Missoula’s Franklin Elementary will celebrate its 100th birthday this Friday, but it won’t be around to celebrate turning 101 next year.

"Franklin Elementary School has been in the district since 1916, it was actually considered an expansion out into the suburbs when it first opened with only six classrooms," said Missoula County Public School District One Communications Director Hatton Littman. "As a 100 year old building, it is aging. It isn't big enough for the students that go there now and, although it was the latest and greatest in building construction at the turn of the century, it really isn't keeping up with our standards today."

The facility now has many more than just six classrooms, but after demolition, only the basketball court will remain.

"It is in fact a total rebuild," Littman said. "The only thing that will remain on the site is the gymnasium. We are working to reclaim some of those building materials, and we feel really good that we are building a new school for that neighborhood. The new building will open for students in August of 2017, so there is a tight construction schedule that will start on Saturday after school ends this summer."

A birthday celebration will be held in the Franklin Elementary gym at 9:30 a.m. on Friday. The event is open to the public and will have historical elements of Franklin’s past on display.

image courtesy of MCPS
Franklin School
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