What's next for Hartley's old school?

The new owner of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's old elementary school is bubbling with excitement about the building's potential.

Michael Reese, of Hestia Investments, says that though the building remains empty, he thinks it will become "a crown jewel for Hartley and O'Brien County." Reese and Hestia winterized the facility and patched the west roof after buying the building for $100 from the H-M-S Community School District in early December. Additional renovations will ramp up in the months ahead.

"We have been radio silent regarding the school and that has been by design as we get our ducks in a row," Reese said. "We are beyond excited about this project. I firmly believe... it will be a case study in Iowa and beyond of the potential and successful model in the evolution of rural America."

Reese and Hestia are currently working internally to explore the "ideal" facility.

"We have gone so far as to render models so we can take a better look. The plan is not to broadcast those plans at the moment because we'll inevitably scale back some of the options we are currently working on," he said. "I will say this about our modeling – it is fantastic and revolutionary for a rural community. If we can pack just a percentage of our plans in the final build, there will be nothing like it in rural Iowa."

Though final plans, budget and timelines will be cemented in the near future, Reese was able to share an in-depth look at the project so far. The Sentinel-News reached out with several questions regarding the facility, and what follows are Reese's responses.

Have you been able to do any work on the school yet? If so, what has been done?

Yes. I actually take pride in the fact that we have done everything that was outlined in the public meetings. We had two crews on the roof of the west section of the building within just a few weeks of acquiring the building and before all of the snow. Our crews were able to patch the worst sections to stop the majority of the water coming into the building.

I am confident that our assessment was correct that if decisions by the school board would have been held off until spring, there would have been failure in the roof because of the water and that section of the building would have been a total loss. That is an enormous compliment to the H-M-S CSD School Board and district leadership making the decision in a short period of time.

We winterized the building so pipes would not freeze and no excessive damage would be done before the weather warms back up. An evaluation was done on the plumbing and planning was started for the rebuild.

Additional planning has been initiated on layout, flow, systems, efficiencies, etc. Volunteers assisted us and we consolidated all of the random objects left in the building including some random furniture and desks that were left over from the public auction.

We have been listening to the community for their ideas, specific needs of the area, interest in the future renovated space and volunteering when it comes online. We'll continue to do this as we go through the process

As part of the modeling, we are recreating the architectural plans for the school with the options of the renovations. There is a substantial list of what we are currently working on that would take too long to explain all aspects. Some of these other tasks include the conceptual stage of branding of the facility, procurement of materials and items for the facility, etc.

What are the biggest priorities that need to be accomplished at the school, and when do you expect work to start? How long do expect those projects to take?

The top priority for us at the moment is to get the final models in place, budget on our side and timeline. There may be some demo that occurs in the meantime just to prep the areas. We may also have some use of utilizing part of the building very soon in interim between now and renovating the building. If that comes into fruition, we'll make a public announcement.

Please re-explain your plans for the building and how you intend to accomplish them.

One of the exercises of the current stage that we are in is to also divide the project into phases. As part of that, we are identifying what phases make sense first and how the different phases will tie into each other. For the final details on the layout, etc., I am going to hold off for future announcements.

Is asbestos removal a concern, and will you have to mitigate it?

Asbestos isn't a concern, although it's in the building. We will be testing some of the materials that may or may not have it. However, we'll be cautious so if there are questionable areas, we'll test it. Obviously, when we identify materials having asbestos, we'll have it mitigated responsibly and as the law outlines.

During previous school bond community meetings and regular board meetings, it was noted the boiler system at the school was on its last legs. Do you plan to replace it, keep it or attempt to fix it?

As of now, the present boiler in the building will never be used again. It doesn't make sense efficiency-wise to make use of it. The future modeling that we have will turn the facility into zones, and each zone will have its own efficient system. The types of zones will differ throughout the building. I actually am looking forward to showing the community the efficiencies once we are farther down the road.

I would also like to address that we have not turned on the utilities yet, and that is part of the plan regarding the demo phase. Our consensus is that once we start the demo process, the utilities will need to be turned off again so there is no sense to go through the efforts multiple times. Part of the utilities will also be separated into zones as well, so it makes sense to get the final plan in place and we are not going through the process multiple times.

Who will be doing any renovation work on the building?

We have our own sister construction group and teams that will do the primary work on the building. Inevitably, there will be work done from subs at some point. Also, as with all of our projects, I'll roll up my sleeves and work on it as well (although not fulltime).

Will you have to provide handicap accessibility to the building?

Throughout the process we need to ensure that we are following all necessary guidelines for ADA compliance.

I see Moving Mountains (the non-profit that will coordinate programming housed in the old school) is interested in a building in Primghar. What do you intend to use it for, and when do you plan to start work there?

We will make a public announcement soon. The acquired building will house outreach for Moving Mountains. This is actually a key step for us.

Since last fall, Moving Mountains has been traveling to clients for outreach. That makes it difficult to assist the masses. A brick and mortar building will also have a positive effect on the organization so we will have a home base and can have better access to the area and the public can have better access to us. We are grateful to those that have been working with us on the project.

The amount of positive impact Moving Mountains has already had on the area, especially for not having an official home base, is quite impressive. The organization, through the leadership of Brenda Collier, has already assisted many people and will hopefully have life-changing impact for them.

Have you completed any projects in the past similar to what you have planned in Hartley? If so, what and where?

We currently have projects underway that have aspects of what we are accomplishing under one facility in Hartley. These projects are spread out throughout Iowa and we are working on more each month.

Have there been any surprises that you didn't expect with the school building?

Not particularly of any consequence. As with any building, there are times you stand looking at something and try to understand the logic of how or why something was done, but that is commonplace.

I will say this – the biggest surprise is the gem that this facility is and the potential of it for the community and area. I cannot articulate how excited and how adamant we are to make this into something that is unparalleled in rural Iowa. Counter that enthusiasm with a common sense approach and a methodology that has to ensure what we do is sustainable for future generations is a good balance for us.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

The only other message I would like to communicate is our gratitude to the school district and support we have received from the community. It has been almost overwhelming.

That is not to discount the skeptics or naysayers that sometimes have the loudest voice in the room. We actually listen to their concerns and are making sure they are addressed as part of the process. However, the solution is to continue to do what we have been doing and erase their trepidation by positive actions over a long period of time. Once completed, this facility should be an asset for each and every person in the community.