Set back off the corner of Chatham Road and Lawrence Avenue on nearly 30 acres of grassy lawn and woods, Illinois Presbyterian Home provides “comfort in a community” for area seniors. The staff and volunteers are excitedly beginning preparations for the home’s 70th anniversary. But the historic property began its service life well before 1954 when Presbyterian pastor, the Reverend Richard Paul Graebel, acquired the former tuberculosis treatment complex on the site of the present senior residences.
From farmhouse to TB pavilion
In 1913, local physician and public health advocate Dr. George T. Palmer remodeled an old farmhouse to serve tuberculosis patients. The Springfield Open Air Colony, later called The Palmer Sanatorium, provided bed rest, fresh air and care in the country away from town. Nurses employed stringent sanitation and safety standards for the ongoing tuberculosis epidemic and specialized in treatment for children.
The sanatorium’s closing date varies according to source documents. Some say it operated until the 1940s when Rutgers University scientists discovered the first effective TB antibiotic, and others say it was closed a decade later. In either case, it was vacant when Mrs. Palmer offered the property for sale in 1953.
The next incarnation
In 1954 Graebel, pastor of Springfield’s First Presbyterian Church, and a small interested group toured the building which was described as “almost ghostly, with dusty stacks of bed linen, even a dental office,” wrote Edyth Anderson for the Sangamon County Historical Society’s “Historico.”
Looking past the needed renovations, Graebel envisioned a new home for his mother and a new mission for the building at the top of the hill. He purchased the property for $140,000 and, according to sangamoncountyhistory.org, opened the doors to the first residents of the Illinois Presbyterian Home on March 5, 1956.
Since then, the home has expanded and rebranded, says Executive Director Maryann Walker. “We’ve evolved over time and changed to suit what’s going on in the world.”
Board President Marci Irvine understands the marketplace for senior care. “People want to stay in their homes, and [services such as] visiting nurses, home health care, and grants to help people age in place are making that possible.” So, she says, “we’re being open. We’re looking five to ten years ahead.”
To respect the continuing mission of assistive living while responding to the growing need for safety and security with independence, the board began a building campaign in the 1960s that continues today. The property now includes the original building of private rooms and common areas as well as the 16 new Fair Hills independent living cottages and the new Fair Hills tower apartments.
Fair Hills? Yes, one of the yard signs says Fair Hills, the name a previous director established at one time, but it has always been the Illinois Presbyterian Home to generations of residents and their families. Gracie Tierney, the director of marketing and development, often hears young visitors say with affection, “My aunt, or my grandmother, used to live here at the Illinois Presbyterian Home.” And, while the residents are not necessarily Presbyterian, and it is largely funded by community donations, it’s still supported by the Illinois Presbyterian Church.
Just as it began meeting a specific health need, Illinois Presbyterian Home is continuing to provide a unique senior housing solution. As Walker says, “All health care services are changing. Nursing homes are functioning practically as extensions of the hospitals,” whereas
The Illinois Presbyterian Home offers both assistive and independent living. It’s a small, not-for-profit family-style setting, with month-to-month rent, where residents know each other and their pets, and where the staff and volunteers foster relationships at a time when, as Tierney says, “loneliness ages people faster than maybe they realize.”
The residence offers residents more than shelter and sustenance. “We provide four services that improve people’s lives,” according to Irvine — nutritious meals shared together, including a noon meal option for independent living residents, socialization, spiritual support and physical exercise in the form of safe, long walks. Seriously, long. Rooms at the ends of the halls in the building’s wings are a hike away from the dining room, but these walks are universally considered an elixir of life. One resident recently declined to take a closer room, saying, “Honey, how do you think I lived to be 100 years old?”
And there’s more to discover than the dining room, such as the kitchenettes and living rooms in each wing, a Wii games playroom, activity room and classes, an exercise room with equipment, self-service laundry room for those who choose that option, and two hallways featuring a combination museum/lending library of prints and paintings available for viewing and loans.
Residents can also walk the pathways outdoors where they will likely see the deer and other wildlife who also make the property their safe haven.
Tierney looks back with pride and ahead with confidence. “We are celebrating how far we’ve come and we are planning for the future as we grow into the next 70 years and beyond.
Our mission is to be a safe and affordable community not just where seniors are ‘staying,’ but where they call ‘home.'”
For more information, to schedule a tour, or make a donation, call (217) 546-5622, or visit www.iphcommunities.org.
DiAnne Crown is a frequent contributor to Illinois Times and REGEN.
This article appears in Winter 2024 December 2024.
