Columbia Falls approves covenants for junior high

The Columbia Falls School District 6 board has approved the covenants on the old junior high school, assuring that it will be senior housing.

Developer Mick Ruis has agreed to purchase the building and its gymnasiums for $550,000. He previously said his plan was to convert the building into senior housing — the covenants, among other things, lock that plan in place.

The covenants expressly state the property “shall be used to provide senior housing in the community.”

In turn, it says the property “shall not be used for single family or multi-family residential dwellings.”

It also prohibits subdivision of the property without the written consent of the school district. The property can’t be used for commercial retail activity, either.

The covenants do, however, allow Ruis to “permit the historical public use of the gymnasium for community purposes.”

The covenants would extend to any future owners of the property.

The district decided to sell the building after it learned it would cost even more to tear it down, as it has asbestos in ceiling and floor tiles in some areas of the building.

The cost to tear it down was estimated at more than $1.3 million.

“The Ruis Team has a vision of intergenerational interaction between seniors, children and young adults in the community as well as to revitalize an existing structure in Columbia Falls as the community grows and flourishes,” Ruis said in its application to the school district when it first proposed buying the building.

The developer said he would use the gym, at least in part, to house the Ruis Wrestling Academy, a youth wrestling program he funds.

Ruis was an avid wrestler in his youth.