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	$1 Million Needed to Save Marist Building But Neither Diocese nor City Is Prepared to Pay the Bill By Rob O'Dell Arizona Daily Star [Tucson] April 14, 2007 http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/178415 The minimum price to save part of Tucson's history and something unique to Southern Arizona: $1 million. That's the cost estimate, in a "Final Historic Structure Report" done by the city, to stabilize the more than 90-year-old Marist College Downtown, at the northwest corner of the St. Augustine Cathedral square, and just to make it structurally sound. Where the money would come from, however, remains a question. Diocese of Tucson officials say the church doesn't have the money. And while a majority of the City Council supports doing something, there is no agreement to put up the cash. The three-story adobe walls are beginning to crumble and a corner of the building, which fell off during the 2005 monsoon, remains covered by a tarp that swings in and out with the wind. The $1 million would make the building whole by repairing the holes, building a steel skeleton inside for stabilization and removing the current outer shell and replacing it with a more compatible plaster that would better repel water, the report says. Renovating the interior to make it usable would be another $1 million to $2 million. Marist, which housed a Catholic school from 1915 to 1968, is the only three-story adobe in Southern Arizona, and maybe in Arizona, said John Shaheen, diocese property and insurance director. Shaheen said the diocese would like to sell or give the building to the city, a nonprofit organization or a private developer because the church can't afford to fix it. The diocese is coming out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy after paying more than $22 million to settle claims of child sexual abuse by priests. Shaheen said the diocese's priorities are buildings and churches in use, like the 88-year-old Santa Cruz Church on South Sixth Avenue, which requires a new ceiling and supporting trusses. "Coming out of bankruptcy, we don't have the funds to put to that building," Shaheen said. "We're working with the city to see if there is something we can do cooperatively," he said, adding that the diocese would turn the building over to the city if the right use can be found. City officials are eager to save the building, but not to shell out the $1 million. Councilman Jose Ibarra, whose office put up the $24,000 for the report, is leading the charge. "It's an important piece of Tucson's history," Ibarra said. "We need to do everything we can to save and preserve the building." Ibarra said he would like to form a public-private partnership to raise the stabilization money, with ownership of the building in the city's hands. Mayor Bob Walkup said the city and church should do everything they can to save the building, but whatever deal they come up with needs to make financial sense. "We are not going to fix it up and have it sit there as an empty building." he said. Councilwoman Nina Trasoff said she's open to the city taking a role. "I don't want to look back in 20 years and have it have to be re-created" like Tucson is now doing with its Presidio and frontier-era historic sites Downtown and on the West Side, she said. Still, she said, the city "can't be the first stop" to fix everything. City Manager Mike Hein is much less eager to step in and rescue the building, questioning what it would be used for after it's fixed up. "At some point I'm clearly sensitive to preserving cultural and historic structures and facilities," Hein said. "However, there comes a time when the city cannot be the local government to assist with structures that have fallen into decay that the city hasn't had a responsibility for." Ibarra suggested the building could be a mix of residential and commercial uses that are sensitive to the cathedral next door. Shaheen said it could be offices, a charter school, visitor center or even a Latino cultural center. Councilman Steve Leal said he is open to putting city money in, because an adobe that large and old is so unique, but said much of the $1 million should come from other sources. Contact reporter Rob O'Dell at 573-4240 or rodell@azstarnet.com.
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