Decatur establishing a Public Facilities Authority “makes the potential for the city [to buy the United Methodist Children’s Home] a little stronger,” according to John Cerniglia, the Home’s vice president for development.
The PFA will be able to seek bond funding for purchasing the 77-acre DeKalb County site, just outside the city. The five-member PFA board could get named as early as this week.
Cerniglia said the UMCH’s choice in a buyer is driven by two options: who gives it the “best opportunity to advance our ministry,” and to what extent a buyer will work in “honoring and preserving our history.”
The UMCH is looking to shift its programs to microsites, or to take them to a variety of north Georgia locations, rather every program getting run out of the 144-year-old campus.
The UMCH, he said, would reject buyers asking for structural improvements or who dictate when the Home’s employees have to vacate. Cerniglia said it’s been estimated that if the UMCH remained at the current site, it would cost $25 million to modernize the existing 31 buildings and get them ADA compliant.
“There’s no pressure for us to sell,” Cerniglia said. “This not about the money—we’ve had several great years in a row financially. But as things drag on, people get fatigued. I would say that within the calendar year we’d like to see closure.”
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