School celebrates dome opening in Hartshorne

North Ward Elementary School in Hartshorne, Oklahoma recently celebrated the opening a Monolithic Dome on its campus. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.

The Monolithic Dome serves as a storm shelter and a media center for the school. Monolithic Domes can serve as FEMA-approved storm shelters, and are helpful in areas at risk for disasters. Oklahoma is in an area of the United States known as Tornado Alley, a region at risk for tornadoes.

The building was constructed by South Industries and the architect was Michael McCoy.

A local news outlet was at the opening and covered the event. Below is an excerpt from that article.

Many students, staff and community members have been waiting for the facility to open ever since construction on it began last year. Following the Tuesday ribbon-cutting ceremony, students were ushered through the doors for their first-ever tour of the new facility. Judging by the smiles on their faces, their excitement didn’t diminish while touring the building.

Hartshorne Public Schools administrators joined the 383 North Ward students and faculty for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, along with some guests from the community and the surrounding area. Among them were former HPS Superintendent Mark Ichord, who’s helping see the school’s storm shelter projects through to completion, along with current HPS Superintendent Jason Lindley.

Superlatives flowed as those inside checked out everything from the building’s decor to the Chromebooks the children will be using in the lab.

The original article appeared in the McAlester News-Capital by James Beaty. To read the rest of the article, click here.