St. Joseph County commissioners will vote Tuesday on whether to sell the former Portage Manor. The buyer is the catholic school that’s shown interest in the former county home for a year.
County Democrats initially claimed that the Republican-led commissioners wanted to give Saint Thomas More Academy the land because the school community includes GOP party donors. But the deal calls for the classical Catholic school to pay the county $400,000 for the historic building and 13 additional wooded acres, and invest at least $9 million to renovate the building.
The school also would have three years to exercise an option to buy another 56 acres at market price.
It was nearly a year ago, Oct. 31 of last year, when Saint Thomas More’s head of school, Kevin Powers, held a meeting at the German Township library to introduce the idea to the public. The move would let the school consolidate its multiple buildings near downtown South Bend.
The Portage Manor site has sat vacant since June 2023 when the then-all-Republican commissioners, against opposition from Democrats, closed it as a county home.
