School gym work nearing completion

Helena Flats School will have a newly reinforced gym roof when classes begin this fall.

Workers this week are hanging drywall in the gymnasium, bringing the project close to completion. The project began several months ago after a laminated beam failed.

It cost more than $90,000 to replace it with a steel beam in December, but the potential alternative — injury or worse, should the roof collapse — was much costlier.

The structural engineer who replaced the beam told the school that its failure had put too much pressure on the remaining supports and they also would have to be retrofitted, Principal Ann Minckler said.

But the price tag for all four pillars was too steep for Helena Flats, and the beams were simply shored up with temporary pillars.

“The facility is safe for us to use in its current state, however the structural engineer has indicated that the longer the beams are supported by the temporary pillars, the more damage will be done to them,” Minckler told the Inter Lake this spring. “This project is a priority, but given the financial situation, not one we feel we can address without grant funding.”

She submitted grant applications before Christmas break, hoping to secure funds that would allow the school to finish the project. But it wasn’t until this spring that Minckler learned that the applications had been approved.

The district received an $11,485 emergency grant that helped pay part of the $90,636 bill for the failed beam’s replacement, Minckler said. The rest of that amount came out of the district’s general fund budget and other one-time-only federal stimulus funds.

This spring, Helena Flats received a $172,204 Quality Schools Project Grant, which allowed the school to retrofit the gym’s remaining four beams, she said.

Both grants were from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds administered through the Montana Department of Commerce.

The funds were designated for construction projects and could not be used to help the district’s $70,000 general fund budget shortfall, district clerk Tonnie Decker said.

A crew from Hammerquist and Casalegno has been at work for about a week.

Workers removed old drywall and insulation, put in four trusses for each of the four beams and welded them into place.

Once the drywall has been hung, the only thing left will be painting, Minckler said.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.