Loretto Heights College to Serve as Affordable Housing

For a century Sisters of Loretto educated girls and young women at Loretto Heights Academy and Loretto Heights College under the banner “Fides, Mores, Cultura.”

Pancratia Bonfils SL purchased farmland on Sheridan Hill in SW Denver in 1888, engaged architect Frank Edbrooke, and the construction began.

To accommodate both the academy and the expanding college, the cornerstone for Pancratia Hall was laid in 1929.

After the college was deeded to Regis in 1989, Teikyo University purchased the campus and operated various programs under the auspices of Colorado Heights University for 25 years. In 2018 Westside Investment Partners purchased the property and planned a re-development to include residential, commercial and retail components.

Pancratia Hall is being repurposed into 72 affordable housing units by Ely Hartman Investments. The former academy, college dormitory and classroom building will include four-, three-, two- and one-bedroom and studio apartments, with unique layouts to complement the building’s historical character. Jim Hartman and Susan Ely have done similar renovations of historical structures.

The symbolic “ground-breaking” event took place on the lawn in front of Pancratia Hall on October 13,2020. Hartman introduced the ceremony: ”We are honored that Pancratia Hall Lofts is the first phase that will transform the historic Loretto Heights campus into a vibrant new community… We applaud our public/private partnership which brings us to this important day.

Denver City Councilman Kevin Flynn paid tribute to the legacy of Loretto Heights at the Oct. 13 ceremony to initiate the renovation: “The people of Southwest Denver and the larger community have a strong emotional attachment to this campus, not only to the iconic architectural significance of the site, but more importantly to the spirit of Loretto and the thousands of lives that were shaped here. The transformation of Pancratia Hall into housing for the hard-working families of Southwest Denver perfectly embodies that spirit and gives permanence to Mother Pancratia’s vision for this prominent hilltop.”

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock performed the symbolic “ribbon- cutting” to “open up” the project on Oct. 13: “Denver is proud to be a partner on this historical restoration and affordable housing project which aims to house families in our community and keep them housed, ensuring these units are kept affordable for decades to come … I find it very fitting that the first project of this redevelopment is Pancratia Hall into affordable housing. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is John 21, 15-17, in which Jesus asks Peter three times, ‘Do you Love Me?’ and Peter answers affirmatively all three times. And Jesus responds each time, ‘Care for my sheep.’ Jesus charges all of them, and is the charge we have. So let’s care for his sheep. …Thank you for this wonderful project.”

I led those assembled, including alums and Loretto Community members, in the traditional Loretto prayer to ask God’s blessing for the transformative work: “O Suffering Jesus, O Sorrowful Mary, we give you glory, thanks, and praise. O Bless our works and Guide our Ways.”

Lydia Pena, alum as well as former LHC faculty member and director of Walsh Residential Hall, declared, “For all that has been, THANKS; For all that will be, YES.”

The former chapel will become a three-bedroom unit with its vaulted wood ceiling. The gymnasium will become two-bedroom apartments, complete with basketball hoops and spiral staircases.

Amenities will include a graciously landscaped courtyard, a fitness room and a business center.
To help fight climate change, Pancratia Hall Lofts will be all-electric with free electric vehicle chargers. All apartments will have large operable windows for natural ventilation and LED lighting for energy efficiency. Site irrigation systems will use treated water from Loretto’s agricultural ditch system rather than city water.

At the Christmas luncheon for the construction workers, site renovator Hartman read a message from Councilman Flynn: “You are doing something very special for southwest Denver. This campus is the most historic site we have remaining here. You are making sure that we are not only restoring these brick and mortar walls to life, but preserving something that can’t be seen with the eyes. And that is the legacy of the Sisters of Loretto and their century of caring for and educating women from all over the west, and instilling in them a spirit of giving and nurturing the community. That period has ended for this site, but through your work, the spirit of Loretto will be resurrected for working families of southwest Denver. You are making sure that wage earners who are the backbone of our community — teachers, nurses, restaurant workers, janitors, grocery workers, those who provide us with our needs — have a home to come to that is beautiful, historic and comfortable for them and the children they will raise here. God Bless you and your work, and keep you safe throughout this project. It stands as our treasure in Denver, as a witness to Loretto values of education and community.”