A Town Filled With Anticipation

By Freda Grones

The atmosphere around Pattonsburg, Missouri virtually sings with the sounds of construction, excitement and anticipation. After five years of what School Superintendent Gene Walker described as, “more than our fair share of trials and tribulations,” this small, rural community watches the completion of its new school facility—four Monolithic Domes—and anticipates their opening with the start of the Fall semester. But this happy anticipation was preceded by tragedy that, at times, seemed insurmountable.

Until 1993, Pattonsburg’s four hundred residents felt themselves protected from floods. The town stood a mile and a half away from the banks of the Grand River, a tributary of the mighty Missouri. In addition to this distancing, the town had a dike eight feet high between itself and the water. But in July of 1993, neither distance nor dike proved adequate.

Within two weeks of each other, two floods swamped Pattonsburg’s homes and public buildings, leaving some structures floundering in nine feet of water.

After the floods, Pattonsburg decided to move much of its town three miles inland. But at that point, its elementary and high school facilities were not included in the move. Walker, who this semester will begin his twentieth year as Superintendent, said, “The insurance company decided that although the schools renovation would cost a million dollars, more than fifty percent of the facility was not destroyed, so moving it was financially impractical.”

But in 1996, a new “trial and tribulation” reversed that decision. A fire destroyed the high school. “Since we had to rebuild, we also decided to move the safer distance away from the Grand,” Walker said.

With the decision made, the school board began looking into structures that would provide security against natural disasters and could be built quickly. “We looked at Payson, Arizona and really liked what we saw,” Walker said. “The buildings were indestructible and were built fast—one dome in five weeks, the other in four. That impressed us. But that’s not how it went for us.”

El Nino brought weather conditions that prevented the inflation of the Airforms. “All we needed was two weeks of dry weather to do the inflation,” Walker said, “and it took us months to get that.” Result: a domino effect that ultimately delayed material shipments and caused labor problems.

Once the Airforms were up, work progressed more smoothly. “It amazed us,” Walker said. “The outside temperatures were really cold, but those guys kept working, finishing the interior construction, comfortably, just in their shirt sleeves and with a small space heater. That showed us just how energy efficient these domes are.”

Pattonsburg’s four new Monolithic Domes will serve 200 students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, eighty percent of whom are bussed in from areas in three different counties, and a teaching staff of twenty-eight.

Of its four domes, Pattonsburg’s middle dome, with a diameter of 150 feet, is its largest. Walker described it as “the activity dome,” since it houses the stage, music and art areas, and a gymnasium. The three smaller domes, each with a diameter of 110 square feet, encompass classrooms, library, cafeteria and offices.

“We love the buildings,” Walker said. “Just about everyone who comes to see them, leaves favorably impressed—particularly if they go inside. We now lock the domes because of equipment stored inside, but they were open, so people could wander about at their leisure and inspect. They were amazed by the roominess of the inside and the amount of light coming through the skylights.”

While the excitement of construction continues at Pattonsburg, what the community most anticipates is the opening of those dome doors on that first day of school. One lady, observing the construction, put it this way, “I can remember looking forward to wearing a new outfit on the first day of school. These kids can look forward to not just a new outfit, but a whole new school!”

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