SEMA funds to help build Three Rivers campus in Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A grant from the State Emergency Management Association will provide funding for the first building on Three Rivers College's Sikeston campus.

Three Rivers College announced Friday in a news release the receipt of over $3.3 million in grant funding from SEMA.

The money will be used as base funding for two building projects: the first building on the Eastern Campus in Sikeston and a new classroom building on the main campus in Poplar Bluff, Mo. The SEMA-funded safe rooms within the buildings will provide temporary tornado protection, but will be designed to serve of other purposes.

Three Rivers College plans to build its Eastern Campus on 38 acres at Highways 60 and 61 donated by Scott and Karen Matthews and Drs. Mike and Elizabeth Brunt.

"Based on the needs for the building, it has more of a banquet room design with a flat floor," said Ben Traxel of Dille and Traxel LLC, the architecture firm that has drawn up plans for the new buildings. "The safe room won't be on two levels like the design in Poplar Bluff. That's a flat site in Sikeston, so the safe room will bump straight out the backside to the south."

The building will also initially include classrooms, a computer lab, science labs, LPN to RN program facilities, the Learning Resource Center, and an exhibit hall/auditorium. However, the building is designed with the idea that it will be added on to when necessary. The start for the proposed Eastern Campus is a $750,000 SEMA grant, leaving $6.25 million to be raised in private donations.

"We'd like to get started on them," said Traxel, who said he is excited to see construction begin. "Hopefully we'll be able to break ground real soon."

At the main campus, the proposed classroom building will provide a learning environment while accommodating expanding enrollment. Housing primarily humanities and social science classes, the building will include 17 state-of-the-art classrooms, a computer lab and faculty offices.

"With the location, we plan to push into the side of the hill," Traxel said. "The building will surround the safe room itself, so when you're inside, you might go through a set of doors and not even realize you're in the safe room portion of the building. It would only be noted by signage."

Traxel added that the safe room area will include hallways and different rooms of the building, as well as restrooms.

Plans for the classroom building also include a 150-seat lecture hall and an exhibit room for hosting cultural, educational and community events. The funding base for the proposed classroom building is $2.6 million of the SEMA grant, leaving $3 million to be raised in private donations.

Pertinent address:

Sikeston, Mo.