The closure process that will eventually see 15 acres of U.S. Army land at Fort Missoula transferred or sold to another owner grinds on.

On Friday, the lengthy process surfaced publicly, as veteran groups around Missoula asked what might become of the property that long housed the Army Reserve Center at Veuve Hall.

"We've always been interested in finding a place where maybe all the veterans groups in town could have a central location," said Dave Fowlkes of the United Veterans Council. "We're just trying to keep this on the radar in case it's a place we might be able to use."

On Friday morning, a handful of veterans met with Scott McKean, a base transition coordinator with the U.S. Army Reserve in Seattle.

McKean outlined the process that started the Fort Missoula closure and updated the veterans on the current status of the discussion, which involves a possible transfer of land to the U.S. Forest Service.

"Right now, the ball is in the Forest Service's court," McKean said. "But it's still a process, and it's been a long and arduous one."

The Fort Missoula facility, which includes a handful of other buildings, came under the Army's Base Realignment and Closure process in 2005. The Army was looking to close bases that no longer met its needs, save money, and relocate some of its reserve centers with National Guard centers.

That's what will happen in Missoula, as reserve operations will be housed at the new National Guard Armory being built at the Wye.

The first notification of the Fort Missoula closure came in May 2006. After that, the Army contacted the city and county of Missoula, offering them the possibility of setting up something called a local redevelopment authority. That authority would study potential public uses of the land and buildings before putting them back in use.

But the city and county declined to take part.

McKean said it's not entirely clear why the jurisdictions lacked interest.

"We're in the process of trying to find the letters that went back and forth from the city and county so that we understand, but right now we're still moving ahead," said McKean.

That refusal allowed the Army to offer the property to other federal agencies. The Bureau of Land Management, which has an office at the fort, declined.

But the Lolo National Forest, which already leases a parking lot for its offices at the fort, expressed an interest.

"They have a concept for what they want to do with the land," McKean said. "The question now is whether the transfer actually gets made."

Boyd Hartwig, spokesman for the Lolo National Forest, said the agency is very interested in the property.

"We're very interested in that property in terms of providing us some additional office space," Hartwig said. "And right now those discussions are moving ahead."

That bit of business is being conducted over the heads of Hartwig and McKean, but McKean said an agreement could be reached at any time.

For the veterans groups, that means they might be one day dealing with the Forest Service if they want office space.

"They mentioned that they might be looking for lease partners, so that's a possibility," McKean said.

And that would be fine with John Angwin, who represents American Legion Post 27.

"We're out on Ronan Street, which is pretty out of the way, so this is a space that could interest us," said Angwin.

McKean said there was no way to know when the negotiations would end, but the veterans seemed in no particular hurry.

McKean said that if the property isn't transferred to the Forest Service, it would go to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD, McKean said, would evaluate the property in terms of its possible use for housing homeless people.

"That could be working with the city or with nonprofit groups, however that's handled here in Missoula," McKean said.

If the property isn't suitable for that use, then and only then could it wind up on the commercial real estate market, he said.

Reporter Michael Moore can be reached at 523-5252 or by e-mail at mmoore@missoulian.com.