The Whitefish School District is inviting community members to participate in a forum to learn about and discuss the upgrades needed for the Muldown Elementary School building.

The forum is Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the school.

Architects and engineers from L’Heureux, Page and Werner have been working for the past six months with teachers, parents, community members, support staff, administrators, and trustees on the Muldown Project Task Force to review options that address the significant issues facing the 50-year-old building.

The building is facing a number of problems including a failing original heating system, structural issues with the roof, lack of insulation and vapor barriers, inadequate drainage in parking lots, a failing irrigation system, and many mechanical systems far past life expectancy.

“We rely on the perspectives and ideas that come from community members as we search for the best value to meet the future needs of students, staff, and faculty,” Superintendent Heather Davis Schmidt said in prepared release. “We want our community’s input to help us think through our best options.”

Stephen L’Heureux and Tim Peterson, principal architects for the project, will discuss three main options that have been developed to address the issues. Those options range from only tackling the most serious needs, to using the opportunity to re-create a facility that will better enhance innovative learning and reduce overcrowding.

Additional opportunities include mitigating traffic flow problems, additional parking, increased safety and security, technology upgrades, increasing gym capacity, planning for pre-school classes and increased enrollment, as well as creating a more energy efficient and eco-friendly school.

L’Heureux Page Warner, the firm hired by the school district to complete master planning for the school, spent last summer analyzing the building. Following the analysis, a group of community stakeholders, known as the Muldown Project Task Force, has been digging further into the process of defining the options for the building moving forward.

Muldown is the largest elementary school building in Montana. It currently serves about 670 students in grades kindergarten through fourth.

The school was built in 1966, with a major renovation completed in 1992.

For more information, visit www.whitefishschools.org.