BEL-NOR • A push from community activists to save a historic convent near the University of Missouri-أغر؟´«أ½ campus has paid off, as the school announced Monday the of the building has been canceled.
The fate of the old Incarnate Word Convent had become a contentious issue for years as nearby residents working to save the historic building accused UMSL of isolating itself from the community and ignoring alternative proposals that would have kept the structure intact.
On Monday, UMSL spokesman Bob Samples said school Chancellor Thomas George canceled the planned summer demolition so as not to antagonize the community.
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“The chancellor felt that we have a very positive relationship with the community and he wanted to do whatever he could to maintain that positive relationship,†Samples said.
Dan Riley, part of a particularly vocal group of nearby residents, said he knew the university would eventually wear down in the face of pressure.
“It’s a pretty good feeling,†he said.
“It’s rare to have an administrator at UMSL to make it to 15 years,†Riley added. “We have generations of people who’ve been here and who are invested in the community. At the end of the day, we want to have some control over what happens to us.â€
The original decision to tear down the 1920s-era convent was part of UMSL’s broader plan to address its maintenance backlog of roughly $300 million.
The university estimated that it would cost $11 million to renovate the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word convent, now called Normandie Hall, and the attached residential space, St. Agnes Hall.
The buildings had previously been used for campus housing, the honors college and office space but had been left vacant in recent years.
The decision to demolish the buildings was met with a that resulted in a petition, and a series of meetings meant to stop the demolition.
A number of ideas that were floated by the community to refurbish the buildings as a charter school or a retirement community either didn’t make financial sense or came too late in the process, UMSL officials said.
Community members got a when UMSL announced the demolition was on hold indefinitely. They got their victory on Monday with the cancellation announcement.
UMSL had previously entered into a $850,000 agreement with a contractor to tear the buildings down. Samples, the university spokesman, said the university will have to pay an unspecified fee to cancel the contract.
