East Helena School Board to vote on acquiring Dartman Field

Marga Lincoln, Excerpt from the Helena Independent Record

The East Helena School District’s purchase agreement to acquire Dartman Field is on the agenda for Monday’s board of trustees’ meeting 5:30 p.m. at East Valley Middle School Library.

“This is the purchase of 50 acres that will hopefully set the district up to accommodate the growth of enrollment for 40 or 50 years into the future,” wrote school superintendent Ron Whitmoyer in a text message.

“The deal is finally on its hopefully firm road to conclusion,” he wrote, adding that he wasn’t “sure about it until Thursday.”

The title for the parcel of land is held by the Montana Environmental Trust Group, which acquired it when Asarco filed and emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, according to Whitmoyer and information on METG’s website.

At that time, the trust received funding to cleanup four contaminated Asarco sites in Montana, including land in East Helena, the website states.

Dartman Field has lead contamination, said Whitmoyer, as did the properties where Radley School and EVMS are located — which had lead remediation work done in the past.

The school district has a grant in progress, he said, to clean up Dartman Field and “make it suitable for students.”