EMMETT, Idaho — Emmett School District Superintendent Craig Woods said the domes were built in 1988 and have had issues since. The concerns came into sharper focus during the development of the district's 10-year maintenance plan.
"Our 10-year maintenance plan was put together, we noticed that there were some real significant things we had to really look at, which were cracks in the concrete," Woods said.
During a walk-through of the building, Woods pointed out to Idaho News 6 the specific concerns the district has been monitoring — starting with vertical cracks running up and down the interior walls.
"This was our big concern. So we came in, and we did X-rays of this entire wall, but, and all these other spots," Woods said.
Because the exterior of the concrete is covered by foam insulation and an outer layer of TPO roofing material, the district could not see what was happening inside the walls. Engineers used sonar and X-ray technology to examine the cracks — checking their depth and whether moisture had penetrated to the rebar inside.
The district also hired local surveyors to place markers across the building and track the original elevation of the structure. Those surveyors return every couple of months — or after significant weather changes — to check for any movement in the foundation. The district also had test holes dug to examine the foundation directly and discovered a high water table very close to the foundation level.
Inside the building, crack monitors have been placed on the walls to track whether the cracks are growing over time.
The floors themselves have a torque and twist to them, which has caused doors on the upper floors to go out of square. Woods pointed to one door that has had to be shaved down repeatedly — but still shows signs of shifting.
"You can see we've had to come in and shave this door down, but at the bottom, it's still where it was. So, this door is tilted. If it's closed, you can, it's tilted, it's just out of square," Woods said.
He said some doors have to be shaved once or twice a year depending on weather and seasonal changes.
The building's design also creates practical challenges. The curvature of the dome walls means usable classroom space is reduced on every floor — and gets worse on higher floors. Woods said the building has 103,000 square feet of floor space, but only 90,000 square feet is actually usable for classrooms because of the curvature.
"We have 103,000 square feet of actual floor space, but only 90,000 of it is classroom usable because of that curvature," Woods said.
The narrow stairways — three in the main dome — are another concern. Woods said getting 700 students out of the building through those three stairways, and one elevator in an emergency, has always been a challenge.
"Trying to get 700 kids out of this building through these 3 stairways is always gonna be difficult," Woods said.
On the exterior, the domes have a long history of moisture problems. In 2013, a full infrared inspection found significant moisture trapped behind the outer covering and foam insulation. Rather than replacing the outer layer — which should be replaced approximately every 15 years — the district at the time chose to cut out sections, remove the moisture and reseal them. That approach created the patchwork appearance visible across the domes today.
"You can see all these different patches. It just doesn't look smooth. That was when, that was their attempt at that time to try to fix it. And just fix it as cheaply as possible," Woods said.
He said the patchwork repairs have not solved the underlying problem. Water continues to seep in from above, flow around the sealed patches and accumulate behind the insulation — creating what the engineering assessment describes as rivers of moisture visible in infrared imaging.
"Every time it rains, every time we have snow or whatever, and that moisture seeps in, it puts more weight on the exterior of the dome. And so that was one of our other large concerns is how much weight is there, how much water is in that foam, and then how do you fix it," Woods said.
He also noted that any new outer layer would face the same vulnerability — the material comes all the way to the ground, making it accessible to students and susceptible to punctures over time.
Drainage is another issue. The grading around the building currently slopes water back toward the foundation rather than away from it — one of the recommendations in the engineering report is to regrade the surrounding landscape to direct water away from the building.
Woods said anything done on the domes is more expensive than a typical building because of the shape — workers either have to rappel down or bring in a large crane to access the exterior.
"Anything we do on these buildings is more expensive, so," Woods said.
The board hired an engineering crew, an architectural crew and additional specialists to identify exactly what needs to be fixed, in what order and at what projected cost. Woods said the community can now see the full report online before the meeting.
"Now it becomes the community and the board's decision of what do we do and how are we gonna make this work," Woods said.
Rachel Fear has lived in Emmett for more than 30 years. She attended Emmett High School herself and now has four kids in the district — including a senior set to graduate this year and a youngest heading into 4th grade.
"The domes are pretty much the same as they have been, not a lot of updates and changes, which is kind of cool, but also kind of unfortunate, right?" Fear said.
She said safety concerns are not new — steep stairs, lack of a clear evacuation route, curved walls and no windows have been concerns for years. She said a power outage last year forced students to go home early because the windowless building could not function without electricity.
"Obviously safety is our number one concern, and it always has been," Fear said.
She said she hopes the August 17 meeting opens eyes and builds support for a longer-term solution.
"It's more than just we want a prettier school; we actually want a school that's safe for our kids, and that can function and provide opportunities for them to have better education," Fear said.
Emmett School District is hosting a public meeting on the domes and to share the engineering assessment on Monday, August 17 at 6 p.m. at the high school. The meeting is expected to last about an hour and a half and will be live-streamed, though online viewers will not be able to interact with presenters in real time. Neighbors with questions can email the school district, and those questions will be posed to the engineers at the meeting.
Neighbors will also be able to tour the domes from 5 to 6 p.m. before the meeting and from approximately 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. afterward.
