UMSL at 60

In 1958, the Normandy School Board purchased the Bellerive Country Club for $625,000. While there were no definite plans for what was to be done with this property, ideas for a new park, school, or college were floating around. Key players (pictured) in the decision-making process included Fred Small (President of the Board), Edward Monaco (succeeding President) and Ward E. Barnes (Superintendent of the Normandy School District).

Not everyone in the community was happy about this decision. Some distrusted the Board and suspected it of using taxpayer money to get into the real estate business, as Normandy resident Edward Thornton states in this letter.

But many others were excited about the purchase. In response to Thornton’s letter, Normandy resident D. L. Cooper argued that accusations about the Board desiring to enter the real estate business were dubious, that the Board was smart in taking advantage of such a good bargain, and that there was no reason to believe that the Board wouldn’t act in the community’s best interest.

In order to decide what would happen with the new property, the Board initiated the Citizens Committee on Higher Education in October 1959, which was tasked with studying the higher educational needs in the district and recommending a plan for meeting these needs. In May 1960, the Committee reported that there was an immediate need for a two-year college in the area, and the Board swiftly approved a resolution for its establishment.

The new college went through many transitions around this time. For a short period, The Normandy Residence Center partnered with the University of Missouri to receive financial support for teachers and classes. In November of 1961, the Secretary of the Board informed Normandy residents that the junior college might be sold to the University of Missouri for $60,000 and turned into a four-year state university.

Many community members wrote letters to the Board in support of this sale. Harry Surkamp, a Normandy realtor, expressed his excitement for the business, employment, education, transportation, and cultural benefits this would bring to the area in this letter addressed to Superintendent Barnes. The Board also felt that this sale would help relieve the District of further burdensome financial costs of expanding and maintaining the school.

As with the purchase of the country club, not all Normandy residents were happy about the sale. President Small refused to sign the deed to transfer the property to the University of Missouri. While the Board stated that Small was simply awaiting clarification over the legality of this action rather than objecting to the sale, a member of the community expressed his gratitude that Small didn’t sign the deed, and thus “give away” the property that taxpayers were still paying for.

Using a lawsuit brought to the Missouri Supreme Court by a Normandy woman as a test case, the Board hoped to win the case and compel President Small to sign the deed of sale. However, the outcome of the court decision in a vote of 4-3 came out in favor of the position that the sale was illegal because the Normandy School District did not have the right to sell the property without declaring it as surplus and advertising it to be sold to the highest bidder. During this time, Edward Monaco succeeded Small as President of the Board.

To bypass the issue, State Representative Wayne Goode and Senator Robert Young introduced bills into the House and Senate to make the sale legal. They felt that doing so would benefit their Normandy constituents. With the bills’ passage, Normandy Residence center was sold and became the University of Missouri -- St. Louis. Today, Wayne Goode is positively celebrated by the UMSL community. A statue of his likeness, with the founding documents in hand, stands in the middle of campus.