The Academy of Lourdes was located at 514 W Center, on the block where a Mayo Clinic employee parking ramp now stands.. A school for girls built in 1877, it was founded by Mother Mary Alfred, the same Franciscan nun who spearheaded the founding of St Mary's Hospital. The school frequently moved locations, but the original building remained until the Academy changed names and ceased to exist in 1912. Today, the school's spirit exists in the 1940 Lourdes High School only a couple of blocks from where it all started.