Creating a community center
School District 6 is trying to decide how Canyon Elementary will be used after it longer houses students after this school year.
The School District 6 long-range planning committee is taking suggestions for how best to utilize the Canyon Elementary building once it no longer houses students.
The committee met Monday night with several members of the Canyon community to brainstorm. The committee plans to meet again in the near future to hear further suggestions.
“It’s crucial to us as a school district, and I believe to the Canyon community, that the Canyon Elementary School building stay vital and be used to provide services to the community,” said district superintendent Michael Nicosia. “How are we going to keep that building the heart of the community?”
During the meeting, a number of ideas were brought forward. Nicosia said he’s spoken with the CEO of North Valley Hospital about providing a primary care physician for the area, possibly as much as five days a week.
Other ideas included an emergency care clinic, a sheriff’s office, classroom space where Flathead Valley Community College could provide continuing education to help Canyon residents earn GEDs or Columbia Falls High School diplomas, an area for Park Service training sessions, a meeting space for the Gateway to Glacier - The Canyon group, a space for a daycare or preschool, a weekend gathering place for families to congregate and play sports together, a place for summer school activities, a meeting place for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, a center for income tax counseling and a community kitchen space.
Nicosia said the building could provide the space for minimal cost to public service-minded individuals or agencies; the district must keep paying the utility bill even if the building is vacant, so public services would be charged minimal rent and the district could recoup some money toward utilities.
“We’re in a transition period for the community up there,” said Lee Swafford, pastor at the Baptist church in Hungry Horse. “We need to involve them, invest it into their lives and reach out to people. The school closing is a bad situation. Let’s take the situation and make a good thing out of it.”
Nicosia said it’s important that the community come together to form a governing board for the school to make sure the facility is administered in programmatic fashion.
“People need to depend on it, plan on it, so that it becomes a part of their life,” said trustee Gail Pauley.
Jennilee Burke, who was part of a parent group trying to secure a secession of the school to West Glacier District 8 — an effort that has since been abandoned — said she wants to see the school’s resources utilized.
“I would love to see a library hour once a week for pre-schoolers,” she said. “This is an opportunity for Canyon kids to do things they don’t necessarily get to experience.”
Nicosia also floated the idea of reviving the activity bus, a special bus route for Canyon kids who are participating in after-school activities.
“Our town kids are doing community recreation, playing basketball in second grade,” he said. “We need the Canyon kids to have every opportunity the town kids have.”
The committee hopes more Canyon community members will come forward with ideas about how to use the elementary school building. Another meeting will be scheduled soon. To contribute to the discussion, call Lee Swafford at (423) 507-4035 or Jennilee Burke at 387-4492.