Woodland hosts groundbreaking for new safe room

MARBLE HILL, Mo. — After years of planning, ground was broken last week on a safe room in the Woodland School District in Bollinger County.

The building will be 9,200 square feet and designed per Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines and was designed to shelter 1,125 people in the event of severe weather.

"One of our most important jobs is to provide a safe environment for our students," Woodland School District superintendent Adrian Eftink said in his opening statement. The superintendent recalled the long history of the project, starting with an idea in 2016 that endured a long application process. Seventy-five percent of the project funding will come from the federal government. The project was finally awarded in 2021 by the State Emergency Management Agency. School officials then decided how to best utilize the space when it wasn't serving as a tornado shelter. They decided a gymnasium was a much-needed addition to help provide space for physical education classes, practices, ceremonies, games, concerts and other activities.

Attending the ceremony were people from every level of the project. Several school board members attended the ceremony. Many of them were part of the board that voted to pursue the project six years prior. Other local officials also attended. Eftink pointed out Marble Hill Mayor Trey Wiginton.

"Twenty-five percent of the project will be paid for by the local taxpayers, so Mayor Wiginton is here representing our local government," Eftink explained to those gathered. "That money is generated by our local businesses, so we also have the president of the chamber of commerce here representing our businesses," referring to Becky Wiginton.

Woodland students take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new safe room.Courtesy of Tobi Layton

Mike Pollard and Brett Dille, the namesakes of Dille Pollard Architecture, were there with a crew from the firm that designed the structure. This wasn't their first time in Marble Hill. They are responsible for designing several other FEMA safe rooms in the area, including the one at Bollinger County Health Center, also in Marble Hill.

Actual construction of the design is being overseen by Sides Construction, general contractor of the project. Sides Construction has completed several other safe room projects. So far, the site has been prepared and concrete footings have been poured. The most significant stage of the project will be when precast concrete wall panels, the shell of the structure, are set. The wall panels are 12 inches thick and weigh approximately 40,000 pounds each. They are formed and poured in a manufacturing facility, loaded on 18-wheel trucks, and brought to the site to be set in place on the footings by a crane. This step will take approximately a week or two to erect. Once completed, the remainder of construction will follow.

Student representatives from the lowest levels up through high school were invited to attend the ceremony. Elementary school was represented by two students from each grade level. The middle school sent Student Council and Beta Club presidents as well as each class president. The high school sent the recently selected Lighthouse Leadership Team, a group of student leaders serving as liaisons between the students and staff.

At the conclusion of his speech, Eftink invited guests to throw a ceremonial shovel full of dirt onto the site. Students followed, donning hard hats and grabbing shovels. After the dust settled, students headed back to class and officials went back to work.