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Retirees can still cull from college
By SHARON L. BOND ST. PETERSBURG -- Eckerd College signed a long-term agreement with College Harbor Retirement Community to offer residents there a number of continuing education programs. College Harbor is one of two real estate projects that the small liberal arts college is trying to separate itself from financially. That action, however, does not affect continuing education, said Eckerd president Donald Eastman. "What I'm trying to do is repair the financial problems Eckerd has. It has a variety of them, and one is connected with College Harbor because we have bonds on the facility," Eastman said Monday. "That shouldn't have anything to do with the residents and education programs there," Eastman said. James Deegan, vice president of special programs at Eckerd, agreed. "When the college does get financially independent of College Harbor, I expect we will continue to work with residents there and provide continuing education of all types to residents," Deegan said. The so-called Lifelong Learning Affiliation Agreement formalizes the offerings such as Senior College, the Academy of Senior Professionals, Elderhostel and travel-study programs that the school already offers the retirees, Deegan said. To reciprocate, College Harbor will offer students internships, chances to volunteer and job prospects. College Harbor is a retirement community with space for more than 200 renters in independent apartments, assisted living units and nursing beds. It sits next to the college on Boca Ciega Bay. An affiliate of Eckerd, Senior Living Centers Inc., bought College Harbor out of bankruptcy court in 1996 using tax-exempt bonds. Eastman came to Eckerd in June, joining an organization with an endowment that had been depleted and two real estate projects that were supposed to be moneymakers for the college but have not turned out that way. The second project is College Landings, an ambitious real estate development on college land. Only part of the development has been completed. The college recently agreed to sell the project to another developer to finish it. After plans for the completion were approved by the city of St. Petersburg, several residents of College Landings sued, claiming the plans were inconsistent with city and county land-use plans.
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