Demopolis changes plan to build $2.7M storm shelter to Theo Ratliff Center

Demopolis is going to get a new storm shelter, just not in the place originally envisioned. 

When Demopolis scored a $2.7 million grant from FEMA, administered through Alabama EMA, the plan was to upgrade the shelter in the bottom floor of the Demopolis Civic Center. 

“I assumed that when this money came available for a storm shelter, that we could go straight to the one we have been using for the last 30 years,” Mayor Woody Collins said. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case. 

With the money coming from the federal government, there are a host of federal guidelines that must be met. But it is a 70-year-old building that doesn'tmeet the standards required and reaching it would be too costly, Collins said. 

“We started running into complications with river flooding and beams, proving they were strong.” Collins said the concrete would also have to be tested to prove it is strong enough. “With all the FEMA regulations, it became clear pretty quickly that we would be better doing new construction than trying to get old construction approved.” 

The first place considered for the new shelter to be constructed was the area next to the civic center, to keep it in the approved location. 

“The more they talked about building a building next to the civic center, the more I didn’t like it.” Collins added, “we might use it five or six times a year.” 

Collins expressed his displeasure with the proposed location of the new storm shelter to the state EMA representative “When I mentioned that to the guy, he said you can move it. I said let me get you the address.” 

“When someone mentioned the multiuse, multipurpose facility, it slapped me between the ears.” Collins explained that for over a year, he has been trying to build an auditorium addition to the Theo Ratliff Center, which is a community center used extensively by senior citizens and youth alike.  

There are numerous activities at the Ratliff Center on a daily basis. Currently there is a gym and classrooms, and they were running out of space. The center is also a certified Red Cross Center. It can be rented out for events also. But if the activity at the center or an event includes food, the meals have to be brought in because there is no kitchen. 

The new storm shelter will incorporate an auditorium and a commercial-grade kitchen and Collins said, “it will be used every day.” At their last meeting July 18, the Demopolis City Council approved moving the shelter to the Ratliff Center and building it as a multipurpose facility. 

Ratliff Center Director Ed Ward said he was overwhelmed and expressed his thanks to the mayor and the council for the move. He said this addition will give much needed space for more programs and more people.  

Ward talked about how much the kitchen will add to the center. During the summer, when school is out many kids may not get a lunch “many kids depend on the school for their lunches, so when school is out, we serve 500 meal per day.” Currently these have to be prepared offsite. 

With the kitchen addition, those lunches can be prepared in house, saving time and money. And if there is an emergency and people need to stay in the storm shelter, there will be a kitchen to prepare meals for them. 

All the plans and design work and other paperwork has to be filed by Aug. 31, according to Collins. After that, the city has three years to build the new shelter. However, Collins said, “I hope to get started by the first of the year.”  

Collins added a quick aside: “if they actually attach it to the current building, then that building would have to be brought up to the FEMA standards.” With that consideration, the new storm shelter, auditorium and kitchen building will be built on the space next to the Theo Ratliff Center as a stand alone building connected by a breezeway.