New emergency measures in the form of a public tornado shelter could come to the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

The tornado shelter, or “safe room,” would be part of a new Johnson Extension Agriculture County Agriculture building to be built at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

At a proposed 3,500 square feet, the room will be able to hold 450 people, large even for a tornado shelter, said Gene Mohling, Iowa State University regional extension education director for Johnson County.

“A tornado may last 15 minutes to an hour,” he said. “So it will have to be able to contain people within it for a period of two hours.”

A number of storms near the fairground in recent years pointed to the need for a permanent shelter, he said.

Johnson County has few buildings equipped with such shelters because of the high cost of retrofitting existing buildings. Dave Wilson, the emergency-management coordinator for the county, said it is always much cheaper to build one in a new structure.

On the whole, Wilson said, this signifies that the county is better prepared for disasters, like last year’s flood.

During the flooding, the fairground remained dry but was flooded with families forced out of their homes and into a shelter.

“There is always an opportunity to review,” he said. “We certainly learned a lesson in 1993, and it benefited us in 2008.”

Wilson said there is never a perfect response to disasters, but the room is an improvement. The construction is designed to deal with strong winds from tornados or thunderstorms. The room will be equipped with emergency lights, ventilation, first-aid supplies, and communication lines able to contact emergency management.

Officials estimate the project will cost $600,000. If the plan is approved, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover 70 percent of the cost, the state will provide 10 percent, and the Agriculture District will provide around 15 percent.

“[FEMA] has paid a site visit to it, it has seen our budget for it, and it feels it is a very good plan,” Mohling said.

And on Aug. 27, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors signed off on the grant application, which will be sent to the Department of Homeland Security and then FEMA, before plans are completed.

“To us it was a no-brainer,” said Johnson County Supervisor Terrence Neuzil.

Mohling says the deadline for turning in the application is Nov. 1.

“We will keep our fingers crossed,” he said. “We’ll get to know by Christmas.”