The Scott City School District on Wednesday will celebrate the completion of its new storm shelter that also serves as a visual and performing arts center.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is set for 6 p.m. and will be followed by a tour through the art gallery and theater. The high school drama club also will perform a short preview of a play.

"It's been a long time coming," superintendent Diann Ulmer said of the $2.1 million shelter, which has been a work in progress for about five years.

The district broke ground on the project in June 2014, and construction began soon after.

The safe room's Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, for which the district first applied in 2010, is 75 percent FEMA-funded with a 25 percent district match.

Items paid for by FEMA include parts of the project needed to make a safe room, such as the structure, restrooms and a generator.

The district saved money over several years to pay for its portion, Ulmer said, which included all theater and art gallery materials.

The 8,989-square-foot structure is built to withstand an EF-5 tornado with winds of up to 250 mph.

The shelter has a capacity of 1,275 people and will be open to the public if severe weather occurs.

The theater has 315 seats and will be used for other school functions, such as band concerts, back-to-school workshops, annual kindergarten screenings and principals' meetings with students.

The space recently was used for the first time for a middle-school and high-school band and choir concert.

"The performance was so much different from what we used to have in the gym," Ulmer said. "It was really neat to have the spotlight on stage. The sound was much fuller, and we were right there and had a good view of the kids and their faces. It sounded like a real concert hall."

klamb@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

3000 Main St., Scott City, Mo.