Lancaster Bible College is planning to open an apartment-style dormitory at a retirement community about 2 /12 miles away from its Manheim Township campus.
Starting this fall, upperclassmen at Lancaster Bible College will have the option of living on the campus of Calvary Homes in a two-story building, formerly used for nursing and personal care services, at 502 Elizabeth Drive in Manheim Township.
The dormitory, known as Charger Hall @Calvary, offers 42 units with private bathrooms. Students living there will be able to join Calvary’s 300 residents for meals, church services and activities like pickleball.
The one-year pilot program will provide needed housing for the college inside a building Calvary no longer uses. It’s also a chance for students and older adults with a shared faith to connect across generations.
“They get a chance to actually talk with individuals who have life experience,” said Jael Chambers, executive vice president of Lancaster Bible College.
Lancaster Bible College’s student population is growing and the dormitories at its 901 Eden Road campus are at full capacity. Last fall, Lancaster Bible College admitted 286 new on-campus undergraduate students, the college’s largest total.
Calvary expects Charger Hall to accommodate around 80 students, along with resident advisers. The building is connected to other apartment buildings on Calvary’s campus, but only students will live there.
The first students are expected to move in for the fall semester. Rooms will be reserved for juniors, seniors and graduate students only.
The cost to live at Charger Hall will be the same as the college’s on-campus apartments, which cost around $3,095 per semester in 2024-25.
The Manheim Township Commissioners endorsed the project this week, approving a zoning ordinance amendment allowing college dorms at continuing care retirement communities in certain areas of the township. In its petition to the township, Calvary said it expects students to be responsible and respectful, citing Lancaster Bible College’s student code of conduct.
The building became available last year when Calvary moved its nursing and personal care services to Trillium Place, formerly Mennonite Home, at 1520 Harrisburg Pike in Manheim Township. Their two nonprofits joined forces to address financial challenges under the Tandem Living name.
Dale Weaver, Calvary’s executive director and Tandem’s vice president of strategy and technology, said helping Lancaster Bible College grow fits with the organization’s goal to use the building to benefit the community.
“We feel strongly that we want to equip students for the world,” he said.
Weaver and Chambers declined to share the amount Lancaster Bible College will pay to rent the building.
Calvary Homes’ resident council voted unanimously in favor of the partnership. Some of its residents are already familiar with Lancaster Bible College’s students and are looking forward to the opportunity to live in the same community. Bob Reid is a longtime pastor and part of a group of retirees who visit Lancaster Bible College students to provide what he called “the grandparent perspective.”
“The older folks are saying we’re looking forward to not just seeing wheelchairs, but to seeing bicycles on campus,” he said.
CHRIS REBER | Staff Writer
Jun 12, 2025