A Hindu retreat center without a center to retreat to was looking for a space to call its own. It found it in the nearly century-old headquarters of a Catholic order, on the market after the sisters who lived there announced in February of 2024 that they would be closing their Akron motherhouse.
Life Gurukula, with an address in Solon and a community that stretches from Boston to Houston to Portland, Oregon, bought the former Our Lady of the Elms motherhouse at 1230 W. Market St. in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood for $2.21 million. Rajiv Sahni, the organization’s treasurer, said he looked as far as Youngstown and into Pennsylvania to find a suitable location for the center for spiritual reflection before landing on this one.
“The vibe of that building is really calming and spiritual,” Sahni said. “When I walked the halls initially, it’s as if you’re home. There’s very little pretense and a lot of comfort.”…