Group hopes to revive Mo. school

TARKIO, Mo. -- More than two decades after bankruptcy forced a northwest Missouri college to close its doors, the school's alumni association continues to work to bring education back to the 60-acre campus.

The Tarkio College Alumni Association is hoping to start a two-year, degree-granting college at the Atchison County campus two hours north of Kansas City -- an effort that started in 1994, two years after the four-year, liberal arts college founded in 1883 was forced to close.

But just as financial problems doomed the college in its final days, a shortage of funds is hampering the effort to revive the institution, the St. Joseph News-Press reported.

"A lot of people probably think we're crazy," said Don Jagger, a graduate and member of the newly formed board of directors for Tarkio College.

After the college closed in 1992, the campus was turned over to the First Bank Investors Trust, with New York-based banker Frank Voyticky as the principal trustee.

Heartland Educational Institute, a locally controlled not-for-profit organization, eventually took control of the gymnasium, dormitories and library, and there were mentions of a women's prison or technical school moving in, but neither happened. Heartland later bought the parts of the campus it didn't own for about $300,000.

Tarkio Academy, a school for juvenile delinquents, became the campus' new tenant in 1994. The company leased the property for a decade before closing its doors in late 2004.

The alumni association has only just begun talking with technical schools about moving to the campus, and there are many hoops to clear, including getting approval from Missouri's Higher Education Coordinating Board.

"A four-year school is no longer feasible for us," said Wayne Gelston, another graduate and member of the alumni association. "There's too many good schools in our area already."

The biggest challenge for the association is that it does not own the campus but instead rents it from Heartland.

Gelston said Heartland has agreed in principle to sell the campus -- not including the recreation center and Woodruff Village apartment complex -- but there are details still to be worked out.

Also, the Heartland board has concerns about letting go of the campus without a solid plan in place for its success.

"Our position as a board is that if they come to us with the right plan and the ability to purchase it, we are open to talking about something," said Curtis Livengood, vice president of the HEI board. "(The board) wants to know that whatever is being talked about is viable."

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Information from: St. Joseph News-Press/St. Joe, Missouri, http://www.newspressnow.com