Community House opens as ‘third space’ for University and community

by Chuck Gordon

As part of the ongoing town development, Wingate University will have a new place for University employees and students to host events and to rub elbows with members of the local community.

Situated directly across from the Neu Building at 102 E. Elm Street, Community House is familiar to students and others in the University community. With its wide porch that features a gazebo at one corner, the house is both memorable and historic.

Michelle Lancaster, vice president for strategic initiatives, is excited about the opportunities that Community House will offer for the greater community. She says that work is underway to ensure that appropriate processes and procedures are in place to allow the house to be used broadly. Those procedures, which will be shared with the University community when they are finalized, will enable the house to be used as a "third space" for students, University employees and the community at large.

Community House was christened with a tea for faculty emeriti on Sept. 5. Dr. Catherine Wright, religion professor and director of the Collaborative for the Common Good, envisions the space being used daily by community residents, who are encouraged to stop in for a cup of coffee and a chat, and as a place for student groups and area nonprofits to host special events.

Sitting at the corner of Elm and Main, the facility is ideally located, Wright says, as town-development plans take shape. "It's the heart of campus, but it's also the heart of Main Street," she says. "It's kind of a central hub that people can get to. It's on the campus but doesn't feel of the campus, so our community partners feel comfortable coming in here."

The house's history is intertwined with that of the University. Built by Marshall and Ellen Perry Stewart in 1912, the house was a prominent boarding house for Wingate students. "Marshall Stewart's obituary noted that boarding fees were $6 per month and included wood, washing and light fuel," says Dr. Joseph Ellis, political science professor and assistant dean of the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences. "If a student chose to stay through the week, but not the weekends, it was a dollar a week."

The Stewarts were instrumental in the founding of the University as the Wingate School in 1896. Stewart donated 11 acres of land to the school at its founding, and he also helped to pay down Wingate's considerable debts in the early years, providing around $60,000 in today's money.

The University bought the house from longtime owners Bill and Carolyn Braswell in 2021. Last month, a crew of 15 volunteers from USI Insurance joined members of the CCG, employees and students from Dr. Katherine Knop's Sociology 101 class to help clean out garden beds, plant flowers and shrubs, spread mulch, assemble chairs, and paint walls and furniture as the date for the first event approached.

"What an awesome way to spend your day, being in a house this old, doing renovations projects," says Dan Sweet, a vice president at USI. "It's cool."

Wright envisions the first floor of Community House having historical items on one side, telling the story of the house and the University, and plans for the University's future displayed on the other side. The CCG's offices, currently in Dry Chapel in the lobby of Austin Auditorium, will soon move to rooms upstairs at Community House. Wright says the renovations will continue for some time, with plans in place for the kitchen to eventually get a makeover and for the installation of an elevator.

Sept. 13, 2024

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