Interest in Monolithic Dome Schools at an All-Time High

Carol Lanham • Published • In The Media

Interest in Monolithic Dome schools has hit an all-time high in part because the Federal Emergency Management Agency is helping fund new construction in tornado-prone areas. Archie R-V School District recently completed a new Monolithic Dome gymnasium that was funded in part by a $1 million FEMA grant, according to the Bates County Newswire.

Archie is the second Missouri school district to receive a FEMA grant for Monolithic Dome construction. The Niangua R-V School district completed a Monolithic Dome pre-school classroom last year with funding from the federal agency. A school district in Fowler, Kansas also completed a multipurpose dome building last year thanks to a federal grant. A fourth FEMA-funded dome school was completed in Woodsboro, Texas.

School districts in Oklahoma and Illinois also are exploring the possibility of building Monolithic Domes. According to the State Journal Register Springfield Schools is researching the option of constructing a Monolithic Dome middle school gymnasium. “Our business department is looking at monolithic domes … for cost-saving measures,” Superintendent Walter Milton, Jr. told the Springfield School Board this month. “It’s a new concept to me.”

A school district in Oklahoma is also hoping to receive a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to supplement a $1.7 proposed bond issue needed to fund new construction. Hulbert Public Schools in Tahlequah would use the federal money to finance a new Monolithic Dome elementary school and cafeteria that would double as community disaster shelters, according to an article in the Tahlequah Daily Press.

Construction is set to begin soon on three Monolithic Domes in the Spur Independent School District in Texas. The buildings will consist of a 450-seat gym, a 450-seat auditorium, and a structure that connects the gym and the auditorium and will house the lobby, concessions, music room and support spaces. Lee Gray of Salt Lake City, Utah is the architect on the project.