Lake Road seeks FEMA safe room

The Poplar Bluff R-I School District is moving forward with the first phase of building a safe room at Lake Road Elementary.

This first phase is to put out a notice of intent and an initial application for a FEMA safe room.

According to board documents, the room would be approximately 3,500 square feet and cost about $918,000.

Dr. Amy Jackson, assistant superintendent of finance, said the district would receive a 75%-25% split, which means it would be responsible for 25% of the cost.

The school board approved Toth and Associates for grant management services and Dille Pollard Architecture LLC for architectural/engineering services.

There are no fees at this point in the process for either service.

If approved for the grant, it would cover the building itself, bathrooms, steel concrete floors and mechanical systems, such as ventilation and HVAC.

If the district wants to use the building for anything else that comes out of the district’s budget.

Dr. Scott Dill, superintendent, mentioned using the building for a new library/media center at the school, but a decision won’t be made until later.

The current library is housed in a modular unit.

Jackson said one need the administration sees is to put a breezeway connecting the FEMA building to the original building on campus and additional toilets/sinks beyond the one male and one female FEMA approves.

The application is due in March.