For more than a decade, the Ernest Hemingway Foundation has struggled to control, preserve and enhance the lovely Kenilworth Avenue home where Hemingway and his family spent his youth.
The foundation, which has done great work on an absolute shoestring for all of its 28 years, has always recognized that it was stretching financially in attempting to buy the Boyhood Home. It already has the Birth Home on Oak Park Avenue and the companion museum at the Oak Park Art Center down the street. Its ambition, though, has been to reflect the full span of Hemingway’s years in the village and to do that, it needed the Boyhood Home.
Angels have appeared on the scene at precipitous moments. First came Mike Kelly of the old Park National Bank who gave the foundation a mortgage on very generous terms. That allowed the purchase of the property. When the bank failed — a still stinging blow to us — it was clear another angel was essential.
Dominican University, one of our village’s most collaborative and innovative citizens, came forward with the offer to both manage the house and attempt to raise the money necessary to pay off the mortgage, restore the home and give it a permanent use as an educational facility.
Given this dismal economy, that effort proved impossible and last week the university stepped reluctantly back. Now the note to U.S. Bank is nearly due, and hard and limited choices loom. The foundation is asking for an extension on the note past June 30 while it looks for a “friendly buyer” or, perhaps, another angel.
And while there is no success to celebrate at this juncture, we honor the foundation for its pluck, Mike Kelly for his community ties, and Dominican University for its willingness to step beyond the common definitions of a university.
