Rockwood School District: Wildwood Middle's New Auxiliary Gym Also Serves As A Tornado Storm Shelter

Press release from the Rockwood School District:

June 11, 2021

Construction crews finished the Wildwood Middle auxiliary gym project on April 29, 2021, nearly a year to the day after they started.There is more to the 7,900-square-foot gym addition than meets the eye. Its precast concrete walls fortify the facility so that it can withstand winds of up to 250 miles per hour. Rockwood Facilities Director Chris Freund said that Wildwood was the only one of the district's six middle schools that did not have a gym space in addition to its main gym. When his team started looking into the project, it made sense for the new facility to serve a dual purpose as a tornado storm shelter."It can handle the occupancy load of all students, staff
and visitors in case of an inclement weather event during the school day," Freund said. "You
can’t tell by looking at it that it’s a storm shelter. It ties directly into the building and
looks exactly like the rest of the building. If there is a tornadic event, this is built to withstand an F5 tornado, so all occupants can seek shelter in that
space. It has bathrooms, a generator for power, water. We also have storm
supplies in there should they be locked down. It basically provides a safe
place until first responders can arrive on site. It’s kind of its own little
city."​​The project cost around $2.9 million, funded by the bond issue passed by Rockwood voters in 2017. Freund said that the district expects around $1 million of that cost to be covered through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.​ This is the second tornado storm shelter constructed with the district, following the gym at the new Eureka Elementary, which was also completed using bond issue funds in August 2019.The wall and roof panels of the Wildwood facility were designed and precast offsite, then transported to the construction site and joined together."They’re
approximately 18 inches thick, each wall panel, so it’s​ just a huge concrete
box," Freund said. "It’s
exciting to see the project finished. We constructed their auxiliary
facility, which has turned out to be an amazing facility for their gym program
and outside events, but we also made the building safer. That was the key goal
in mind when we decided to build this."See some in-progress pictures from the facility's construction below, along with video of installation of one of the precast concrete walls!​​​​

Construction crews finished the Wildwood Middle auxiliary gym project on April 29, 2021, nearly a year to the day after they started.There is more to the 7,900-square-foot gym addition than meets the eye. Its precast concrete walls fortify the facility so that it can withstand winds of up to 250 miles per hour. Rockwood Facilities Director Chris Freund said that Wildwood was the only one of the district's six middle schools that did not have a gym space in addition to its main gym. When his team started looking into the project, it made sense for the new facility to serve a dual purpose as a tornado storm shelter."It can handle the occupancy load of all students, staff
and visitors in case of an inclement weather event during the school day," Freund said. "You
can’t tell by looking at it that it’s a storm shelter. It ties directly into the building and
looks exactly like the rest of the building. If there is a tornadic event, this is built to withstand an F5 tornado, so all occupants can seek shelter in that
space. It has bathrooms, a generator for power, water. We also have storm
supplies in there should they be locked down. It basically provides a safe
place until first responders can arrive on site. It’s kind of its own little
city."​​The project cost around $2.9 million, funded by the bond issue passed by Rockwood voters in 2017. Freund said that the district expects around $1 million of that cost to be covered through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.​ This is the second tornado storm shelter constructed with the district, following the gym at the new Eureka Elementary, which was also completed using bond issue funds in August 2019.The wall and roof panels of the Wildwood facility were designed and precast offsite, then transported to the construction site and joined together."They’re
approximately 18 inches thick, each wall panel, so it’s​ just a huge concrete
box," Freund said. "It’s
exciting to see the project finished. We constructed their auxiliary
facility, which has turned out to be an amazing facility for their gym program
and outside events, but we also made the building safer. That was the key goal
in mind when we decided to build this."See some in-progress pictures from the facility's construction below, along with video of installation of one of the precast concrete walls!​​​​

This press release was produced by the Rockwood School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.