A spectacular domed arena that will serve multiple purposes for students and the city’s residents will be the centerpiece of major facility upgrades at Union City Schools.
School Communications Director Mike Hutchens said the Union City Council gave the go-ahead to proceed with paperwork for the project by a 5-1 vote in a special session Thursday.
Longtime Union City educator and football coach Randy Barnes was the lone council member to cast a ‘no’ vote. Katie Keathley was absent from Thursday’s meeting.
The centerpiece of the project is a combination safe room/gymnasium that will provide Union City residents a safe place to gather in the event of natural disasters or threats – specifically tornadoes or in the aftermath of an earthquake. The facility will be built in the lot in front of the Civic Auditorium.
In addition to the gymnasium, which will seat nearly 3,000 in a much-needed upgrade from the current structure that is more than 50 years old, the facility will also include classrooms for students with the system’s recent surge in enrollment necessitating the need for such.
Also, part of the upgrades will be demolishing and rebuilding the home bleachers at War Memorial Stadium. That seating, which was constructed in the early 1980’s, will also be brought into ADA compliance, with a new press box part of the makeover.
The total cost of the project will be around $15-million dollars, according to Director of Schools Wes Kennedy.
The Union City School System will be responsible for only around $3-million dollars, due to a unique funding opportunity.
The availability of leftover Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds from FEMA/TEMA has presented the opportunity for Union City Schools to receive in the neighborhood of 90-percent of the cost of the safe room/gymnasium from government agencies.
The school system will be responsible for the remaining balance.
Director Kennedy said the cost of the building is expected to be “around $13-million”, with Union City on the hook for less than $700,000 of that amount due to the FEMA/TEMA funding.
With the cost of the stadium upgrade and the furnishings of the gymnasium, Union City Schools’ total cost is projected to be around $3-million dollars, which is far less than what it would be at full cost.
According to Director Kennedy, the school system plans to pay its part with a 20-or-25 year bond, with no costs passed on to taxpayers for the project.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our community and our school system to provide for their respective needs and keep residents and students safe,” Kennedy said. “When you can do so at a greatly reduced cost due to available monies from FEMA/TEMA, it just makes sense. If we were having to foot the bill for the full $15-million-dollar price tag, there would be no way we could entertain the thought of this.
“The city has no such place for its citizens to gather in the event of weather emergencies and/or natural disasters. It will not be a homeless shelter, and there will be designated times for the safe room to be used if needed. We will have staff to manage it and make sure that those who use it adhere to all our rules and regulations.
“For us (UC Schools) it fills multiple needs. Our gymnasium has served us well, but it’s more than 50 years old, and there are issues that would be very costly to repair and upgrade. Just as important is the classroom space we will gain. New state regulations will up the requirements for physical education each day, and we’ll need room for those classes in addition to our continued projected growth.”
Mayor Terry Hailey will sign a Memorandum Of Agreement next week to move forward with the project which is made possible by funds available from the HMGP that helps to reimburse the costs of constructing and equipping safe rooms.
Mayor Hailey and council members Jim Rippy, Hal Mosier, Jim Douglas, and Patrick Smith each voted ‘yes’ for the project.
Director Kennedy, along with High School Principal Jacob Cross, and Communications Director Mike Hutchens visited a comparable facility built with similar financial aid in Tupelo, Mississippi, in the fall and all came away impressed.
A number of structures with the same features have been built in the last few years in the South in communities that experienced the devastation of catastrophic weather.
The next step is to begin paperwork and file the necessary legal documents for such a project, which is expected to take “between 18 and 24 months,” according to Kennedy.
