After an EF-5 tornado devastated the community of Joplin, MO in 2011, the Joplin School District hired Nabholz to construct 11 FEMA-rated safe rooms and perform extensive renovations at 11 district locations. These FEMA safe rooms are built to withstand winds exceeding 250 mph. Each of these 11 Joplin safe rooms serves a dual purpose, doubling as school gymnasiums, and can hold between 1,000 and 1,500 people. Students, staff, and surrounding community members can all find shelter in these structures during a storm.
Nabholz has made fast-moving progress on these projects in order to serve the Joplin School District’s urgent mission of making Joplin and Duquesne tornado-proof. Joplin Schools recently took possession of five of the 11 safe rooms. The completed safe rooms include
- Stapleton Elementary
- Cecil Floyd Elementary
- McKinley Elementary
- Eastmorland Elementary
- Junge Field House
The remaining six are progressing unhindered. They are
- Jefferson Elementary
- Royal Heights Elementary
- Kelsey Norman Elementary
- Duenweg Elementary
- West Central Elementary
- Columbia Elementary
In addition, summer renovation work is set to take place at 9 of the 11 schools over the next three months.
Nabholz is honored to be involved in a program designed to protect thousands of residents in the Joplin community from some of Mother Nature’s most severe storms. These safety endeavors would not be possible without the incredible support of the people of Joplin and their School District, and the direct efforts of the project’s team leads: Jeff Gattis (Senior Project Manager), Marty Schmidt (General Superintendent), David Simkins (Superintendent), Randy Peterie (Superintendent), Dana Johnson (Superintendent), James Monhollon (Project Engineer), and Stephen Giggleman (Project Engineer). Hats off to these individuals who are working with Joplin’s School District leaders to keep Missouri residents safe and secure one construction day at a time.
