BELLVILLE — An addition to the American Legion building on Bell Street will have a benefit to the entire Bellville community.
According to Ed Olson, Finance Officer, American Legion Irvin Hiskey Post 535, Bellville, the organization is still waiting for the official confirmation letter from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency that FEMA has given its final approval of the grant request.
“The Legion began planning in February 2015 to add an addition to the existing building that would include a 50-foot by 70-foot (3,500 square foot) new canteen and kitchen at ground level with a 50-foot by 70-foot basement beneath it,” Olson said. “The decision was made to offer the new basement as a tornado safe room for the houses west of the location and to cover the area of the downtown business district.
“We identified all of the homes to the west of the Legion building within a quarter mile radius that did not have a basement for shelter during a tornado. The 1/4 mile radius is used because there’s only about a 20-minute warning from the time a tornado is actually sighted until it reaches you. The possible 20 minutes of warning time limits the distance that people can travel to shelter if they have no basement in their home.”
Olson stated the new basement will be built to withstand an F-5 tornado, the most powerful classification for a tornado. The basement will include an emergency outside entrance that can be opened by the Bellville Police or Fire Department if the Legion building is closed at the time of a tornado.
Capacity will be 489 persons, taking into account the possibility of those who may be wheelchair-bound. The entrance will have a slide to move disabled individuals into the shelter as quickly as possible.
“The new addition will complement the existing building’s ground-level meeting room that can also serve with the new basement as a Red Cross evacuation shelter,” Olson said. “For short-term sheltering of a few hours for people displaced from their home, the existing building and the new basement can hold 800 people.
“If we had to provide housing and feeding for a longer term, the two areas could handle 400 people. The new commercial-grade kitchen that is planned would provide food service. The Red Cross would provide cots, blankets, pillows, etc. for sleeping capability.”
According to Olson, the addition of a 400-person capacity long term emergency housing and feeding facility will increase capacity in the Clear Fork Valley by 46 percent.
“It represents a significant increase in the area’s ability to respond to a natural disaster,” Olson stated.
The Legion building’s location is above the Clear Fork flood plain. An environmental impact study has been completed by Ohio EMA on behalf of FEMA, and the site has received approval for construction.
Olson hesitated to give exact dollar figures while the final grant amount is still under review. It’s expected that the Legion will contribute approximately $58,000 for the local 25-percent share while FEMA would contribute approximately $174,000; those figures are current estimates.
The group will not have a definite number until they know the grant amount and the bids.
