The Diocese of Little Rock will be expanding its seminarian education program by building a college seminary on the grounds of the former St. Joseph Orphanage in North Little Rock.

On the feast of St. Joseph, March 19, St. Joseph Home was severely damaged by fire. After consulting with engineers, it was determined that the building was “structurally unsound and cannot be salvaged at a reasonable rate compared to the cost to rebuild.” Restoration was estimated to cost $20 million, excluding air conditioning and operational expenses. 

On July 3, the diocese announced the building would be torn down. 

In 1910, Bishop John B. Morris built the four-story building, modeled after an Italian-style villa, to serve as an orphanage, run by the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith. It was later used as a day care and retreat center. In 2008, the diocese announced it planned to sell the property. Since 2010, St. Joseph Center of Arkansas Inc. has operated under a 50-year lease to use the building and grounds as an urban farm, farm stand, Airbnb and artist studios.

Since the fire, St. Joseph Center of Arkansas has continued to use the property, under a month-to-month lease, for its farming program and fundraisers. The nonprofit announced July 7 that it raised nearly $100,000 to help with its operations.  

In a statement released July 31, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said in part, “We here in Arkansas have experienced this in the loss we incurred on March 19, 2025, when the former St. Joseph Orphanage in North Little Rock went up in flames. At first, all we could see was loss. We felt defeated even though the building had long since ceased to function as an orphanage — or any Church use — and yet our loss actually set the stage for new beginnings on that site, a resurrection which will also address a current need in our seminarian program, as follows: 

“When our current House of Formation for college-level seminarians was founded 13 years ago, it was in effect a college seminary built for a capacity of 10 seminarians. But we have consistently had a full house — and more — from the very beginning, sometimes reaching up to 14 seminarians in a house built for 10. Moreover, the Vatican has now added an additional ‘propaedeutic year,’ an initial year-long period of prayer and discernment. So now we have a five-year program in a building built for four years. The result is more seminarians — a wonderful problem, but a problem nonetheless.  

“Everything is sized too small: the kitchen, dining room, chapel, laundry room, den, etc. So, our plan — approved unanimously by the Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council — is to build a new, much larger college seminary on the site previously occupied by the orphanage. This will be named the ‘St. Joseph College Seminary’ — in memory and honor of the former St. Joseph orphanage, continuing the legacy of ministry there over the decades. The 63-acre site would then be fully dedicated to its operation and other diocesan needs moving forward. We will use insurance money available from the claim on the March 19 fire to build this college seminary on the land of the former St. Joseph Orphanage — so no capital campaign. 

“Once the new building is completed, the present House of Formation on 12th Street in Little Rock will be repurposed for other uses, including as a retreat center for smaller groups of retreatants. The current annex will also continue to serve as my residence. Our hope is for the present House of Formation to one day serve as a theologate for seminarians in their last 3 ½ years of formation.

“I know this news will excite many throughout the state and cause sadness for others. But after much prayer and consultation, I am convinced that this is the best use of this property and of our available funds in a way that ultimately benefits everyone throughout the diocese. It meets an immediate need, while also providing a vision and potential real cost savings into the future. My prayer is that this new vision — resurrected from the ashes of tragedy — will be a blessing to our diocese for decades to come.”

In a statement on social media, St. Joseph Center of Arkansas said. “We are stunned, disappointed and saddened that SJCA’s remaining farming, education and community outreach programming cannot remain to complement the new seminary.”

The diocese operated St. John Seminary in Little Rock until 1967, where the diocesan offices at St. John Center are located now. Beginning in 2008, seminarian recruitment increased, and the diocese began making plans to educate its college seminarians mainly in Little Rock instead of sending them to other states. 

Beginning this fall, the diocese will have 25 seminarians, with 12 of them living at the House of Formation. 

Vocations director Father Jeff Hebert, who is also the prefect for the House of Formation, said the idea for a larger House of Formation has been discussed for several years. Even when Msgr. Scott Friend was the director until 2021, discussions were held about expanding housing for seminarians.

“Msgr. Friend has a vision of having both the college guys and the graduate-level guys here, at least some of them being formed here in Little Rock,” Father Hebert said. “That’s always been part of the vision. I have been concerned about this problem (of lack of space) for the past two years, knowing the Vatican instituted an additional year on the front end, which makes the house a five-year program. Soon after that, I knew that the House of Formation was not going to last long as far as space.”

Father Hebert said different locations were discussed where to move the House of Formation because there is no space on the Our Lady of Good Counsel Church grounds. Since the St. Joseph Home fire, the discussion turned to moving the House of Formation to North Little Rock.

The House of Formation includes a living room, kitchen, dining room, chapel and 12 bedrooms. An annex next door has classrooms, apartments for the bishop and two priests and a multipurpose room, which includes bunk beds, workout equipment and storage. 

While the new building will be called a seminary, the way the seminarian education program is structured won’t change, Father Hebert said. Seminarians will continue to take general education classes at UA-Little Rock. Their bachelor’s degree will come from Newman University in Wichita, Kan., which offers online theology courses. Instead of being called the prefect, Father Hebert will take the title of rector. 

St. Joseph College Seminary won’t be considered an interdiocesan seminary, which needs Vatican approval, so it will not educate seminarians from other dioceses.  

Changing the name from House of Formation to St. Joseph College Seminary came because “the bishop is finally confident enough that we have the personnel necessary to call it a seminary,” Father Hebert said. 

Father Hebert said construction plans are in the early stages, but they envision the new building will be similar to the House of Formation but could accommodate 20 bedrooms and a larger kitchen, dining room, living space, classrooms, exercise room and at least two apartments and offices for the rector and director of spiritual formation, Father Mauricio Carrasco.

Father Hebert is hopeful construction can begin next year, and the House of Formation can relocate to North Little Rock soon because they will be exceeding capacity in the fall 2026 with at least four to six new seminarians expected. 

In the short term, the House of Formation and annex could be used for retreats, but Father Hebert said his long-term dream is to have a graduate-level seminary program, called a theologate, in those buildings. Those seminarians, usually referred to as theologians, would stay in Arkansas instead of attending St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. Some seminarians would continue to be sent to other seminaries for higher-level degrees, he said. 

Father Hebert said having seminarians educated in Arkansas is ideal because their formation would be tailored to the needs of the Diocese of Little Rock. 

“The whole Church here would have total ownership and responsibility for forming their priests,” he said. “It would give the whole diocese the opportunity to partake in that. St. Meinrad has done a great job, but these interdiocesan seminaries have to form guys with a really general vision of the priesthood that has to ignore some of the more local needs.”

A more secluded setting on St. Joseph Home property will be more conducive to educating seminarians, Father Hebert said. 

“It is hard to have a retreat-like atmosphere for seminarians in that context because in that part of town (on 12th Street), young guys just want to go here and there, but being out in a little bit more rural part of town, it invites a little more meditation and contemplation for that stage of life. I think the real power of that program for the college guys is that it’s going to feel even more like their house. I’m very grateful for Good Counsel, but it’s shared land….It’s not a shift in vision at all, literally a shift of address.” 

The Diocese of Little Rock announced July 3 that it will be demolishing St. Joseph Center in North Little Rock after a fire March 19 caused major structural damage.

The fire destroyed the roof, the iconic cupola topped with a cross and some of the interior, including the chapel.

The building was constructed in 1910 as St. Joseph Orphanage, operated by the sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith. After 1978, the orphanage closed, and the sisters continued to use the building and grounds for a daycare. 

When the daycare closed in 1997, the diocese operated a retreat center there until 2010, when it signed a 50-year lease with St. Joseph Center of Arkansas Inc. Since then, the center has been used for art studios and an Airbnb. Outside, there is an organic urban farm and farm stand.

In a statement, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said, “For the second time in three months, I have sad news to share with you regarding the former St. Joseph Orphanage building in North Little Rock. On March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, a fire broke out which heavily damaged much of the building. As a consequence, after having been studied by engineering and insurance experts, it has now been determined that the building is structurally unsound and cannot be salvaged at a reasonable rate compared to the cost to rebuild. The cost to restore the current building is believed to be over $20 million and that does not include putting in air conditioning, which the current building did not have, or the cost of operating the building once rebuilt. Sadly, the most prudent decision for the future of that property and the people of the diocese is to demolish the building — and the Diocesan Finance Council, Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council all concur unanimously in this decision.

“I know this decision will displease quite a few people, but I am convinced that we have no other realistic alternative. This is doubly sad because of all our memories of the good work done by the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery with the St. Joseph Orphanage, as well as our other memories of this historic building and the desire we naturally share to see it preserved. But the sad reality is that the projected cost to restore the building to its original state and bring it up to code would be disproportionate to how the building might be used and to the benefit that it would provide to the people of the diocese — who, of course, are my overarching responsibility. The mission of the Catholic Church in Arkansas is bigger than any one building, no matter how important or historic. And our priority must always be to evangelize and spread our faith. As Pope Francis reminded a group of pilgrims back on May 20, 2023, ‘Our faith is not an artifact in a museum, it is a living witness to the world.’

“The diocese has made an agreement with St. Joseph Center of Arkansas to permit them to continue their activities on the property for the time being, as they have done valuable work over the years in keeping the memory alive for those who benefited from their years at the orphanage.”

The 56,000-square-foot, four-story brick and stone building was modeled after an Italian villa. Of the 720 acres once maintained by the sisters, only 63 acres are still owned by the diocese. Since the fire, the St. Joseph Center of Arkansas has continued to conduct most of its outdoor activities and fundraising events.

High winds and dry conditions amplified a fire that started at St. Joseph Center in North Little Rock around 5:40 p.m. March 19, causing severe damage to the roof and the center’s interior. 

Staff believes the fire started in the attic.

According to reports from the North Little Rock Fire Department, the fire began before 6 p.m. on the feast day of St. Joseph, but the exact cause is currently unknown. NLRFD crews were assessing the center’s grounds in the early morning hours of March 20 as multiple units from the North Little Rock Police Department secured the scene. 

Arkansas Catholic was allowed onto the property as crews assessed the structure. The morning light revealed that the center’s iconic red tile roof was gone. 

The Diocese of Little Rock built St. Joseph Orphanage in 1910 with the Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith operating it until 1978. After the orphanage closed, the sisters ran a kindergarten and daycare for local children until 1997. The diocese operated a retreat center there until 2010 when it signed a 50-year lease with St. Joseph Center of Arkansas Inc. to oversee the building and grounds. Since then, the center has been used as art studios, an Airbnb, organic farm and farm stand.

The 56,000-square-foot, four-story yellow brick and stone building was crowned with a cupola like an Italian-style villa. 

St. Joseph Center posted on Facebook in the evening hours of March 19, “Everyone is safe. Animals are safe. Building is still burning. It started in the attic and we do not know the source. Prayers are appreciated. Will update soon.”

A few hours later, executive Director Sandy DeCoursey posted another update, saying, “Your outpouring of love and support for St. Joseph Center of Arkansas is overwhelming. I’ve just gotten home and am now reflecting on the events of the day. Smoke permeates our clothes and lungs as reminders of the devastation. I’m so very grateful to all those who worked tirelessly to try and salvage the building while putting out fires all over the property. Thankfully, there was no loss of life (humans or animals). But, the loss is great indeed. 

“This building is home to what we lovingly refer to as ‘farmily’…the staff, volunteers, artists, gardeners, farmers/interns, animal ambassadors, Farm Stand patrons and others who have poured their heart and soul into the restoration of this place over the last 15 years. The community of North Little Rock/Little Rock has helped St. Joseph’s thrive and grow. And, we’re going to need your help to bounce back.

“Tomorrow (March 20), in the morning light, we will assess next steps and keep everyone informed as we regroup and plan the path forward. …”

How you can help

St. Joseph Center is accepting donations to help recover from the March 19 fire. You can make a donation here. 

On that donation page, St. Joseph Center explained how donations would help with the losses so far. 

“We had one permanent resident and three WWOOFers (a volunteer who participates in the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms program) in the building whose belongings are gone and are now without housing. We had 30 artists with studios in the building whose artwork and workspace are gone. We had history dating back as early as the 1900s when our building was constructed as an orphanage and operated by the Benedictine sisters, all gone. We had five farmers working onsite in our high tunnels and blackberry rows to produce for our farmstand. We have seven permanent staff and many part-time helpers without a job to return to. We have goats, chickens, ducks, cows, donkeys, sheep, bees and our farm dog, Peaches, who are thankfully all OK. Not to mention all our wonderful volunteers who considered St. Joseph’s as a second home, or a getaway from home,” the donation post read.

“There’s a lot more to say, but we are all left speechless in this tragic moment and anything you can donate will help to restore some livelihoods or if possible, our building. We thank you in advance for all your prayers, kind words and concern during this time. Please look for updates soon.”