JSU to get $18.1 million from FEMA to rebuild Merrill Hall

Oct. 03--Recovery efforts at Jacksonville State University from the March EF-3 tornado got a shot in the arm on Friday from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the form of an $18.1 million dollar grant to help rebuild Merrill Hall.

Two members of the state's delegation in Washington D.C. -- Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, and Democratic Sen. Doug Jones -- announced the grant on Friday. Rogers, in a news release, said the grant was being made under the Robert T. Stafford Act, part of which allows the federal government to help state or local governments to repair or replace public facilities damaged by major disasters. A post to Twitter from Jones said the grant would be used to replace a damaged building.

According to a FEMA spokeswoman reached by phone on Tuesday, the grant will be used to rebuild Merrill Hall, which was severely damaged during the spring tornado.

The grant will cover at least 75 percent of the uncovered cost to replace, repair, restore or reconstruct a building on campus, according to the text of the law. The estimated cost of replacing any building is based on the building's design as it existed prior to disaster, according to the law.

Later on Tuesday, JSU President John Beehler told The Star that FEMA's grant will cover 75 percent of the cost of replacing Merrill that's not covered by insurance. The university is still negotiating with its insurance company, Beehler said, but FEMA has told the university it expects JSU should get about $19 million. The cost not covered by insurance or FEMA would be split by the Alabama Emergency Management Agency and JSU, Beehler said.

"This whole process, we have to do a dance. We have to do a dance with insurance, we have to do a dance with FEMA," Beehler said. "But the good news is that we've had good relations with both FEMA and insurance, of course, through the negotiation, and we appreciate any help that the politicians can give us."

The building was the home of JSU's School of Business and Industry, which has temporarily located to a vacant elementary school campus. Beehler said Merrill's replacement is now being designed, and that JSU hopes to have it open within the next three years.

Many JSU buildings were damaged in the tornado, but two were counted as total losses, Merrill Hall and the historic Alumni House, which the university demolished in in June.

In Rogers' news release, the congressman praised the grant.

"This funding will help JSU rebuild and continue its tradition of excellence," the release quoted Rogers as saying. "I am thrilled to see this funding coming to JSU and pleased to see that the federal government saw the critical need to invest in the University."

Efforts to reach Rogers' office for further comment were unsuccessful.

Staff writer Bill Wilson: 256-235-3562. On Twitter @bwilson_star.

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