ABBOTSFORD, Wis. — Ryan Bargender is the incoming superintendent for the Abbotsford School District. He’s been with the district as a principal and baseball coach for the past seven years. 

What You Need To Know

  • More than $6.4 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was awarded to three Wisconsin communities to build safe rooms

  • Those communities are Abbotsford, Owen, and Luck

  • Abbotsford and Luck received $2.2 million, Owen received $1.9 million

Bargender knows the district is growing. 

“We added on six classrooms to our district about six years ago, and we have increasing enrollment, so we’re kind of at the seams again,” Bargender said. 

But, building more classrooms costs money, and the district doesn’t want to have to put the burden on taxpayers. 

So, the district started looking at different options. 

“About a year and a half ago, we started talking about a nearby district that was awarded this grant, and we thought it be something that could benefit our city and our district as well,” Bargender said. 

That nearby school district is the Spencer School District. 

It is building a safe room — a domed roof building — with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2019. 

The building can also serve as a gymnasium and community fitness center, in addition to being a safe room. 

Abbotsford will soon do the same thing. The district received $2.2 million from FEMA to build a safe room, one that can withstand an EF-5 tornado. 

“There’s folks here who don’t have basements, or potentially live in trailers, or potentially want a safe place to go, and they would be able to have access to the building for that,” Bargender said. 

The design is still in the planning stages, but Mason Rachu, the faulty manager at the Abbotsford School District, explained that the safe room will be built on the lawn between the district offices and high school, near the main entrance for all sporting events. 

A little more than 1,800 people would be able to be kept safe inside the dome during severe weather. 

When it isn’t being used for emergencies, it won’t just sit empty. 

The inside is expected to have four classrooms surrounding a large group area, which the district said could have a stage for musical and theater performances. 

“We’re confident that we’ll be able to get that done, and it’ll be a place for Abbotsford to be proud of,” Bargender said. 

Construction is expected to be completed on the dome structure in September 2023.

The Abbotsford School District says the FEMA grant will pay 75% of the costs, and the district will have to pay about $700,000 for the project.