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The Paradise Center has been making strides in its development.

In 1910, the Paradise School was built and first serviced kindergarten through high school until later dropping down to only kindergarten through eighth grade. The school faced closing in 2013 when enrollment was a mere five students. In 2016 the building began its new life as a community, visitor and arts center.

Tours of the Paradise Center are available May 25-26 from 11 a.m. through 3 p.m. Regular summer hour tours Tuesday through Saturdays beginning May 28.     

When you first enter the Paradise Center, you are met with beautiful art that decorates the wall donated by local artists and photographers that shine light on the beauty of the building. You can take a self-guided tour with a map and informational postings about each of the rooms, or you can take a tour given by one of the volunteers.

The different rooms are set up to showcase the history of the building, the town of Paradise, and also Northwestern Montana. One of the rooms has been staged to replicate what a classroom looked like in the building during the mid to late 20th century.

In the process of joining the classroom is a railroad diorama that honors the history Paradise has with the railroad and the railroad tie plant that used to be there. Another room features a 3-D exhibit of Northwest Montana. The exhibit includes an interactive panel where buttons can be pressed and lights on the exhibit show locations of towns, rivers, and gives an example of Glacier Lake Missoula and how large the lake was.

Judy Stephens gave a tour while giving her personal experiences with the building. Stephens went to school in Paradise from grades kindergarten through eighth grade along with her four siblings. Her father worked for the railroad tie plant and her mother taught at the Paradise school. Stephens shares a special connection with each of the rooms. There are two main staircases on each side of the building, the left was for the girls to use and the right was used by the boys. Walking up the right staircase, Stephens commented that there is still an odd feeling she gets when she uses the "boys" stairs.  

Callie Jacobson

SLOW AND STEADY – Dianne Zimmerman gives a demonstration to her art class on how to get great results when manipulating the alcohol ink with an air can. Each color of ink reacts differently on the tiles and no two applications with be the same.

When you drive up to the Paradise Center, one of the first things you notice is the large metal fire escape that is still attached. The hatch doors at the top of the fire escape are being repaired but other than that it is still functional. During regular fire drills the school held, the building could be evacuated in under a minute.   

The Paradise Center currently serves as space where art classes can meet. There is even a space set up for ceramics classes, complete with a kiln.

Dianne Zimmerman held an art class where she taught how alcohol ink could be manipulated on ceramic tiles with air to create beautiful splashes of color and pattern. She provided the materials and gave a brief demonstration on how the ink reacts. The ink used was alcohol based and when it was applied to the tiles, there was a short time where you can apply air from the side and make the ink spread fast across the tile, clashing with the other colors you use and making a unique pattern every time.