First All Poured Concrete School in Mississippi to Open Soon

Mississippi is almost ready to officially welcome its first fully poured concrete school. The Magnolia Speech School in Madison broke ground in late 2021 and will be completed in time for the start of the 2022 school year, reports NRMCA Vice President, Building Innovations, Michael Wymant. With 30,000 square feet, the new building is equipped with advanced educational technology. Executive director of Magnolia Speech School Valerie Linn said bringing the school to Madison has been an amazing journey over the past couple of years, including trips along with NRMCA to many other Insulated Concrete Forms schools in Kentucky dating to 2019. The project utilizes Insulated Concrete Forms by Nudura which provide exceptional safety, energy savings and sound performance.

“Mississippi experienced over 76 tornadoes in 2021 and almost 50 this year already,” said Wymant. “Many schools are severely damaged every year, but not this one! The Magnolia Speech School will save generations in energy use and provide a safe and quiet learning environment for the students.”

Joel Waters, director of the Mississippi Concrete Association (MCA), has been a part of making the school all concrete from the very beginning. Along with the Build With Strength program, MCA brought the school director and design/construction team to an ICF roundtable in Bowling Green, KY, in 2019. “Concrete schools just make more sense. The NRMCA roundtable was so valuable getting that message out. Lower energy bills, safer structures that can take 250 mph wind and much lower insurance!” said Waters.

The school will be the first in the state to also receive the Fortified designation from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), the FORTIFIED Commercial™ construction standard minimizes the risk of storm damage, allowing businesses to quickly re-open following hurricanes, tornadoes and other severe weather.

Click here for more information about the school. As part of the Build With Strength campaign, NRMCA promotes sustainable concrete solutions for buildings. For more information, contact Michael Wymant at mwymant@nrmca.org or 850-818-2057.