A warehouse off Meridian Road could become Kalispell Public Schools’ new central kitchen.

At its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Kalispell board of trustees gave school officials permission to further investigate the possibility of buying a 3,040-square-foot building and renovating it as the new elementary central kitchen.

The warehouse, located at 33 Meridian Court, is smaller than the 5,000-square-foot space the district hoped to acquire. But Food Services Director Bertha Morrison thinks the building might work just fine as a central kitchen, trustee Alice Ritzman told the other school board members.

Ritzman and trustee John Osweiler, both local real-estate agents, have volunteered to help the district find a new location for the central kitchen. Neither is receiving compensation from the district.

Kalispell schools are desperate for a new kitchen; the existing kitchen at Flathead High School has space and safety concerns that have kept the district in close communication with the Flathead City-County Health Department.

The asking price for the Meridian Court property is $369,000. Kalispell Public Schools has $400,000 set aside for a new kitchen.

The district allotted about $350,000 for a kitchen when remodeling began at Kalispell Middle School in 2005. Originally the district had planned to put the kitchen at the middle school but decided against it for safety reasons. School officials didn’t want delivery trucks coming and going with students in the area, which has been an ongoing problem at the kitchen’s current site at Flathead.

The funds have accrued interest over the years, and now the district has more money to spend on a kitchen. Kalispell also has about $312,000 available in federal stimulus funds that haven’t yet been appropriated, District Clerk Todd Watkins said.

Some additional funding may be available in building-reserve funds, Watkins told the board.

The district probably could remodel the Meridian Court building using money it already has, he said.

“If we don’t get too fancy, we might be able to get exactly what we need for $800,000,” Watkins said.

Before the district can make an offer on the Meridian Court property, school officials will meet with the health department to determine if the warehouse could be remodeled to adequately and safely meet the district’s needs.

If the sale moves forward, voters in the elementary district will have to approve the purchase.

The warehouse isn’t the first property the district has considered for a new central kitchen. In December, the district was considering the former Meats Supply building at 601 E. Washington St.

That property was listed at $295,000 and was contiguous to the former Laser School building, which is now the district’s central supply office. But renovations were estimated to cost between $500,000 and $1 million.