Paradise Center opens for holidays
DAVE COLYER in the “train room” of the Paradise Center, during their open house last Saturday. (John Dowd/Clark Fork Valley Press)
KATHLEEN HUBKA stands next to a new addition to the Paradise Center: a set of extremely tall art utensils in the stairwell. (John Dowd/Clark Fork Valley Press)
Over the last two weekends the Paradise Center has held a holiday open house in order to increase local interest in the facility.
On the previous two Saturdays, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the center opened its doors for visitors to look at the progress being made. In total nearly 30 people visited the facility last Saturday, and several more the weekend before.
The facility opened this year and was open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, every week for four days to visitors. They planned the open house to give special hours to families of the area with visiting family.
The center was originally the Paradise School building. A few locals wanted to preserve the school after it ceased being used as an elementary school. They formed a group called “The Paradise Elementary School Preservation Committee.” The group got together and created a non-profit to benefit the school, and to preserve the history of the area. They contacted the school board and the county to take over the responsibility of the old facility. They were awarded a lease amounting to $1 a year in July 2016.
Since then the facility has grown into an information, history and culture center for the area. There are several displays throughout the old school building telling the story of the area. Many of these displays are high dollar, including a large interactive topographic-relief map, that cost the Center over $50,000, showcasing the area’s geographic history.
Another display that’s in the works is a miniaturized version of the old railroad depot and tie plant historically located in the town between the early 1900s and the late 1980s.
The facility is worked by an all-volunteer staff, each of whom is very knowledgeable about the facility and the history.
One man who gives his time is Dave Colyer. He worked in the railroad room to talk about the displays.
He himself worked in the facility when it was still up and running.
“My dad used this pad, and then I used it,” said Colyer as he talked about a tie-carrying device on display in the room. He and his father both worked in the plant, and according to Colyer his father must have moved nearly one million ties in his lifetime.
Currently the facility is working toward funding to replace the old boiler system with a new, modern, air conditioning and heating system.
“We can either heat the whole building or none at all, and in the summer, there is no cooling other than windows, so it gets pretty warm in here,” according to Judy Stamm, the current president of the committee.
The facility will be closed until spring, unless by pre-scheduled appointment.