A change in tempo at The Beat
Mark Hensch
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: Features
A singular rhythm once flowed from The Beat.
The former off-campus house on the corner of West and Fayette streets outlasted NHL forwards, Hillsdale professors and generations of students. Last summer, its era of poetry readings and house parties ended, as the house passed out of student hands.
"The rental contract for the six students living at The Beat for 2007 to 2008 fell apart," said landlord David Guertin, of Guertin Management Co. LLC. "The three tenants left tried to find replacements but had no success."
Guertin said personal illness, financial costs and inability to get off-campus housing permission hindered the rental.
In the midst of tough times, Hillsdale resident Deborah Terry and her family of ten gravitated toward a place like the large, six-bedroom Beat, Terry said.
"I lived on North Adams Street, and our landlord never paid his mortgage," Terry said. "We had no idea until the court summoned us."
Her family's first house, also on North Adams Street, burned down in a house fire in 2004. Terry, who currently uses a wheelchair due to chronic arthritis and asthma, said The Beat's size and centralized location were ideal.
"Everything is real convenient now with the doctor nearby, the hospital nearby, my physical therapy nearby," she said. "The kids like living here because if they want something they can just walk into town and get it."
Although the house now shelters the Terry family under its roof, it has a long history of being a comfortable student residence.
The house has served Hillsdale students since the Pike family purchased it as a four-bedroom residence for their sons, Rob Pike '92 and Gavin Pike '96, Gavin Pike said. It remained a student residence until last year, when the Terrys moved in.
The Beat gained a reputation for housing wild, paradoxical renegades from Hillsdale College, former Beat tenant Ryan Leng '07 said.
"It represented a certain lifestyle," Leng said. "Dr. Sundahl might call it that of the non-traditional student."
The former off-campus house on the corner of West and Fayette streets outlasted NHL forwards, Hillsdale professors and generations of students. Last summer, its era of poetry readings and house parties ended, as the house passed out of student hands.
"The rental contract for the six students living at The Beat for 2007 to 2008 fell apart," said landlord David Guertin, of Guertin Management Co. LLC. "The three tenants left tried to find replacements but had no success."
Guertin said personal illness, financial costs and inability to get off-campus housing permission hindered the rental.
In the midst of tough times, Hillsdale resident Deborah Terry and her family of ten gravitated toward a place like the large, six-bedroom Beat, Terry said.
"I lived on North Adams Street, and our landlord never paid his mortgage," Terry said. "We had no idea until the court summoned us."
Her family's first house, also on North Adams Street, burned down in a house fire in 2004. Terry, who currently uses a wheelchair due to chronic arthritis and asthma, said The Beat's size and centralized location were ideal.
"Everything is real convenient now with the doctor nearby, the hospital nearby, my physical therapy nearby," she said. "The kids like living here because if they want something they can just walk into town and get it."
Although the house now shelters the Terry family under its roof, it has a long history of being a comfortable student residence.
The house has served Hillsdale students since the Pike family purchased it as a four-bedroom residence for their sons, Rob Pike '92 and Gavin Pike '96, Gavin Pike said. It remained a student residence until last year, when the Terrys moved in.
The Beat gained a reputation for housing wild, paradoxical renegades from Hillsdale College, former Beat tenant Ryan Leng '07 said.
"It represented a certain lifestyle," Leng said. "Dr. Sundahl might call it that of the non-traditional student."
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