The Wallowa School District recently received a $2.3 million seismic retrofit grant from the Oregon Department of Education.

WALLOWA — It was a long time in coming, but the Wallowa School District recently received a $2.3 million seismic retrofit grant from the Oregon Department of Education.

The district will use the funds to make the Cougar Dome stable and safe in the event of an earthquake. The grant also will fund primarily structural improvements so the large gym building can serve as public shelter during an earthquake or other disaster.

The school and the town of Wallowa are along the western end of the Wallowa fault. That structure has uplifted the Wallowa Mountains more than 7,000 feet. It provides low intensity quakes of magnitude 2-4 every few years, mostly centered in the Upper Wallowa Valley. Based upon the fault’s nearly 40-mile length, geologists calculated it could unleash a magnitude 6 or 7 quake. Lidar mapping of the fault near Wallowa Lake, which shows detailed ground topography even under heavy forest cover, shows no evidence of major faulting or significant fault scarps in the last 17,000 years. But that is a short time in geologic cycles.

The grant was obtained as a result of the Technical Assistance Program facilities assessment and long term planning. District staff, administrators and school board have been working on the facilities assessment with their consultants (Pivot of Eugene) since the fall.

The school district has two years to begin seismic retrofit construction using the $2.3 million. The funds cover design as well as construction.

Retiring Superintendent Jay Hummel noted the school board is considering combining the seismic work with other much needed renovations to the school.

“Fixing the heating-cooling system in each of the school buildings is unbelievably expensive. But it’s got to be done,” Hummel said. “The second thing is to fix the gym beyond the seismic grant. Expand the front entrance area. Build a nice entry area. Provide a community accessible weight room and exercise area. Fix bathrooms and concession area.”

Hummel said money for the improvements will come from a combination of a general obligation bond with matching funds of up to $4 million from the state. If the work on the gym under the seismic grant is done in conjunction with the bond-funded improvements, there could be some cost savings in a major gym renovation.

Hummel said the next step will be to take a realistic list of school renovations and improvements to the community.

“In the fall and winter the school board can work with the community to nail down what they want to put in the bond,” he said, “and take it to the ballot in May.”