BELGRADE — Education has been a very hot topic lately. There’s a lot of uncertainty, even for a school that was built in the early 1900s.
Now known as the Reese Creek Community Center, in 1904 the building was known as the Reese Creek School.
“Our hope is to restore this building, the structure itself, to be a usual asset to this community,” said Steve Saunders, Reese Creek Community Center Board.
“This has been a school for a long time in the Gallatin Valley, one of the very first," said Saunders. "The agricultural people moved here and homestead and set up and had a school about every 5 miles because that’s as far as they could get in a wagon or a saddle horse. So, with this, a lot of these schools are being lost and if we don’t step up and do something we’ll lose these important parts of our historic past.”
So what’s the problem?
"The most important aspect in the restoration process in this school is preserving the building and that’s done by keeping water out and the roof is by far our first endeavor,” Saunders said.
Funds are needed to repair the building’s roof and other maintenance.
“The Reese Creek Community Center is a 501-C3 charitable contribution, so it’s completely tax-deductible," said Rob Holt with the Reese Creek Community Center Committee.
"One hundred percent of it goes towards the school and the restoration of this beautiful facility. So, we’re all volunteers up here. Nobody collects a check, so 100% of the funds donated to the community center goes back to the community center,” he added.
The Reese Creek School is now being used as a community center. But without help, the building might not last.
The board is asking that all donations be made online through the Reese Creek Community Center’s Facebook page.
