DECATUR -- With the entire pre-kindergarten class serving as a back drop, the Decatur School District broke ground Oct. 16 on the long-awaited safe room at Northside Elementary School.
The students looked on as several area dignitaries, including Decatur Mayor Charles Linam, Decatur School board members Amy Brooks and president Ike Owens, superintendent Jeff Gravette and principal Cary Stamps, took part in the ceremony.
The project, which was first proposed in 2011, received funding last year from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Arkansas Public Schools Academic Facilities and Transportation Partnership Program. The initial cost of the building alone is approximately $968,000, with additional costs for the Decatur School District to outfit the facility for gym and classroom use.
The project is expected to be finished in March 2015. Once completed, the safe room will serve a dual roll as both a gym, with a regulation basketball court, and community storm shelter.
"We would like to be able to use the building for students to have physical education classes or assemblies by the end of this school year," Jeff Gravette, superintendent, said. "Once it's open, we will have a grand opening and invite the community, and we will put out information about how it will be used in the event of severe weather."
General News on 10/29/2014