Ex-Legion of Christ school in S. Kingstown could become addiction-treatment center

By Paul Grimaldi

Providence Journal
March 15, 2015

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150315/NEWS/150319495

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — One of the pastoral properties held in Rhode Island by a controversial religious order could soon become an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center run by a new health-care company.

Pennsylvania-based Recovery Centers of America has an agreement to pay approximately $5 million for a 35.5-acre property off Route 1 that once housed the Immaculate Conception Academy, according to a company representative.

The company plans to convert the former boarding school into an addiction-treatment center with about 100 beds, said Matthew F. Callahan, the company's Rhode Island lawyer. The facility would offer both in-patient and outpatient services.

It does not plan to subdivide the property.

The property would be returned to the town's tax roll should Recovery Centers succeed in gaining the necessary governmental approvals.

The town's planning board has made a positive recommendation for a "zoning text amendment" needed to permit alcohol and drug treatment facilities on properties of at least 25 acres located in R-80 residential zones, such as the one in which the Immaculate Conception Academy sits.

The Town Council would have to approve that wording change to South Kingstown's ordinances and then the company would have to go before the Zoning Board of Review for a special-use permit. The project would then proceed to the Planning Board for review.

The state also would have to sign off on the company's treatment program.

"We really need a facility in Rhode Island that can handle these types of issues," said Callahan.

If the company's bid is successful, it would bring to the property a new, secular effort in shaping the human spirit.

The land and buildings were once used as administrative offices for the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, the religious order that founded Prout.

It also was home to Mount St. Joseph College.

In 1990, the manor-style main structure and other building became part of the significant but low-profile presence held in Rhode Island by the Legion of Christ.

The Legion of Christ once ran three schools for girls and young women and owned millions of dollars worth of real estate in Smithfield and South Kingstown.

The academy, a boarding school tucked into the woods behind The Prout School and the Washington County Court House, closed in 2012 amid declining enrollment and charges by former students of psychological abuse.

Allegations by 77 former students that they were subjected to psychological abuse while at Immaculate Conception Academy created an international sensation that reverberated inside The Vatican. 

The academy buildings now sit vacant, Callahan said.

The buildings could be filled again should Recovery Centers of America be able to move forward with its $13-million renovation plan.

The plan for the South Kingstown property is one of several the company is pursuing for treatment centers. It is working on plans for about five others in Massachusetts, with plans for more as it moves to be the "first national brand of treatment centers," according to the company website.

The newly formed company headquartered in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia, is backed by J. Brian O'Neill, the same man who helped create the residential enclave at Carnegie Abbey around a 21-story Kaiser industrial tower that was converted to luxury housing.

O'Neill has secured $200 million to back Recovery Centers' plans, according to Philadelphia media reports.