If there are any ghosts in the silent, empty St. Catherine Indian School, they may be happy to know that the site could be filled with singing, dancing, performing artists within a few years — if the New Mexico School for the Arts succeeds in its bid to make St. Catherine its new home.

The School for the Arts — a state charter high school that opened in August 2010 in the former St. Francis Cathedral School at the corner of East Alameda Street and Paseo de Peralta — announced Friday that it is working with the city of Santa Fe to secure a permanent home at St. Catherine.

This public/private partnership would ultimately require the arts school to raise an estimated $12 million in private money for renovations. The move would hinge upon the city of Santa Fe first purchasing the property from current owner Max Tafoya, who bought the 18-acre site in 2005. The school would then arrange a long-term lease for the property from the city, with the school being responsible for renovations, upgrades and maintenance of the property.

"We've known all along that the lease on our current campus is only four years; we are in [the] second year now," said Adelma Hnasko, executive director of the art school's nonprofit Arts Education Institute, which funds arts, outreach and the school's residential program.

"St. Kate's is an incredible historic site in dire need of private money to revitalize and re-energize it, and bring it into its rightful use as a statewide boarding school," she said.

She said the arts school cannot afford to buy the St. Catherine site outright because of the need for investing in renovations. (Tafoya reportedly bought the property for between $2.8 million and $4 million.) The school hopes Coss will put forth a resolution for the city to purchase the property at the Oct. 12 City Council meeting.

Coss confirmed he and several city councilors have discussed the idea, but he said there's no resolution in place yet. He said the property could benefit the city for a number of reasons and allow the arts school to operate while offering potential extra space for the nearby Santa Fe National Cemetery.

"We're just talking with the School for the Arts, but there's no action on it yet," Coss said. He said he's not sure what the price tag would be for the St. Catherine property.

The Santa Fe City Council and the state Historic Preservation Office designated most of the school's 19 buildings as cultural landmarks in 2006. Hnasko said the school would adhere to any guidelines set down by that ruling.

"We would honor those historic designations but look to make the buildings that exist there more modern," she said.

The arts school has 184 students from around the state, Hnasko said. She said the school's current facilities can only comfortably house 200 students. In June, the school will graduate its first class of 28 seniors.

As it is, the school has no room for rehearsal space for its dance department. Students commute to take dance classes at the National Dance Institute of New Mexico's Dance Barns on Alto Street.

She said the school would start a three-phase program to renovate the St. Catherine campus. Students could probably move into the new site after completion of the first phase, estimated to cost at least $5 million.

She emphasized that the arts school could provide student boarding on campus at St. Catherine. Now it leases dorm space at the New Mexico School for the Deaf for 14 students.

Lynn Clark, president of the Historic St. Catherine's Neighborhood Association, comprising about 100 people from the nearby area, said Monday that the association would support the plan.

"We had an association meeting several years ago that included a lengthy discussion on what the neighbors felt would be the most compatible development for our neighborhood," she said, emphasizing that there are only two small neighborhood roads providing access to St. Catherine. "There was unanimous approval for a school there."

St. Catherine was founded in 1887 by Philadelphia philanthropist Katharine Drexel's Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. It closed in 1998. Since that time, various factions have proposed development ideas for the property.

Tafoya recently petitioned the City Council for permission to demolish some of the site's buildings, but his request was denied. The city's Historic Design Review Board is slated to hear Tafoya's request to move three landmark houses at Tuesday's meeting.

Kitty Leaken, secretary of the Historic St. Catherine's Neighborhood Association, said, "The history of St. Catherine's school, its location, its legacy — everything about it just says 'green light' for a new school."

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.