PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Supreme Court, in a decision that could save what is left of a vintage former elementary school on Federal Hill, has ruled that a lower court had no right to require the city to order it demolished.

While the ruling, written by Justice Paul Suttell, appeared to be a victory for the city and preservationists, it still leaves uncertain the fate of the former Grove Street School, a two-story brick building that was built in 1901 and closed in the 1970s. Its current owners started tearing it down more than two years ago, prompting a city lawsuit contending they needed permission from Providence’s Historic District Commission.

Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini, in April 2008, fined the owners for trying to raze the building without a permit. But he also concluded that the building was unsafe and he directed that the city’s building inspector issue a demolition permit. At that point, half of the building had already been demolished.

The Supreme Court, in a ruling issued Thursday, agreed that the building is unsafe and that the city must act to ensure public safety. But it also said that it is up to the city to decide how to accomplish that — whether by ordering demolition or mandating repairs.

The building is owned by the surviving children of Richard E. Tarro, who bought it in 1993 to make way for added parking for the family-owned funeral home, on Broadway. Tarro died in 2001.

Michael A. Tarro, an assistant city solicitor, is among Richard Tarro’s children and one of the defendants in the city’s suit. “If something could be done to restore it, I would do it,” said Tarro. “But all the engineering and data I have shows that it would be impossible financially to rehabilitate.”

The family started demolition of the school in February 2007, but the city issued a stop-work order and filed the lawsuit.

During a weeklong trial before Procaccini, the owners argued that the building was unsafe and had to be demolished and the city produced an expert witness who testified that it was structurally sound.

Procaccini in April 2008 ruled in favor of the family — although he also fined the Tarros and their demolition contractor a total of $4,869 for doing the work without a permit. His order to the city was stayed when the city filed its appeal with the Supreme Court. Both the Tarros and preservationists on Thursday claimed victory. “It a very important ruling to preservationists because it signals to owners that demolition by neglect is not allowed,” said Vicki Veh, interim president of the Providence Preservation Society. “You can’t neglect a building for decades and then decide to tear it down.”

Michael Tarro said that the ruling supports the earlier judgment that the building is unsafe. He says the logical solution is to tear it down. “Someone is going to die in that building, and I can’t live with that,” he said.

Some residents still hold out the hope that the Grove Street School, sandwiched among three-story tenements, can be salvaged.

“There is a lot of potential for redesign now that it has been partially torn down. It’s an opportunity to merge a new, modern style with the old,” said Anne Tait, president of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association.

The Grove Street School was one of more than a half-dozen schools built on Federal Hill during an era of heavy immigration.

pmarcelo@projo.com