By By Lee Weyhrich
Shelter for the volunteers that are still coming for Ivan cleanup and those that may have to come for future storm cleanup has been a major concern for the City of Atmore.
For that reason the city is converting several classrooms in the old Escambia County Training School building into dormitory space for volunteers.
"We're supplying five rooms and two bathrooms," Director of the Atmore Family Life Center Lillie Johnson said.
The Atmore Family Life Center currently uses one building at the school complex to do summer and after-school programs.
"Contractors are working on the building and [volunteers] are going to be living there on the other end of the Atmore Family Life building," Mayor Howard Shell said.
The Southern Baptist Disaster Group is scheduled to arrive in Atmore Sunday night.
"The southern Baptist Disaster Group has been in and out for several months, so we are modifying a couple of rooms and installing showers into two of the bathrooms to provide a place for people coming to volunteer to come and stay," Shell said. And the National Guard is back so they can't use the armory."
Remodeling and modifying classrooms in to dorms and public restrooms into bathrooms has been an intensive task.
"It took us a whole day yesterday," Journeyman plumber Daniel Weaver said Tuesday. "We had to bust the floor up to run the water lines for the shower and we had to make sure the toilets were working. They hadn't used the bathrooms in a while. The water wasn't on in there."
Southern Plumbing finished the shower installation and plumbing issues at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. An electrician was scheduled to hook up a water heater later that day and the rest of the week will be spent cleaning up the bathrooms and dorms so they can be ready by Sunday.
"We are very excited about the people coming in to help in the community of Atmore," Johnson said.