Exclusive: The Exciting New Plan for Old St. James in Butte

BUTTE, MT - Earlier this week, I published an article about my exclusive tour inside the Old St. James Hospital in Butte, where I was lucky enough to be guided around by Cameron Moylan, the current building manager, and took some awesome photos. The tour ended up being slightly emotional for me, as it was remarkable to see the building in its current condition: which is, to say, much better than what one may expect, though walking through the empty maternity ward was impactful—especially since an old photo of what the ward used to look like loomed over.

However, my main purpose for the tour that day was not to take photos, but rather to speak to Cameron and his project lead, Pablo, who owns Montana Labor Solutions, the company working with Cameron and Alpine Customs Inc. to transform the Old St. James Hospital from defunct-yet-functional building into an affordable housing and office space complex.

If you're from Butte America or have been here a while, that might not be the first time you've heard that promise: transforming the old building into something new. In fact, a few owners in the past had attempted and, in some ways, succeeded in turning parts of the building into functional living areas, with remnants of that past still evident.

Although the building owner managed to hold residents in the St. James walls for a while, they eventually split, along with the owner running it. Then, for years, the building has sat there in Uptown Butte, waiting for its retribution from someone who loves, cares, and respects older structures such as itself. Cameron Moylan is such person.

Though young, Cameron has already taken on building projects in the past and owns a few historical buildings similar to the St. James Hospital. In fact, he is so passionate about the history and outstanding engineering of the older structures that he has made it his main mission to not only restore and rectify these structures all around Butte, but to spread the word that they aren't just old buildings waiting to be torn down, but buildings that deserve (and, more importantly, can handle) to have a second life.

Could these structures, such as St. James, handle such a responsibility? Not only could they handle it, Cameron tells me, but they actually serve as more reliable structures than their current, recently-built counterparts. Is that true? Well, I was sold when I considered that—here in America—we have been understandably conditioned to build and outsource most things to be as cheap as possible, including residential and commercial building projects. On top of that, just think about how long these buildings have been around: my current residence in Uptown Butte was constructed in 1880, and, though it has wear and tear to cosmetic elements, it still stands as strong as it did over a hundred years ago. Plus, it's much cheaper overall to refurbish an older, sound building, which usually only has cosmetic flaws, as opposed to tearing the entire thing down and building a new structure that is designed to last 20 years.

That's when it clicked for me: I'm living in a building that's over 100 years old. That is freakin' cool, and I thoroughly enjoy living in a little slice of history. Cameron does too, and that's why he wants to share that feeling and appreciation with those who are looking for affordable housing and, possibly, some office spaces in the future. Thus, the St. James conversion project.

So, where are they at with it? Well, Cameron and Pablo wanted me to be very clear: although restoration is already underway at St. James, the project is being split up into phases, and each phase is a lot of work. That means there is no estimated project completion window I can share that is confident or sure to stay, so we must wait for updates as they progress through. However, I can share that the projected plan for Phase 1 is to get around 8 units on the first floor, including their connected hallways and the main lobby of the building itself, restored and ready to live in.

It may not look like much, but that hallway has transformed almost overnight thanks to Pablo and his team and is a very promising sight for anyone familiar with the state of the hallway before work started. And that's just the thing: Cameron and Pablo truly believe in Old St. James, and their energy for the project is contagious.

What can be done in the meantime as the project continues? We can fight for it. In actuality, most older buildings in Montana are in jeopardy unless someone like Cameron comes along or enough attention is given to the building by the public that the city government steps in. Two significant Montanan structures, in particular, are currently "in jeopardy," one being St. Vincent Hospital in Billings, and the other being our very own Butte Plaza Mall.

St. Vincent, St. James' sister hospital, is almost certainly going to be destroyed within the next few years, which would mean hundreds of millions of dollars of compounded investment would be wiped out—making it the most costly demolition proposal in Montana history. The good news for those who want to save it: there's still time to publicly advocate for its continued use and save it from demolition.

Butte Plaza Mall, on the other hand, is in a safer situation, though it's still notably precarious. The mall is being threatened with demolition, which again would be destroying a very valuable structure that "can be dressed up in any way we want," Cameron says. That's great for those who think it's not the prettiest building, as constructing some more attractive facades would be much cheaper than demolishing it and spending tens of millions on a replacement.

Whether you want to see them burn or you want to help them out, these historic and remarkably structurally-sound buildings are a piece of the town they lie in, and Cameron believes in them. And, darn it, I do too.

See the gallery of the interior of St. James below. And more updates to follow.