Group says demolition of St. Frances Xavier shouldn't be considered

A Missoula man who is convinced that the old St. Frances Xavier School building is in danger of meeting the bulldozer will ask the Missoula County commissioners for their support Monday afternoon. But parish officials say Tom Moylan's campaign is out of line, misinformed and does not have the approval of the majority of parish members.

Moylan formed the Save St. Francis Xavier School Foundation last fall out of worry that the parish was planning to raze the building at the corner of West Spruce and Orange streets. He and a board of directors have been holding monthly meetings in City Council chambers and conducting a public campaign for support for new uses for the empty building.

"I think demolition is absolutely always there as a possibility," Moylan said this week.

"We're in a high-stakes poker game for a multimillion-dollar property," he said, "whether to keep it in use for a mission, to keep it in use for children or to make it into a parking lot."

The building, built in 1927 and home to St. Joseph School until 1999, is not in danger, said the Rev. Rich Perry, pastor of the St. Francis Xavier Parish.

Through the winter, the parish has been conducting planning to redefine its strategic plan. It is in the second phase now, during which its members are choosing which programs to commit to. In the last parish forum, the ideas had 99 percent support by a vote, he said. The parish has 850 families as members, or about 2,000 people.

Discussion about the parish buildings, which include two former schools, the historic church and the rectory on a campus at Orange and Spruce streets near St. Patrick Hospital, will not come up until the end of the process. The parish cannot know how it will use its buildings until it decides on its programs for the new century, he said.

Until then, Moylan's campaign is irrelevant and premature, Perry said.

"His group is not affiliated with the parish," he said. "He does not have any authority. He does not own the building, even though he is quoting people cost-per-square-foot numbers when he has no authority to do it."

Moylan has not talked to Perry or asked for an appointment for more than six months, Perry said.

The old school building could be an important part of Missoula cultural tourism, Moylan said his group will tell the commissioners Monday. It could be a center for child development and after-school programs or a community center for the north side of town.

Moylan is conducting a fund-raising campaign to support new uses for the building. The foundation has appeared on Missoula Community Access Television and has a Web site, www.xavierfoundation.net. It is sponsoring an essay contest with cash prizes for children and adults to express their memories and wishes for the old school building.

The state Historic Preservation Review Board voted in December to nominate the entire St. Francis block to the national Register of Historic Places. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena objected to the nomination as also premature until the parish completes its strategic planning and decides on uses for its buildings. The Diocese owns the block and the buildings.

"I think that makes it a matter of some public interest, especially since we're a tourist town," Moylan said. "People come visit for who we are, not just parking lots."

Moylan would like the county commissioners to approve his foundation's efforts.

"We would like their support," he said. "But the main thing is just the privilege of this informational session."

Reporter Ginny Merriam can be reached at 523-5251 at gmerriam@missoulian.com.

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