Things look brighter — and drier — in the Flathead High School library with the recent installation of a new skylight. 

During a visit to the school library on a sunny morning, the sunlight was diffused through the translucent panels that make up the 25-foot-by-25-foot pyramid-shaped skylight designed by A&E + SMA Design. The $160,000 project was funded through the district’s building reserve fund. 

Notably absent were plastic buckets set out to collect rain or melting snow and ice that leaked from the old skylight. 

“I’m so excited that it does not leak,” said Flathead Librarian Aarica Phillips.  

“We had eight-plus buckets [out] the last time it rained, in here, before they replaced it,” Phillips said, referring to a downpour that occurred about a month ago. 

Installed by Montana Metalworks over the course of a week at the beginning of November, the new skylight is made up of what are known as fiberglass-reinforced sandwich panels. The design lets more natural light into the library, which is located at the heart of the school. 

“Essentially, it’s a single skylight with panelized sections overlapping, which mitigates leak risk, really, any water intrusion," said Project Manager Sam Kuhlin of Morrison-Maierle, noting that the new panels are more insulating and block UV light. 

The new skylight replaces 10 individual polycarbonate domes that made up the old skylight, a design that created valleys and did not adequately channel water away, Kuhlin said. Before its replacement, Flathead Principal Michele Paine said the original skylight dated back to a 1967-68 construction project. 

Phillips recalled that in the 19 years she has worked at the high school, the polycarbonate panels were replaced once, about seven years ago. The results were short-lived. 

“For maybe a year it didn’t leak and then it started leaking again after that and it’s been leaking ever since,” Phillips said.  

A tarp was placed over the leaking skylight as a stopgap measure and the replacement project was placed on a deferred maintenance list. 

“I had to move my desk because of the dripping water. We’ve had to move computers once in a while," Philips said, noting that the runoff also left the carpet stained. “But now we can have them [put] back." 

Kuhlin surmises that a waffle slab integrated in the original library design is why the structural integrity of the roof was not compromised. 

“There weren’t structural concerns, but you don’t want a leak in your roof,” Kuhlin said. 

Phillips remarked that the new skylight adds ambiance to a well-used space. 

“As you can see, we always have kids in here and it just adds to our library of having it be a cool place to hang out and come and work and enjoy,” she said. 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].