Delta School District to take bids on safe/multipurpose room

The Delta School District will be taking bids later this month for a safe room/multipurpose room that can withstand the force of an EF5 tornado, or winds of up to 250 mph.

Superintendent Nate Crowden said the district applied for a $641,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency about two years ago. FEMA will provide 75 percent of the cost of the room, and the school district, 25 percent.

Architect Brett Dille of Dille & Traxel Architects LLC, said the estimated cost of the room, which would be on the west side of the existing high school gym, is $632,000.

The roughly 4,000-square-foot room will be able to hold approximately 350 people. It will have precast concrete wall and roof panels, Dille said, and a generator for emergencies.

Crowden said it will be available to the community during nonschool hours.

"We … were paying attention to what was going on with federal grants, and in the meantime, we had some tragedies in Joplin and Moore, Okla., and thought it was a good time to take advantage of some of those grants," Crowden said.

The EF5 tornado that hit Joplin in May 2011 killed 158 people, and the Moore twister, which occurred in May, resulted in 23 fatalities.

"The initial planning was to have indoor batting cages in it, but that could change," Crowden said. "We could use it for classrooms down the road."

Bid deadline is Oct. 24. Crowden said he's not sure if the board will have a special meeting for the safe room. If not, it will be on the board's November meeting agenda. The board meets on the second Thursday of every month.

"Safety's always a concern in a school district, and to me, this is just added safety precautions for our district," Crowden said.

Dille's Poplar Bluff, Mo.-based firm is also the architect for Scott City's performing arts theater/FEMA safe room. The Scott City School Board selected the low bidder, Zoellner Construction of Perryville, Mo., for the project at its Sept. 18 meeting.

The price tag was higher than expected at $2,069,000, so the Scott City board approved going into negotiations with the company to see where costs could be trimmed. Last week, the district met with the general contractor and others involved in the project, but superintendent Diann Ulmer said that right now there is no official status on those talks.

Scott City's building would encompass 8,000 square feet and be built on the west side of the Scott City school building. Dille said the Scott City building will be constructed similar to the Delta facility.

The building will have room for about 1,275 people, with each person having about 5 square feet of space.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

324 N. Liberty St., Delta, Mo.