That's One Strong Building!

Baldwin County's emergency evacuation shelter is now up and running. The 43-thousand square foot coliseum and disaster response complex can withstand winds up to 200 miles per hour. The coliseum is located off Highway 59 in Robertsdale and can hold up to two-thousand people if a hurricane evacuation is ordered.

"It's a good day for Baldwin County," says Sonny Hanks, coliseum director. "Now people here have someplace to go in case there's a storm and they can get out of the bad weather."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency helped pay for the ten million dollar facility. During normal weather conditions, the complex will be used as part of the annual Baldwin County Fair and can also be rented out for meetings, weddings and parties.

"If this building blows away, you don't have to worry about anything else because there won't be nothing else left anywhere," says Hankins.

FEMA representatives are scheduled to tour the site later this month.