Joplin High School to be repositioned at same location
JOPLIN, Mo. — The new Joplin High School won’t sit exactly where it was before the May 22 tornado, but it will be close.
Plans call for the new school to be built on the same property as the original, near 20th Street and Indiana Avenue, but because of its location in a flood plain, the new building will have to be repositioned on the land. The move is required because the school district will receive Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for rebuilding, Superintendent C.J. Huff said this week.
The new location likely will be to the south or west of the old one, on higher ground.
Although the school will have to move, Huff said there have not typically been problems with the location in the flood plain.
“Flooding has really not been an issue with the exception in the basement areas where we’ve had some sump pumps installed,” Huff said. “From a structural standpoint, when you’ve got ground that’s saturated all the time and your foundation is on hot and heavy moisture areas, that not good for the foundation.”
The lower elevation areas that are the site of the old school will be used for parking or athletic fields, Huff said.
Demolition of the nearly 60-year-old high school building is likely to start in three or four weeks, he said.
The district also has been working with Joplin officials on the possibility of closing Iowa Avenue so that the new high school and the new Franklin Technology Center can be built closer together or even under the same roof.
The district also is formulating tornado shelter plans for the new schools, and they also could function as community storm shelters, possibly making the construction of the shelters eligible for FEMA funding.
District officials said they hope to select an architect soon to begin the design of the new high school.
Three-year plan
SUPERINTENDENT C.J. HUFF has set a goal of rebuilding all tornado-damaged public schools in the city within three years.
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