“We’ve built this facility to be survivable,” he said of the building, which could become a de facto governing center in a crisis. “In the case of a catastrophic communitywide disaster that would occur here, that would potentially be the seat of government.”
Woods expects construction on Greene County’s Public Safety Center to be completed in spring 2012. The center is designed to withstand 250 mph wind speeds and will have eight to 16-inch thick concrete walls. The building, which will be located among other Springfield-Greene County public buildings, is 73 miles from Joplin, where tornadoes killed more than 160 people earlier this year.
The windows have been tested to withstand impact from a 15-pound piece of lumber traveling at 100 mph, according to Kevin Ratigan, senior vice president of Architects Design Group, one of the firms that designed the center. The facility will have a projector screen, roughly 20 by 30 feet, that’s supported by a digital network.
“The projector is actually a series of projectors that are tied into an overall matrix-type mixer where they can bring up multiple screens on the one screen,” Ratigan said.
The center has a “completely digital backbone,” as Woods put it, and although he couldn’t explain specifically how it will all work, he knows that it will provide users with invaluable information. “We’ve got a lot of money invested in the technology in the facility so that we can provide situational awareness to everybody who comes into the facility.” Situational awareness data sources in emergencies typically include photos, video and reports.
Springfield-Greene is paying $19.5 million for the center from a combination of grants and the jurisdiction’s own funds. The center will be 56,000 square feet and three floors tall, with a 10,000 square-foot emergency operations center in the basement. It will also house the 911 communications center, a regional multiagency coordination center and extra space for nonemergency use, like holding classes.
The jurisdiction’s current facility is in a building that’s more than 100 years old. “Our current building has been everything from a candy factory to a minimum security jail,” Woods said. “Now we occupy it, so it’s been well used, but it’s outlived its usefulness.”
There’ve been termites, and occupants haven’t always had enough space to operate comfortably. “We had an ice storm in early 2007, which really shut down our entire area and the southern part of Missouri,” Woods said. “We actually had National Guard personnel sleeping in an elevator because that was the only available space they had.”
The center is being designed to meet the silver rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a ranking system for green buildings. Recycled steel is being used for the building’s frame, and the facility’s construction materials include those with low volatile organic compounds, chemicals that are dangerous to human health, to foster good air quality.
The roof will have plants on top to absorb heat and water as well as reduce carbon monoxide, Ratigan said. “Obviously the green roofs are not going to be able to survive a tornado, so that is one element of the building envelope that is designed to be sacrificial.”
