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The campus of the former Kenwood Academy and convent in Albany, which once housed Sacred Heart sisters, "is under contract for sale," the religious order reported.

The sales contract was signed within the past month. It binds the Society of the Sacred Heart to confidentiality regarding the identity of the buyer until the sale is final.

However, local media outlets citing information from Congressman Paul Tonko's office (D-Amsterdam) have reported that Kenwood is one of several sites in New York State being considered by the federal government to house undocumented children entering the U.S.

An influx of unaccompanied children immigrating illegally to the United States has taxed the resources of federal, state and local governments. At the beginning of June, President Barack Obama told the Federal Emergency Management Agency to treat the surge as "an urgent humanitarian situation."

Catholic News Service (CNS) has reported that the vast majority of the unaccompanied children are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. They're being sent over the border by parents frightened of violent drug cartels and gangs in their home countries that are recruiting more and more children - and threatening their families if they don't comply.

If Kenwood were to become the property of the Department of Health and Human Services, it could be used to house some of the estimated 90,000 undocumented migrant children expected to arrive in the U.S. by the end of this fiscal year.

In June, CNS published an open letter to parents of these migrant children from Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson, addressing myths circulating in Central America that children crossing the border illegally can be eligible for U.S. citizenship.

"The long journey is not only dangerous; there are no 'permisos,' 'permits' or free passes at the end," he wrote, pleading with parents not to send unaccompanied children who will only face court proceedings for deportation.

Kenwood was, for many years, a novitiate where women entering religious life were trained. The property also housed the Kenwood Academy of the Sacred Heart, a school that merged in 1975 with the Episcopalian St. Agnes School to form Doane Stuart School.

Doane Stuart, an ecumenical facility, made its home on the Kenwood campus until 2008, moving to Rensselaer when the Religious of the Sacred Heart announced that they would sell the property. By then, just 33 retired and infirm sisters were living on the campus, and the order could not do the renovations necessary to meet their needs.

Also in 2008, the Religious of the Sacred Heart marked 150 years of life and ministry at Kenwood. "The celebration is in thanksgiving for all the work that came out of the campus...This is all part of our journey," convent administrator Sister Meg Canty, RSCJ, told The Evangelist in an interview for the anniversary.

The Society of the Sacred Heart was founded in France in 1800 by St. Madeleine Sophie Barat. There are still more than 2,400 Religious of the Sacred Heart serving in 41 countries. About 40 sisters live in the Albany Diocese, many of them in nursing homes. The order has a special focus on helping children, women and people who are marginalized.

The 73-acre Kenwood property off Southern Boulevard in Albany includes several buildings. The original asking price of $9 million was dropped to $7.5 million and then to $3.9 million last year, according to the Albany Business Journal.

The prospective buyer is now evaluating the property, said a press release from the Society of the Sacred Heart. The religious order's cemetery on the grounds will not be sold.[[In-content Ad]]

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