Historic Rollins schoolhouse could soon have new owner

A small white schoolhouse has stood overlooking Flathead Lake above the east shore of Canal Bay in Rollins since 1911 — shortly after Rollins got its name. The building and the land it sits on could change hands for the first time in more than a century.

The historic schoolhouse, leased for decades by the Women of Rollins Club, is listed for sale for $500,000 as a "unique opportunity to own a piece of history." The Upper West Shore Elementary School District recently made the tough decision to sell the property to help fund improvements for its growing student population.

The Women of Rollins Club hopes to purchase the building, but if it's sold to an entity or individual that can offer more money, the Rollins community could lose its prime gathering spot.

"Up until now, the idea of selling off the school district's properties was only theoretical, but it was an idea that began building steam in May," Lake County Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Hall said. "As Kalispell has grown, it has pushed families into looking at housing in all of the outlying areas, including as far south as the Dayton area in Lake County. Because of that, we have more students coming to the Dayton school and we are having to look at how to increase the size of the school."

Constructed in 1911 and 1912 on land donated by Ed Ekman, the school had a single room until another was added later in the school's operation. Ekman, a stone mason, laid the foundation himself and installed the school's hardwood floors.

The school itself was constructed by Richard Louis Uhde, and a basement was dug out by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s.

In the 1950s, students carried water from a faucet to the school, which had no running water, and went to the bathroom in a pair of outdoor privies west of the building.

By the late 1960s, there were not enough students for Dayton and Rollins to operate separate schools, so grades 1-4 attended classes in Rollins while students in fifth through eighth grades went to school in Dayton.

Only first and second grades were taught at the school in its final year of operation during the 1971-72 school year. Rollins, Proctor and Dayton consolidated their schools in summer 1972 to form the Upper West Shore School District, with all students attending classes in Dayton.

In addition to classes, the schoolhouse hosted numerous Halloween and Christmas parties over the decades.

Down to just seven students in the early 2000s, Dayton Elementary School now enrolls about 60, with more coming every year.

According to Hall, the district is looking at the possibility of expanding the existing school in Dayton or building a new facility in Proctor to help accommodate the growth.

While the sale of the Rollins schoolhouse will help pay for those improvements, it leaves the current tenants, the Women of Rollins Club — which has leased and paid for the building's upkeep since the early 1970s — potentially looking for a new home.

Club member Stephanie Venrick said the group has approached the school district several times over the past five decades asking to purchase the old school, only to be turned down. The club also looked into having the school added to the National Registry of Historic Places in the mid-1990s, but the application was never submitted.

While the trustees admitted at the last Upper West Shore School Board meeting that the building does have historical value and has served well as a community center over the years, they also said the district has to do what is best for everyone.

"We know it is an historic building. You walk up to it and it says right there on it 'Rollins School.' There is a process for designating a building or property as historic and that has never been done for this school," Hall said. "(The school board) had to look at the possibility of what entity could give them the most dollars for the property so that money could be used to enhance the school district."

According to Hall, with appraisals of the property ranging from $449,000 to just above $750,000, setting the right price for the schoolhouse was a difficult task.

"It's difficult to do a fair market value analysis on a school building, especially one with historical value. Do you market it as a home or as a facility for another purpose? It's hard to determine what would be the best use of the property," she said. "This is prime property in Rollins with a lake view. What would you list it as?"

With the deadline to submit offers ending at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, the Women of Rollins hope their offer will allow them to finally own the property they have maintained for the past several decades.

"Without the incentive of us actually owning the building, we really didn't want to begin work on what we really wanted to do, which was to form another community club to oversee the building and do fundraising so we can finally begin the renovations and upgrades this building needs," Venrick said. "The thought of seeing this building torn down just kills us. It's been a part of our group for 40 years and we are not going to go down without a fight."