Daily Archives: March 21, 2016

03.21.16
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A letter to St. Thomas residents from the Zubick family

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Alma College plaque

To the City of St Thomas,

We are finished with Alma.

This news brings both relief and sorrow to us. It has been a long, long journey and it is good to be done. Unfortunately, we never realized the dream of rebuilding Alma. We had great plans. We wanted to restore the building, and bring it back to its former glory. The situation came down to the fact that we could not do it. And for that, we are sorry for our part.

Alma College was a wonderful, historic building with so many fond memories. People would gather and recall beautiful periods of their lives. The stories were great to listen to.

What we did not know was that the way it had been built and having the historic specifications on it scared most of the developers away. The added environmental concerns added to the story. The need to reconstruct the façade put it into a financial burden that no one wanted to tackle. Continue reading →

03.21.16
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Alma College sold to London developer

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Gino Reale of London stands outside the gate of the former Alma College with the music building and chapel still standing.

Reduced to a neglected jumble of bricks, rubble and a couple of crumbling structures, the former Alma College property has been sold to a London-based property manager.
The deal closed March 7 and Gino Reale, who deals in real estate development and land acquisitions, confirmed two days later he is acting on behalf of a group of investors.
The 11-acre site had previously been owned by the Zubick family of London who purchased it for approximately $900,000 in 1998.
Under the corporate name Alma Heritage Estates, several proposals were put forth by the Zubicks including a pitch to the city to locate a new Valleyview Home on the Moore St. property.
In 2005, Alma Heritage Estates applied to city for a demolition permit to level the former school for girls.

Continue reading →