Board finalizes sale of old C-Falls junior high building

The Columbia Falls School Board on Monday approved a buy-sell agreement with Ruis Holdings to sell the old junior high school.

Ruis in September offered the district $550,000 for the building. The buy-sell formalizes that agreement. Since then the school has had a survey done. The sale also includes some vacant land surrounding the school.

Today it is part of Glacier Gateway Elementary. The district no longer needs the old junior high and its two gymnasiums, as it's building a new Glacier Gateway Elementary just to the north.

Owner Mick Ruis clarified last week that he doesn’t plan on tearing down the old school, but will remodel the interior for senior housing. The two gyms that come with the school will be used by the tenants and the Ruis Wrestling Academy, which he founded.

The old junior high, under the Ruis plan, would have about 30 units.

Ruis has completed several projects in Columbia Falls already, including condos on Nucleus Avenue and Glacier Courtyards on Fifth Street. He also build the Cedar Creek Lodge and is working on a project for more housing, commercial space, a boutique hotel and a restaurant in the city square.

The city also just recently approved a 102-unit housing project off Meadow Lake Boulevard that will be built by Ruis.

In Kalispell he’s turning former grain silos into a restaurant and a housing complex and he’s also completed housing and commercial projects in Whitefish.

In California, he’s also done a couple of housing projects as well.