"I wouldn't say the building needs to be torn down," McMullin said, although seismic upgrades are necessary. The buildings were constructed to the best knowledge of engineering and building codes of the time but need to be updated to be seismically safe for today's standards.

McMullin said Provo High's roof needs to be connected to the walls, which would stabilize the building during an earthquake. That's a relatively cheap and easy retrofit, he said.

Some Provo High walls need to be reinforced with steel and concrete to be made stronger.

"I have to warn you, construction costs have been weird," McMullin said. "I'll do my best (on the estimates for retrofitting buildings). What I'm trying to say is, take this as an estimate."

The Provo School District study is expected to be completed in November. Then the district will prioritize retrofit projects and make a plan to pay for them, Packard said.

"If you address these problems in 10 years, that would be incredible," McMullin said.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com