By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
BUCHANAN, MI – Friday’s ribbon cutting and open house at the new ALR Educational Health Services facility in the former Stark School was more than just the opening of another new business. Buchanan city leaders are hoping that the new center will spark a renaissance and period of new growth in the Red Bud City.
Stark has been vacant for more than a decade after Buchanan schools downsized. The building is located at 502 Claremont St. in the Liberty Heights section of the city.
ALR Founder Dr. Ayanna Redding was joined at the ribbon cutting and open house by city officials and community members along with current and former ALR students. Redding bought the school building in August and has been renovating it since then to house a variety of health professions classes.
Buchanan Mayor Mark Weedon thanked Redding for choosing Buchanan as the location for the second ALR campus and noted that his wife is an instructor with ALR.
“ALR is coming in from Niles to open a second campus here in this historic building,” he said. “I’m over the moon about ALR coming here. Stark School means a lot to this community and we’re glad it will again be open and teaching students.”
“We’re watching growth in the city and more opportunities for education,” he added. “This is an unbelievable opportunity for the city and for the future of the nursing world. Nurses are needed desperately right now.”
“I feel lucky to be here,” Redding said. “This is a great city and Buchanan has been really welcoming. It feels great to see people here to support us including our lenders and contractors. We’ve been looking at this site for about a year and it took four months to fix up the building.”
Redding told those attending the open house that classes were scheduled to start Monday of this week. Classes will be offered day and evening in a variety of subjects including ones for IV certification, medical terminology, clinical medical assistant, pharmacy technician, phlebotomy, practical nursing and nursing assistant.
ALR also has a Niles campus that will continue to offer classes in the subjects mentioned above. The Niles facility is located on East Main Street in downtown Niles. ALR has existing partnerships with Corewell Health and Beacon Health for clinical rotations.
Potential students can register for classes at both locations by calling 269-635-5088. They can also learn more about ALR at the www.alrehs.com website.
Redding is an Elkhart native who started ALR in Florida in 2013 before moving back to the Michiana area. She began her career as a nurse before going into teaching which she has described as her true passion.
While the current ALR programs have state accreditation and licensing, they fill a different niche than traditional nursing and health care programs at area community colleges. The ALR courses are clock hour based in terms of what students have to complete rather than credit hour based.
Redding first came to the Buchanan City Commission in the summer about her plans for the old Stark school, receiving praise and thanks from city commissioners for her plans and efforts. She came back in September to get approval of the transfer of a tax break for the building which the commission granted.
The obsolete property rehabilitation district and accompanying tax break had originally been approved for a different venture at the former school in 2022. That project never came to fruition at that site.
Former Development Director Rich Murphy told commissioners at the time that 10 years remained on the 12-year property tax break. He said the building is the “perfect definition” of an obsolete property as it is an old school that has been vacant for years.
The tax break is similar to those granted to industrial and manufacturing developments but is for eligible commercial and residential developments. The taxable value of the property is frozen for the duration of the tax break.
Murphy noted at the time that Redding has submitted all the required documentation to make the transfer. Redding said in September that she had invested over $600,000 in the project. Stark has been vacant for more than a decade after Buchanan schools downsized. The building is located at 502 Claremont St. in the Liberty Heights section of the city.