Midnight in Issaquah: The Struggle to Save Providence Heights

Providence Heights Campus in Issaquah, Washington, was designed in the 1950’s as state-of-the-art modern gothic architecture and completed by the Sisters of Providence in 1961. The purpose of the campus was to give equal opportunity to women religious on an equal basis to the men of the Catholic Church. Providence Heights was only one of two for that purpose in the United States. Times were changing in the Catholic Church during the 1960’s and by 1969 the original purpose of Providence Heights as an educational opportunity for women became untenable. The campus was sold to Lutheran Bible Institute and eventually to The City Church. In 2016 the property was listed as endangered by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. Local and regional groups fought hard to preserve the campus. Preserve Providence Heights was the last. This is their story.