Old school facing new lease

By BRENT SHRUM Western News Reporter

Libby's old high school building downtown may have a new lease on life following a meeting Friday between the school board and a Spokane developer interested in renovating the nearly 90-year-old structure.

Facilitated by Friends of Historic Libby High School, the meeting was the first between the school district and a representative of ConoverBond Development, which is proposing to buy the building and remodel it for commercial, residential or government use. The meeting also included representatives of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Montana Preservation Alliance and the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, who are supportive of efforts to spare the building from demolition.

ConoverBond's Ryan Romaneski said his company, which has been restoring historic buildings since 1986, is excited about the role the building could play in a revitalized downtown. He said the first thing he wanted to do was dispel rumors that the building can't be saved. ConoverBond has renovated buildings far more deteriorated and with complications such as asbestos and lead paint that needed to be dealt with, he said.

"It is absolutely possible to save that building," he said.

Four basic options for re-use have been looked at, including general office use, apartments or condominiums, a hotel and civic/government use, Romaneski said. Of those, the last has been examined most closely, he said.

The Libby City Council has expressed some interest in the idea of moving city offices to the old school building, Romaneski said. He pointed out that relocation of City Hall to a downtown location is part of Libby Revitalization Inc.'s plans.

Based on rough cost estimates, Romaneski put the price tag for renovating the building at around $2.6 million. He said funding could come from a variety of sources, starting with registering the building on a national list of historic structures to allow the generation of historic tax credits that could then be sold to a large corporation. The income from the sale of tax credits could be used to leverage bank financing, he said.

A member of the board of directors for First National Bank has looked at the proposal, including potential rental incomes, and thinks financing from a commercial bank wouldn't be a problem, Romaneski said.

"When you come down to it and look at the numbers, the project makes sense," he said.

Additional funding could be obtained from federal grants for rural development, Romaneski said.

"Financially, the project can get done," he said.

Romaneski added that renovating the building would involve a "fairly substantial" construction contract that would employ local people.

School board member John Herrmann said the trustees are the "keepers of the purse strings" for the district and must safeguard the interests of the taxpayers. He indicated that the board might support a project that seems viable.

"It's only viable if we sell it, and we have to sell it a price that makes sense to the school district," he said.

The $100,000 previously offered by Friends doesn't make sense, Herrmann said. After 71 percent of voters in last May's school election cast ballots supporting the sale of the building, the board sought bids, setting a price of $350,000. The only offer the district received was a re-submission of the original proposal from Friends.

The building has been vacant since the Lincoln County Campus of Flathead Valley Community College moved out in 2000. Libby City Council member Gary Huntsberger, who has been an outspoken advocate for demolishing the building, noted that he was on the school board in 2002 when the issue of renovation first came up from the group that became Friends.

"How many years do you go on?" he said. "I mean on and on and on."

There still are no specific proposals for the building, Huntsberger said, only options.

"There is no plan," he said. "There is no financial plan. There is no specific plan. There is simply a buy-sell agreement."

Huntsberger said he thinks the property is worth more without the building on it. He said he was given an estimate of $350,000 by a local title company. He said his own vision is for the district to sell its property at the corner of U.S. Highway 2 and Louisiana Avenue, which is currently used as a park, and turn the property where the old school sits into a new park that could be used for community events like Logger Days and Nordicfest.

"So many architects, so many builders" have expressed an opinion over the years that the building isn't feasible to renovate, Huntsberger said. He expressed skepticism about rental possibilities barring "a large government entity" interested in moving into the building. He pointed out that the current City Hall was given to the city and questioned whether the city would be willing and able to pay rent.

Huntsberger's wife, Kate, who currently sits on the school board, asked Romaneski if ConoverBond would be the owner of the building under its proposal.

"I think that's a huge part of my decision," she said. "Because we want to know who is going to own the building and what they're going to do with it."

The district does not want to own the building, she said.

Romaneski said various options have been discussed, including sole ownership by ConoverBond and a public-private partnership.

Board chair Teri Kelly said she's concerned that the building will remain vacant and nothing will happen.

"Unfortunately, this community has not really stepped up to support things like this," she said, pointing to the failure of a recent bond issue and mill levy to support a public swimming pool and to the struggles of the Memorial Center.

Only 18 percent voted on the ballot question regarding the sale of the old school, Kelly said.

"Eighteen percent of the community is not a huge commitment on something like this," she said.

The city council and the county commissioners have written letters of support for the project on the condition that it is financially feasible and can be done in a timely manner. Mayor Tony Berget said the council is looking at moving back downtown, possibly into the old City Hall building, but that as far back as 1972 the city was looking at expanding that building.

"We will support however the community wants to move forward," he said.

Council member Charlene Leckrone was more emphatic in her support for the proposal.

"It would be wonderful if we moved in there and everything was renovated and everybody was happy," she said.

Leckrone said the building should be saved and that she has faith that filling it would not be a problem. Before the city could move in, however, it would have to find a tenant for the current City Hall, she said.

LRI director Betty Jo Wood said she's encouraged by ConoverBond's interest in the project, given the company's track record.

"You guys are not going to invest in something that's not going to make money," she told Romaneski, who agreed.

"I'm sorry, but we're not a charity," he said.

School district superintendent Kirby Maki said Friday the price of demolishing the building has been estimated at $50,000. Former school board member Lee Disney, now leading the Friends effort to save the building, said he thinks that number is low and it would take more like $150,000 "to turn it into a nice parking lot."

The district wants to see a plan for the property and to negotiate a reasonable price before selling, Maki said.

"Our board has worked hard on this, and they haven't said they wouldn't sell," he said.

Lincoln County Commissioner Rita Windom suggested an appropriate price for the sale of the building might be the value of the land minus the cost of demolition. School board members pointed out that they never received a counter-offer after setting their price.

"Three-fifty was an asking price," Kelly said.

Romaneski said he would like to see a full appraisal on the building and land. Friends has already offered to pay for it, he said.

Kelly asked Romaneski what the next step is. He said he will start putting together a more concrete plan, arranging an appraisal and assembling an offer to present to the district. Kelly invited Romaneski to the board's January meeting to provide a progress report.

Maki said the involvement by ConoverBond and the historic preservation organizations present at Friday's meeting was encouraging.

"It seems to me like it's almost a done deal, depending on the plan and the money," he said.