By Nate Walsh

NORTHFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) -- A new institute of higher learning will be coming to the area after the Hobby Lobby chain of arts and crafts stores has announced it has purchased property belonging to private school Northfield Mount Hermon with the intention of making it the future site of C.S. Lewis College.

The announcement was made at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Northfield location. The college will be a school "of great books and visual and performing arts," according to the school, Hobby Lobby and the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding school with 630 students from around the globe, had the space available after consolidating its operations to one location in 2005.  It was announced Hobby Lobby will invest more than $5 million to support the creation of the Christian-based college.

"This is a win for the C.S. Lewis Foundation, a win for the Northfield Mount Hermon School and a win for Hobby Lobby," said Steven Green, president of Hobby Lobby in a statement released Wednesday. "Our three organizations all care deeply about education and establishing a worthwhile mission on the historic Northfield campus."

The C.S. Lewis Foundation hopes to have the school open in fall of 2012, and aims to enroll 400 students, hire 40 faculty members and fill 45 staff positions by 2019. The foundation had considered several other locations throughout the country, including New Jersey, North Carolina and California.

According to the foundation, C.S. Lewis College "will be rooted in the historic Christian faith and so structured as to ensure its fidelity to that profession. It will be characterized by a firm commitment to 'Mere Christianity,' and therefore be inclusive of Christians of all traditions."