AVA, Mo. -- Safety and entertainment are two things that you don't normally think of together. City and school leaders in Ava did, however, and now one project will serve two purposes.

It's the big trend in tornado shelters, and the Ava School District is the latest to receive one. Officials just had a groundbreaking ceremony for a 20,000-square-foot building that will double as a tornado shelter for the community and a performing arts center for the school district.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for 75-percent of the project, not including the theatre seats, stage lighting and other extras that go beyond the basic needs of a tornado shelter. An auditorium is something the school district wanted but thought it was out of financial reach until it learned about the FEMA possibility.

The building likely will be done by next August. It will give the city what it needs and students what they want. The auditorium is the main attraction of the multipurpose building. It will have 500 seats and a stage. It also will have classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and much needed storage space.

“This is something we couldn't get,” said Superintendent Andrew Underwood.

FEMA will pay $2 million for the project, with the Ava School District pumping in the other $500,000.

This funding is similar to what West Plains received on its shelter that opened last month. FEMA helped pay for a new gymnasium and cafeteria that also functions as a city shelter.

The walls of the new building in Ava will be 16-inch thick concrete to help protect from a tornado but, once inside, Underwood says you won't even know you're in a shelter.

The current tornado shelter for Ava is in the basement of the courthouse and it only holds about 300 residents. The new multipurpose facility can hold 3,000 people, almost the entire town’s population.