EMA Director Michael Smith said a storm shelter would be built on a piece of property adjacent to the Nazarene church at the intersection of Sixth Street and Wilson Dam Road. The Muscle Shoals Board of Education recently purchased the building for a pre-kindergarten.

Smith said he was informed the school would have about 75 students. It is also located near a neighborhood.

He said the shelter would likely be a larger one to accommodate at least 90 people.

Smith said Commissioner Tyrus Mansell requested the EMA to consider locating a shelter in the city.

Mansell said Tuesday the shelter could serve two groups of people — the school children and families who live around the area, which includes two manufactured home parks.

"The most important part is to protect those kids," Mansell said. "During the daytime, if we have an issue, it will be there to protect those kids. In the evening hours, we'll have something there to protect those folks in small houses that don't have shelters and also those in manufactured homes."

Mansell said he'd like to see at least one other shelter located diagonally across town in the square formed by Wilson Dam Road, Second Street, Woodward Avenue and Sixth Street.

"That would give Muscle Shoals residents an opportunity to have some shelter," he said.

Superintendent of Education Chad Holden said the school system is excited about the possibility of a storm shelter.

"It's a win-win for the school system and the city residents," he said. "The storm shelter will make our city safer. Commissioner Mansell has been super responsive, and it's a testament to what can be achieved when we all work together toward common goals."

Presently in the event of a tornado warning, Holden said the school system opens the aging central office building as a community service.

"As we renovate the church for the new preschool and have a long-term goal of a future elementary school at the site, the storm shelter will be essential," he said. "It's a great location for it. We are happy to help make it happen for Muscle Shoals."

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