For more than a century, South Georgia Baptists have used a facility in Norman Park for education and other purposes. Now Shorter College is considering how best to use the property, given to it by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board in March.

NORMAN PARK, Ga. — The Georgia Baptist Conference Center at Norman Park is a landmark centerpiece of this small Colquitt County town. And at the moment, residents are wondering what its future holds.

For many years it was Norman Institute, then Norman Junior College and then its purpose transitioned into a retreat and study center for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

Recently, it was announced that the Mission Board had gifted the facility on U.S. 319 in the heart of Norman Park to Shorter University in Rome, Ga.

Numerous calls have come into The Moultrie Observer wanting to know “what are the plans.”

For this summer, little is likely to change. Dawn Tolbert, assistant to the president of Shorter, said the Mission Board will continue to hold summer camps there as they have for many years.

“The university is exploring options of how the Norman Park facility can best be utilized,” said Tobert. “We are greatly appreciative of both the gift and the conference center’s role in Georgia Baptist life.”

So at this point, no specifics beyond this summer.

The property has an appraised value of $4.2 million.

The center consists of approximately 32.05 acres and includes buildings with guest rooms and meeting rooms, a dining hall, an auditorium, a gymnasium, and a chapel. The unrestricted gift includes the land and buildings, furnishings, and fixtures.

“The Georgia Baptist Mission Board is a strong supporter of Shorter University and its mission of ‘Transforming Lives through Christ,’” said the Rev. David Harper, chairman of the Shorter University Board of Trustees. “On behalf of the trustees, I express my gratitude for this gift and the continued relationship Shorter has with the State Convention.”

On March 8, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s Administrative Committee approved a motion to recommend the gift to the mission board’s Executive Committee, the Shorter University website said. The recommendation was passed by the Executive Committee on March 15.

“Norman Park has been an important part of Georgia Baptist life for many years,” said Shorter University President Don Dowless. “We greatly appreciate the gift of this $4.2 million property from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.”

The facility began life as Norman Institute, a school for first grade through high school, which opened in 1901. The Mell Baptist Association had begun talks about creating a school in the town at least as far back as 1897, according to the Georgia Baptist Conference Center’s website, MyNormanPark.com.

In the mid-1920s, a junior college curriculum was added, and in 1928 the name was changed to Norman Junior College and became Norman College in 1951.

At the end of the 1970-71 academic year the trustees voted to close the school due to declining enrollment and financial problems that were common to many such schools at the time. The assets and liabilities of the college were turned over to the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Executive Committee voted to convert the facilities into an assembly. In the summer of 1971, Norman Baptist Assembly opened with Rev. Garnie A. Brand as the manager.

Since then, under a variety of names, the facility has hosted meetings by churches and other groups. For a while it was a satellite campus of Brewton-Parker College, an arrangement that ended in late 2009.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christ-centered, four-year liberal arts university based in Rome, Ga. Learn more about Shorter at www.shorter.edu.