JOPLIN, Mo. —
The recent arrival of cooler fall weather has not slowed work on the Joplin School District’s three major construction sites.
East Middle School remains the site that is further along than the others in the construction steps, Mike Johnson, the district’s director of construction, said late last week.
Crews are working on the foundation and beginning to form concrete walls. They’re also installing underground utilities, such as gas, water and electric lines. And the pipes sticking up out of the ground are in preparation for the slabs to be poured, he said.
But don’t expect many changes at the site in the immediate future.
“What I just said will be true for the next month or so,” Johnson said.
At the new Irving Elementary School, workers are relocating the sewer lines running through the site and drilling piers for the foundation.
At the high school site, workers have wrapped up utility work, which consisted of moving the gas, water, sewer and phone lines. Site excavation is “continuing nicely,” Johnson said.
Several bid packages — for steel and foundations at the high school and miscellaneous work at East — will be presented to the Board of Education at its meeting Tuesday, he said.
In other business, the district’s facilities committee last week received design plans for safe rooms to be built at Cecil Floyd, McKinley and Eastmorland elementary schools. The architect for those projects, as well as 10 additional safe rooms to be built at schools around Joplin, is PLJBD Architects and Engineers, of Joplin. Designs for the remaining 10 rooms have not been completed yet, he said.
Those designs ultimately will be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State Emergency Management Agency for approval. Federal and state funding — which will amount to 75 percent of project costs, with the district responsible for the remaining 25 percent — will be released after approval, Johnson said.
Designs for safe rooms at East and Irving have already been approved by FEMA and SEMA, he said. The submission and approval of the design for the safe room to be built at Joplin High School is under way, he said. Those safe rooms are being designed by the architectural firm that is handling each respective school: Hollis and Miller Architects, of the Kansas City area, for East; Sapp Design Associates Architects, of Springfield, for Irving; and Corner, Greer and Associates, of Joplin, for the high school.
Community access
Johnson said the safe rooms will be similar to a gymnasium, built according to FEMA standards and open to the community during inclement weather.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Joplin school construction ‘continuing nicely’; safe room project begins
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Illinois youth group arrives in Joplin to assemble house
Break time was approaching, but Keith Duncan wanted to make one last concentrated push in order to get the large Penske truck unloaded. “Two minutes, people! Two minutes!” he yelled as the students and adults hauling large wooden sections out of the truck began picking up the pace.
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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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Last of 586 FEMA trailers in Joplin to be prepared for move
For 19 months, rows of nearly 600 units spread out among community and commercial sites were a visual reminder of the homes lost in Joplin on May 22, 2011. One by one, contractors began disassembling and moving the trailers, a testament to their occupants having found places to live.
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Civil engineers release study of Joplin tornado damage
It did not take much wind to flatten houses in the Joplin tornado zone because so many were poorly constructed to withstand wind, according to a study released recently by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Rescuers, tornado victims reunite at Quapaw station
There were lots of hugs exchanged, pictures taken and memories summoned when fire crews on Friday met the two youngsters they pulled, critically injured, from the wreckage of Joplin’s 2011 tornado.
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Quapaw tribe’s firefighters, EMS personnel meet with children rescued at Home Depot in 2011
There were hugs, stories and the occasional tear this morning when two children who were trapped and seriously injured after the 2011 Joplin tornado met for the first time the Quapaw Tribe firefighters and emergency medical workers who pulled them from the wreckage and saved their lives that night.
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New members take seats on redevelopment board
Three new members took their places on the board of the Joplin Redevelopment Corp. in a meeting Thursday. The panel welcomed as new members Laurie Delano, vice president of finance for Empire District Electric Co.; Gary Duncan, retired president and chief executive of Freeman Health System; and Phil Stinnett, a former Joplin council member and mayor.
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Tornado grant trustees look to shelter placement
Trustees overseeing a Joplin tornado fund hope to use some of their remaining money to move FEMA-financed tornado shelters to areas where they are needed.
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Documentary about Joplin Globe coverage of tornado wins 2013 Mirror Award
The documentary “Deadline in Disaster” has won a 2013 Mirror Award in the “Best Single Story” category.
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Oklahoma photo collection to begin with ‘Picture Patrol’
A new national photo rescue operation based in Carthage that formed to help salvage and return to owners what was lost in the Joplin tornado has reached out to Moore, Okla., and next week will help storm victims there get down to business.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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