Music school purchases city building for $20

North Valley Music School has purchased the city of Whitefish’s building at Depot Park for $20.

The school will have to move the building from the park by the end of May.

Whitefish City Council on Jan. 3 approved the purchase of the building. In October Council decided to remove the building from the park. It then advertised for bids on the building hoping to save the cost of demolishing it and prevent it from ending up in the landfill.

North Valley Music School was the only one to submit a bid. Although it doesn’t have a location yet for the building, the school wants it to accommodate its growing enrollment and music programming.

The city acquired the Depot Park office building in 2009 from the Park Side Credit Union. It houses its Planning and Building and Parks and Recreation departments in the building, but those departments will relocated to the new City Hall when it opens this spring. Removal of the building is part of the Depot Park master plan.

City Manager Chuck Stearns estimates the city will save $20,000 or more by not having to demolish the Depot Park building. The city still has to pay for an asbestos investigation and any required asbestos remediation prior to moving the building.

North Valley Music School Executive Director Deidre Corson said the purchase of the larger building is a great opportunity for the school.

“There has been talk through the years about expansion and we couldn’t pass up a building for $20,” she said. “This is an awesome opportunity.”

The school doesn’t have a specific location for the building, yet. Corson would like to explore the possibility of moving the building to the city’s snow storage lot north of the Whitefish Middle School.

“There is a lot of work to do,” she said. “We need to talk about moving it next to the school. It’s the ideal spot — next to the school and we could provide parking for the city — but we need to make sure it’s the best thing for them [the city] too.”

Stearns said it may be possible to store the building on the snow lot, at least temporarily.

No matter where the building ends up, it is a chance for the music school to have much more space for rehearsals, classes, group ensembles and recitals. The school’s current building, a remodeled house on Spokane Avenue, is about 2,700 square feet in size.

The Depot Park building is 4,048-square-feet.

Carson said the school’s existing facility has seven studios, but the Depot Park building has nine offices that would provide for good sized studios. The front room of the building is double the size of the school’s current great room used for recitals.

The music school has been growing in enrollment and has been looking to add new classes to its curriculum. Enrollment at the school has increased from 185 students at this time last year to 220 currently and there are another 30 students on the waiting list.

“We’re looking to increase our programs so it kind of makes sense,” she said.