Nonprofit seeks $5.8 million FEMA hazard‑mitigation grant for safe room, youth campus in Robertson County
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Summary
Pierre Alexander of the Robertson County Sports Alliance presented Generation’s Next Academy — a proposed youth campus anchored by a 1,622‑person concrete safe room funded by a $5.8 million hazard‑mitigation grant; the nonprofit must raise a 25% local match and expects construction in two to three years if funded.
Pierre Alexander, representing the Robertson County Sports Alliance, told the Robertson County Commission on Nov. 17 that his group has applied for a FEMA hazard‑mitigation grant to build Generation’s Next Academy, a multi‑use youth campus anchored by a concrete safe room that Alexander said would hold about 1,622 people.
The grant application, Alexander said, was submitted Sept. 5. “The grant itself is a $5,800,000 grant,” Alexander said, adding that the funding would cover the safe room structure but not the athletic fields, courts or daycare facilities the campus planners expect to add later.
The proposal places the campus on roughly 10 acres in the Bransford area, with site work coordinated with Vesper Builders. Alexander said the project is being phased: “Phase 1 is the safe room,” and later phases would add daycare, playing fields and other amenities as fundraising and partnerships allow. He said FEMA encouraged an early submission and that the grant will require the nonprofit to provide a local match: “We are responsible for 25%,” Alexander said, noting the grant is not 100% and that the organization will pursue fundraising to cover non‑grant elements.
Commissioners and residents asked about timing, traffic and infrastructure. Alexander said architectural and geotechnical work remain and that, if funded, the group hopes to open the facility in about two to three years. He said emergency management (EMA) is involved in planning an evacuation and traffic flow plan and that the grant specifically pays for the safe room shell — “a concrete building” — not site amenities.
Why it matters: a FEMA hazard‑mitigation safe room is intended to provide community shelter during severe weather events and could serve thousands during tournaments or a mass sheltering need, but the grant’s match requirement and the need to raise funds for associated amenities mean the project will require local fundraising and intergovernmental coordination.
Next steps: Alexander said the group will continue fundraising and coordination with EMA and local governments; the FEMA process and required design work mean construction would not be immediate even if the award is made.
