Residents Pitch In to Complete School Project : Volunteerism: Tired of waiting for state aid, 20 people provide muscle and finances to bring 10 school bungalows up to earthquake standards.

Since 1987, when educators discovered that 10 of the 35 bungalows at Huntington Intermediate School in San Marino were not reinforced to earthquake standards, students have been forced to learn their three Rs in portable classrooms.

The 10 bungalows, meanwhile, have sat empty for the past four years while the San Marino Unified School District waited for state renovation funds.

This summer, some San Marino residents decided their children had waited long enough. In what organizers say is a typical display of civic spirit in the affluent community of about 13,000, a core group of 20 volunteers--among them doctors, lawyers, accountants and corporate executives--helped paint, haul, drywall and drill.

Several retired engineers and architects stepped in to organize. Two brave souls even pledged their homes as collateral to guarantee that the construction would be completed.

And when sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders come back to school next week, they will take their seats in freshly painted and seismically safe bungalows.

“It’s like an old-fashioned barn raising,” said David Narver, 70, a retired structural engineer who has spent almost every day this summer supervising the renovation.

Narver and his pal of 40 years, Ben Schmid, were the two who saved the district about $7,000 by agreeing to put up their homes as insurance that the contractor would complete the project. Each had three children who attended San Marino schools.

“We just said, let’s get the job done,” said Schmid, 68, also a structural engineer and a former San Marino resident. He and his wife retired to Balboa Island, and Schmid has spent the summer commuting from Orange County.

Both men attribute the success and speed of the renovation to the fact that people in San Marino are willing to get involved in their children’s schools.

“If every area of (Los Angeles) were divided into groups of 35,000 people with their own school district, it would change everything,” Schmid says. “When you’re in a large community people say, ‘It’s not my problem.’ But when you get groups this size you can call on people to help.”

Huntington Principal Chuck Johnson said the volunteers were able to bring the renovation in for under $300,000, less than half the $800,000 it was estimated to cost using all professionals. A parcel tax approved by voters last spring will cover the costs.

Work started around June 1 and volunteers showed up all day long, on weekends and after hours to help tear down ceilings and haul away rubbish and paint. The district also hired a professional contractor to do some of the work.

“I’m astonished at how quickly it has gotten done,” said Johnson, who added that the project reflects the community’s “tremendous” involvement with the schools.

The bungalows, which Schmid said were built in 1927 and 1928, should have been reinforced in the mid-1930s, after a severe earthquake in Long Beach led the state to approve more stringent construction standards of public buildings such as schools and hospitals.

But somehow the 10 bungalows escaped notice. The oversight was discovered only when Schmid clambered into the attic in 1987 to reassure the superintendent that the reinforcement had been done. Instead, he found no signs of it.

Schmid, who lived in San Marino for 30 years, said he came up with the idea of reinforcing the classrooms after a chat with his grandchildren.

“They asked me, why are there fences around those buildings,” Schmid said of the barriers erected to keep children away from the unsafe area. “It was then that I thought, we’ve got to get those fences down. So I guess I did it for selfish reasons.”

One day last week, as workers hammered and dust flew, Narver led visitors through the almost finished classrooms. Proudly, he displayed 100 air vents assembled by volunteer Warren Yetter, who has donated several days a week this summer to the construction project.

“I’m retired so I’ve got the time,” said Yetter, whose children graduated from San Marino schools. Besides, “I always hated to see those classrooms just sit there idle.”

To bring the buildings up to earthquake code, Narver said, workers lowered ceilings, reinforced concrete walls and filled in doors and arches for better structural support. In doing so, they discovered walled-over fireplaces, built-in bookshelves and alcoves that dated from the 1920s.

“This community functions on its volunteers,” said Narver, adjusting his hard-hat in the summer heat. “We have a real tie to this town.”