitt Mitchell, a member of the National Christian Foundation Heartland’s board of directors, who has been involved in planning The Moody Center. Mitchell aims to preserve Moody’s legacy.
According to Edge and Mitchell, representatives of the National Christian Foundation have been discussing The Moody Center for approximately three years. The center was recently approved as a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation.
Edge said the foundation is working to raise money to refurbish some of the property, pull together a plan and formulate goals and objectives for The Moody Center.
“We’re trying to take it one step at a time,” Edge said.
“Whenever I talk to someone about The Moody Center, I talk about vision,” Mitchell said. “We simply have a vision and a hope.”
Edge said The Moody Center would most likely include “the legacy properties” and “homestead,” though the foundation is still determining which buildings to use. Mitchell said The Moody Foundation would make up a very small part of the overall campus.
Edge and Mitchell said The Moody Center would likely hold events, particularly conferences, offer ways for visitors to the campus to learn more about Moody and might involve a museum.
“The list of speakers that came through there is impressive,” Mitchell explained, describing how Moody used to hold conferences at the school. “We’re trying to build on what he did there in the past.”
Jack Spanbauer, chairman of the Northfield Board of Selectmen, like many Northfield residents, is eager to see the campus put to use.
“The NMH campus is a huge resource,” Spanbauer said. “We’d be glad to see anything start happening there.”
The National Christian Foundation continues to work to find occupants for the rest of the campus who would adhere to Moody’s ideals.