Three flights of stairs and a steep slope to the unattached gymnasium are two of the accessibility issues at Central School.

School officials discussed the challenges and needs of the Helena School District’s oldest building at a work session Tuesday night.

Central School and the Seventh Avenue Gym are vintage buildings in a historical district near Helena’s downtown. The gym was built in 1907, the school in 1921, and both survived the earthquake of 1935.

The site for the 269 students who attend school there and 31 staff members who work there are 92 percent of the recommended size by Wyoming’s Education Specifications. Helena uses Wyoming’s specifications because Montana has none. The 3.45-acre site on is only 42 percent of the recommended size of 6.7 acres.

Not unique to Helena elementary schools, Central has no grass on the playground, and Support Services Supervisor John Carter notes the electrical transformer in the middle of the playground is less than ideal.

On-site parking at the school is inadequate without any formal agreement with surrounding churches in the area. Staff and visitors are forced to park in the streets.

Carter said the intersection directly in front of the main entrance of the school creates challenges in providing an appropriate loading zone for buses and families.

The main entrance is accessible, since it is on ground level, but inside the school, people who cannot climb the stairs are stuck. There are no elevators or ramps.

This is a major challenge, Carter said, because the cafeteria is in the basement and the library is upstairs.

The old school is void of any mechanical ventilation, but the gym’s system, installed in 1995, is adequate.

Carter said the electrical distribution is minimal. At the time of construction, having two outlets in a room was a luxury, he said. The building, like most in the district, has no fire suppression system.

Carter said there are no imminent safety issues associated with buildings, but it takes continuous work to keep the brick and mortar maintained.

Trustee Terry Beaver, a former Central School student, is concerned about the stack at the gym and bricks falling off. Carter said the district is looking at a number of ways to address that. Because of its historical value, it probably can’t be torn down. One option is putting a skeleton skin around it.

The estimated costs of repairs over the next 15 years range between $3.87 million and $5.6 million. Carter said it’s hard to project those costs exactly, and the issues in the assessment are just to bring the building up to current code, and are not addressing everything officials might like it to be.

Superintendent Bruce Messinger said if the school’s building issues are addressed, the district would have to look at many buildings that are need of repair, and that would likely force a bond issue. There’s only enough in the Building Reserve Fund for annual maintenance and upkeep.

Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com