Giovannetti Community Shelter in Urbandale, Iowa, is constructed with precast wall panels and hollow core roof plank, and has a Federal Emergency Management Agency-rated, 4,500-sq.-ft. safe room designed to withstand 250-mph wind forces and structural impacts. The project, however, had some difficulty coming to fruition. In fact, it first began as an ordinary park shelter among the 75-acre Walker Johnston Park—on a proposed budget that was half of what its community center program required.
Read MoreTornado-prone community enlists Midwest Precast, Molin for FEMA-grade shelter
