Working on Camp Alexander’s tornado shelter with Protection Shelters was a very positive experience. I recommend them for tornado shelter construction to anyone considering this type of structure. They are first class. During the initial planning and grant writing, Dale Zogleman provided insights that his experience suggested would improve what we initially planned to build. During his phase of the actual construction, Protections Shelters remained on top of things in terms of what needed to be done, and the testing by outside agencies that was needed to fulfill FEMA’s requirements. One pleasant outcome for me in my initial contact with Protection Shelters was in requesting names to contact as references. Dale gave me contact information for three of his prior customers, one a school district, one a social service agency, and the last a corporation. In speaking with each of them, they all gave me clear indication they were well satisfied with what was done, how it was done, and how issues were handled. My experience during our construction with them affirmed what each of those references answered in reply to my set of inquiry questions about Protection Shelters, including, among other things, workmanship, punctuality, and any impact on personnel or surroundings.
Camp Alexander is most fortunate to have this shelter attached to our Education Building. Not only will it provide a safe haven during a tornado or tornado warning, but it will also enhance what we are able to do at camp. For example, we spent our own (non-FEMA) funds to include new showers in each of the two rest rooms. Shower facilities existed in a very old, unheated cabin hence winter usage was not a reality. Since the shelter can be entered from within the Education Building, we also gained an accessory room for small groups to use when needed. Our summer camping themes can now consider having a young campers safety program focusing on a variety of potential hazards or concerns from weather and tornadoes foremost but also to educating our young campers about water safety, electrical safety, and bicycling. This can even extend to some basic first aid, map reading and other topics focused on being out of doors such as biting insect safety. Lastly it need also include safety relative to today’s social communication such as Facebook, MySpace, chat rooms and etc. The shelter will provide us with an important venue for continuing and expanding our role of educating young people at Camp Alexander.
Rodney Sobieski
Board Member for Special Projects
