The Jackson Community Center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Safe Room Project is officially underway. A groundbreaking ceremony took place Wednesday at the project site in Jackson, Mo.
“We are going to be able to have a lot of activities and programs in the community center and we really had a need for something like that,” Jackson mayor, Barbara Lohr, said.
The one-story community center is designed by Kansas City’s Incite Design Studio Architects. The 23,000 square foot project includes a multipurpose gymnasium, banquet hall, catering kitchen, safe room and concessions. It will hold more than 1,900 people.
“It’s just going to be a wonderful place for the public to be able to get together,” Lohr said. “We are going to have some opportunities to have some sports leagues have their games here. We’re going to have a walking trail around it. It’s just going to be a nice gathering place for the community.”
Back in 2012, Jackson voters passed a quarter-cent sales tax fund to help fund the project.
Plans were submitted to FEMA in 2013 for $2.4 grant. The grant included FEMA’s safe room which can withstand an EF5 tornado and earthquakes. A few months later, an additional $961,685 was requested for the construction of the safe room.
“In the event that there is a tornado in this area, that’s going to be a lifesaver and that’s what’s important about that,” Lohr said.
The request was approved and the grant totaled $3,361,685. The total includes 75 percent federal share and 25 percent local match.
The community center also received donations from the Cape Girardeau County Historical Society and Southeast Missouri Medical Center Inc. The donations totaled more than $3 million.The Clark family also donated the land for the project located at 381 East Deerwood Drive.
“We have $3.4 million dollars in cash yet sitting in our accounts waiting to fund the construction and promise to the city of Jackson,” Steve Ellison, president of Southeast Missouri Medical Center Inc., said.
On Sept. 22, the project was awarded to the Board of Alderman to Brockmiller Construction and the mayor in the amount of $5,677,100.
The building is expected to be completed in one year.