4839 RALLS COUNTY R-II TORNADO SHELTER

In December of 2008 the Ralls County R-II School District contracted Architechnics, Inc. to design a Tornado Safe Multipurpose Building for the Mark Twain Junior High and High School campus located in Center, Missouri.  The building construction will be partially funded through a grant that the district acquired through the Federal Emergency Management Agency specifically for the construction of tornado shelters. 

The receipt of the FEMA grant required the building to be designed and constructed to stringent guidelines set forth by FEMA to prevent harm to occupants during a tornado event.  The building will be designed to withstand 250 mph winds.  Mark Twain students, staff and patrons, as well as the residents of Center will be able to use the shelter.  Signs will be posted along the local state highway to identify a shelter to passers-by in case of a emergency severe weather event. 

In addition to the building serving as a tornado shelter the district plans to use the space as a multi-purpose room.  The building will be used daily for physical education classes, assemblies, concerts, activity nights, athletic practices and basketball games.

The new building will be 10,000 square feet and will include an enclosed walkway linking the new construction to the existing campus.  To meet the FEMA requirements the exterior walls will be made of 1'-0" thick precast concrete and the roof will have a 4" thick concrete slab.  The multi-purpose room floor will be solid hardwood for sports play and will be equipped with basketball goals and telescopic bleachers.  The building also includes locker room space, office space and storage space.  The estimated cost of the new building is $1,700,000.

Currently the project is under construction by Bleigh Construction Company of Hannibal, Missouri.  The Project should be completed in January of 2010.