PERKINS, Okla. – Men are hard at work building a safe room to make sure children are safe come storm season.
Betty Weems, a representative from the First United Methodist Church Educare, said, “There was nowhere we could take them in Perkins with this large of amount of kids.”
Seventy-five children go to First United Methodist Church Educare.
Jay Ladwig and his crew are working to help give these children a shelter.
Ladwig said, “The entire safe room is going to weigh 360,000 pounds and cover 500 square feet so if you were looking at physical math it’s going to make it almost impossible to make it move.”
The project is a year in the making after a golf tournament raised most of the money to get the materials for the safe room.
Weems said, “I can’t tell you any more how thrilled we are that we’re finally getting this in.”
The community has helped build this safe room entirely for free.
Weems said, “They have been such a blessing because they’ve donated so much of their time.”
The contractor, the electricians, and the plumber are all donating their time.
This storm shelter is multi-purpose and will serve as a media room throughout the year.
This storm shelter will also be air-conditioned with an intercom system, big screen television, and working restrooms.
It will serve as a media room throughout the year.
The shelter’s near sound proof capabilities are aimed to give children more peace of mind during a storm.
Brian Corder with Build Block Building Systems said, “The sound dampening characteristics of EPS foam mean that the giant roar of the tornado or the sounds of the storm outside would be greatly decreased inside is the kids would be much more calmer during the storm.”
Weems says she is grateful the community has poured their heart and their resources to help build the safe room.
The shelter will take two weeks to finish.
