Update on Linderman gym nearly year after wall fails
Mounds of snow and ice come to rest inside the Linderman Elementary gym Jan. 6, 2018. Nearly one year land multiple discussions and reports later, the school district and an insurance company are finally making progress over payment, administration says. (Photo courtesy Polson District Schools)
On New Year’s Day 2018, Polson School district administration were made aware of a bowing wall at Linderman Elementary. On Jan. 6, the south non-weight bearing parapet wall collapsed into a locker room. There were no injuries. (File photo)
A portion of Linderman Elementary is reinforced to further secure the gym, which partially collapsed in January. (Ashley Fox/Lake County Leader)
For nearly one year, officials from the Polson School District have been discussing weight with an insurance company.
On Jan. 6, 2018, the south wall of Linderman Elementary gym fell, compromising a locker room, after a winter storm walloped the area over the holiday break.
Superintendent Rex Weltz told about 50 people during a community meeting Wednesday, Dec. 19, that since the parapet wall failed, four discussions with one of the district’s insurance companies, Traveler’s, haven’t had much progress.
The district’s liability insurance is through Payne West, Weltz said, adding that Gallagher Basset will cover what Payne West doesn’t, which is a threshold of about $250,000.
A third insurance company, Traveler’s Insurance handles large claims, which the gym collapse is considered.
The insurance company declared the collapse an emergency, which allowed Weltz to swiftly get Swank Construction of Kalispell to secure the building.
Weltz said that Traveler’s will pay $535,000 for the locker room damage.
The company hasn’t agreed to pay more, claiming that according to their data, weather did not cause the building to fail, Weltz said.
UP UNTIL the last couple of weeks, Weltz said that the discussions were going nowhere with Traveler’s, which is why he said he didn’t provide information to the community sooner.
Following the first meeting with Traveler’s, Weltz said that the insurance company decided the energy from the snow and ice falling traveled through the ground, not causing the wall to bow and eventually break.
“People were in that building (during the collapse), and they can attest it was a train wreck. That building shook, rattled and rolled,” Weltz said. “It was one heck of an earthquake.”
DURING A second and third conversation with Traveler’s, Weltz said he began to assert that the school district didn’t feel the insurance company was researching the incident thoroughly.
Weltz shared that within the last couple of months, he began to look into legal options.
“Maybe we have to sue. Maybe we have to go to litigation to have court help us because we’re really not getting anywhere,” he said.
Ultimately, the decision to hold off on going to court was made because a Missoula-based lawyer with experience in big-company litigation the district found would take one-third of any monies awarded in a lawsuit.
Weltz said that if that were to happen, there wouldn’t be enough money to fix the 21,300-square foot facility.
Going with local counsel is another possibility and would charge by the hour, but Weltz explained that the world-wide insurance company would “wear us out” financially.
A fourth meeting with engineers and an insurance adjuster happened, with an admission that the building isn’t in great shape, but the collapse wasn’t due to weather.
Once district officials were beginning to think “what next,” Weltz said he received a phone call from an adjuster, who asked what it would take to fix the gym.
Now, Weltz said the discussion to move forward can begin with engineers, insurance adjustors and the community.
BETWEEN WETLZ and administration, various scenarios regarding the facility have been discussed.
Out of those discussions, there are three viable options with cost estimates so far, including:
— rebuilding the gym as it is with structure upgrades for about $4.2 million
—partially demolish and build a hybrid facility for $4.1 million
— demolish and build a completely new facility close to the original for $4.2 million.
The GYM at Salish Kootenai College has hosted athletic games and events such as graduation that are normally held at Linderman.
Weltz said that while he is grateful for the partnership, he would like to make plans to move back into Linderman sooner rather than later.
It is estimated that to build an entirely new Linderman facillity will take five to six years.
The desgin bidding process could take another year, with administration anticipating the project to begin in 2021.
Should the district turn to taxpayers, Weltz said it would show up on ballots in two or three years.
For now, the district has started to look into grant options.
WELTZ EXPLAINED that at the end of December 2017, a snowstorm hit, coming off the lake from the north.
Snow was drifted toward the south side of the gym.
On Jan. 1, a maintenance director was plowing snow and noticed that the wall was beginning to bow. He contacted Weltz, who said photos were taken and the maintenance supervisor went up to the roof.
They decided to contact an engineer to immediately look at the bowing wall.
On Jan. 2, the engineer out of Missoula said that he would draft plans to fix the wall, which would take several days.
A contractor was also found, so that the building could be fixed, Weltz said.
By Jan. 6, the parapet wall crashed into locker rooms.
About 45 minutes later, Weltz said a second collapse broke the roof membrane, depositing ice and snow in the locker rooms.
THE STRUCTURE of the gym, which is a bowstring tress system, keeps heat that melts snow, Weltz said.
Parapet walls were later added, so snow wouldn’t fall off the building onto children or vehicles.
“The problem was, it held the snow up,” Weltz said.
A new membrane was added to the roof a little more than a decade ago, keeping the roof slick.
When the snow from the snowstorm built up and began to melt, the ice that formed began to “glacier down,” Weltz said.
The parapet wall kept the snow and ice in place rather than falling off the roof to the ground.
Once the snow and ice hit the parapet wall, it began to tumble making large ‘ice jams.’
An issue found during forensic engineering is there seems to be no rebar in the structure, which help reinforce buildings.
WELTZ SAID that after talking with the initial engineer about the safety of the building, it was his own decision not to have students or anyone else in or around the gym.
The engineer, Weltz said, decided that the structure was safe enough to still use, but the final decision about students and faculty using the facility was up to Weltz.
“I will not put another kid in, and yes it’s frustrating it’s taken nine months to this point and we haven’t laid a brick, but I will not put a body, a student, a staff member or a community member, in that building until I can prove it’s safe,” Weltz declared.
Linderman has history, Weltz said, and holds a bit of everyone’s heart.
“I’m the first one to say it’s broken,” he said.
Ultimately, Weltz said children and the community come first, with whatever the outcome will be.
“Our goal is to have a safe building. At the end of the day, I want to put 2,000 kids” and people back in the gym. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
To stay updated on information as it becomes available, visit gateway.polson.k12.mt.us