The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission voted 6-2 on Tuesday to deny a bid to demolish the closed Shingle Creek school but the district said it expects to appeal that decision to the City Council.

The denial was accompanied by interim protection of the school at 5034 Oliver Av. N. for up to 12 to 18 months while there's further study of whether the building is worthy of local designation as historically significant.

That decision upset Carol McCrillis, who lives across from the school and complained of frequent police calls to the building to deal with intruders. "I'm concerned about how much tax money is going into this white elephant," she said. Clyde Kane, the district's interim facilities director, said the one-story building is subject to "serious vandalism problems," with the district keeping a glazier on call to replace broken windows that cost at least $35,000 annually. He said youngsters used to race dirt bikes on the room in the 1980s, and that the building has been inefficient to heat.

Another nearby resident, Jeff Johnson, said he was probably one of those kids on the roof of a school he attended for seven years, but called for the school's preservation as "the centerpiece of the neighborhood." In 2009, the Coen brothers used the school as a backdrop for their Hollywood film, "A Serious Man."

The commission gave weight to a staff recommendation that the school get further study because it represents a building in keeping with its postwar neighborhood, is significant within that neighborhood, and embodies a 1950s architectural style of classrooms in pods.

The council overturned a similar commission stand against demolition of 1970-era Peavey Plaza earlier this year.