Local realtor Win Morrison and educator Regina Doi had a dual purpose on their minds for their visit to Old Dutch Church on Thursday, July 24. One was to lay flowers at the church’s front door in memoriam of the victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down by, U.S. officials say, pro-Russian separatists a week ago over the Donetsk region of the Ukraine. Some 157 of the 298 who died in the crash were Dutch; Doi said Kingston, where she grew up and recently moved back to after 48 years living and teaching in Japan, should honor its Dutch origins by paying tribute to the victims.
The other purpose was to announce the sale of West Park’s St. Cabrini Home, closed since 2011, to Dr. Yi Li, a Chinese educator who works with Doi. Morrison said the sale was in the neighborhood of $6 million and that contracts were signed this week. Doi said what will be installed at the former residential treatment facility for girls will be an international school stressing techniques for memory enhancement, limitations on students’ “screen time” with devices and the teaching of manners and discipline. Students will be a mix of residential and “day” pupils; Doi expects 60-80 of them to start when the school opens in September 2015.