The Paradise Center is getting closer to bringing its 112-year-old building up to a more modern structure while maintaining its historic appearance.

Workers began removing the old school's boiler system, which is believed to be from the 1930s and took specialized training to operate, last Monday. "It's a dinosaur and they weren't very efficient," said Brian Betts of Abatement Contractors of Montana, the Missoula company hired to remove the boiler system at a fee of $10,650.

It took Betts, the project manager, and Matt Woldstad of Missoula and Tyler Pierre of Arlee a week to dismantle the boiler and haul it away, including a pickup truck load of asbestos materials. All three workers had to be certified to remove the boiler because of the asbestos involved. They had to wear protective clothing and the area surrounding the unit had a heavy plastic barrier. Betts said the cast iron boiler itself weighed probably two to three tons. They had to use sledgehammers to break it apart. The average piece weighed some 500 pounds. The unit also had sand and numerous bricks inside. Most of the unit was located in the basement, but they also had to dismantle pipes that extended to the main floor.

The job cost included the removal of tile from the boys and girls restrooms, which also had asbestos. The company had been hired in 2018 to remove asbestos laden tiles from the restrooms in the old gymnasium, now the auditorium.

The overall project was $135,850, which includes a $62,500 grant from the M.J.  Murdock Charitable Trust out of Vancouver, Wash., and $62,700 provided by Sanders County as matching funds. The Murdock grant application was written by Karen Thorson, secretary of the Paradise Center Board. The grant was written in 2021 and approved last year and includes the heating system replacement, which will be done by Plains resident Neal Proctor. He will be installing the new electric mini-split heating and cooling system. Proctor installed the heating and air conditioning system in the auditorium in 2016.  

Getting the new heating and air conditioning system installed will be a big weight off the board's shoulders, said Thorson, who added that the old boiler system had repeatedly failed and had been repaired several times over the years. She said that finding parts for it had become extremely difficult. "Its potential failure now or in the future puts at risk everything we have done in terms of renovation, exhibits, and artifacts. Operation of the old boiler also requires supervision by a licensed boiler operator," she said. 

The heating system is the second most expensive project since starting the center in 2016. The biggest project is the ADA elevator that the board hopes will be installed sometime this year, said Thorson, who wrote that grant last year. She said most of that $152,000 came from the Montana Historic Preservation Grant program. Sanders County also contributed matching funds for that project. Thorson is also working on getting funds for a mini-roundhouse that will be located at the Paradise Center Walking Trail and would house items too large for the center. The center received a $32,000 grant from Montana Department of Commerce, Office of Tourism, for the roundhouse project. The board is seeking some $13,000 in matching funds for that project and hopes to complete the structure this summer. "The mini-roundhouse will enable us to exhibit railroad artifacts that are too large for our limited space in the historic school building," said Thorson.

Ed Moreth

OUT WITH THE ANCIENT – Brian Betts of Abatement Contractors of Montana suits up to break apart an old boiler at the Paradise Center.

She said they hope to be reopening for the public this summer and they are looking for volunteers to help. Upcoming events include a creative writing, watercolor painting and fusing classes in May and a summer arts camp for youth in June, which would include painting, pottery, printmaking, music, drama, and creative writing. On June 28, John Maclean (son of Norman Maclean, author of "A River Runs Through It") will be on hand to discuss his books, five of which deal with major fires, and the most recent book - a memoire of his family's life on the Blackfoot River - "Home Waters."