Franklin receives funding for new safe room
FRANKLIN, Ky. -Through a FEMA grant administered by the state of Kentucky, Franklin has secured funding for a storm shelter which will increase safety and add an amenity for residents near Bluegrass Road area Redbud Drive.
The selected site is little more than a lot with trees but City Manager Kenton Powell says it is already zone to be a park making it a great spot for such a multipurpose facility.
“With this opportunity and a safe room, we think it’s the ideal part of town to place it. And then plus we can go ahead and develop that property for playground equipment and have a more of a community atmosphere,” Powell said.
For Simpson County Emergency Management Director Robert Palmer this is a huge success for public safety and the community in general.
“We’ve got a lot of people in that neighborhood that need a place to go in the event of severe, severe weather. But these shelters are going to be big enough. They’re they’re supposed to be 300 person shelters. So that’s a big enough shelter to also multi-purpose that building as a community center,” Palmer said.
This development comes just two years after the tornadoes that devastated parts of the Commonwealth leading officials such as Powell to begin thinking about the possibilities of future strikes.
“I think we were all hypersensitive with the recent storms. It’s been coming coming through the area the last few years. So it’s on everybody’s mind. So we believe, honestly, three or four years we would even think about safe rooms. But with the recent storms, it becomes more on a front burner,” Powell said.