JOPLIN, Mo. —
A grant of nearly $11 million to help the Joplin School District rebuild some of the schools that were destroyed and damaged by the 2011 tornado was announced late Thursday afternoon by Missouri U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide $10,966,065 toward the construction of a new Irving Elementary School, and the East Middle School and elementary school campus in Duquesne.
“I’ve seen firsthand the recovery efforts under way by the resilient folks in Joplin, and I know these resources will be put to great use as they continue to rebuild,” McCaskill said in a statement. “I plan to keep fighting to ensure that Joplin has the support and the tools necessary to rebuild its homes, schools and businesses.”
McCaskill met in June with members of the Joplin Area Coalition, composed of city, school and Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce officials and their lobbyists, to discuss the status of recovery efforts.
The Globe’s efforts to obtain comment from school district officials were unsuccessful Thursday night.
Work on both school locations has begun.
Ground work is being done at the Irving site on McClelland Boulevard, which was donated by Sisters of Mercy Health System and was part of the St. John’s Regional Medical Center campus. Dirt removed from the new Mercy Hospital construction site at 50th and Main streets is being trucked there to fill and level the site.
The school will house up to 600 students from the areas that were served by Irving and Emerson elementary schools, which were destroyed in the tornado.
A new elementary school for students living in the areas served previously by Duquesne and Duenweg schools will adjoin the reconstructed East Middle School.
The steel structure at that school is about to go up..
East will accommodate up to 700 middle school students, and the elementary school will accommodate up to 450 children.
Cost estimate
PLANS ESTIMATE the school district’s total reconstruction costs at $185 million. District voters in April approved a $62 million bond issue to help finance the effort.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Senator announces $11 million grant for school work
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Federal, state leaders salute Joplin’s recovery
A deadly May twister may have punched a hole in Joplin and Duquesne two years ago, but the resolve to repair it will help other communities stand strong when they face similar disasters. That was the message of state and national diginitaries to a crowd of about 2,500 who observed the second anniversary of Joplin’s devastating May 22, 2011, storm during a ceremony Wednesday in Cunningham Park.
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Banner from Joplin to be sent to Moore residents
A giant vinyl banner adorned with heartfelt messages from Joplin tornado survivors to the residents of Moore, Okla., became a centerpiece of Wednesday’s observance of the two-year anniversary of the May 22, 2011, tornado.
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Rick Rescorla award named for hero of Vietnam War, 9-11 terror attacks
The Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience is named for a 62-year-old vice president of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. who directed an evacuation of the company’s 2,700-person workforce in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2011.
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Community gearing up for two-year anniversary ceremony this afternoon
With the playground full of children, it could be any other day at Joplin’s Cunningham Park, but the white tents popping up and neat rows of white chairs lined up nearby indicate something more is happening today.
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Farmers Insurance teams up with Rebuild Joplin
Farmers Insurance announced Tuesday that the company will team up with Rebuild Joplin for an initiative to help the community complete its recovery efforts. The company already has placed one of its executives in Joplin, and it is pledging additional funds and volunteer hours by company workers to go toward the city’s recovery.
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Joplin man continues struggle to recover two years after tornado
As the Joplin tornado passed overhead, sweeping the house at 2430 S. Pennsylvania Ave. away in its wake, there was a moment of calm. Delbert Mcguirk was on his back in the basement, where he had sought shelter along with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. In that moment of relative quiet, he stared up into the eye of the tornado.
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Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
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Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
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FACES OF RECOVERY: 176,869 volunteers help put Joplin together again
They initially came in droves, pouring into Joplin by the thousands during the months following the May 2011 tornado to clear debris, clean up damaged homes and businesses and distribute donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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