Friday, June 20, 2008; Posted 3.34 pm (CDT)

Dibble school officials say overcrowding has been a big problem for them, but officials say their new buildings won't just help out students.

"When they first started going up, I thought, 'What are they building?'" says Tamara Goins, who works in Dibble.

It's not your typical middle school and gymnasium, but for Dibble it seemed like the perfect addition to the community.

"Yes, it'll be really good for the community," says Mark Howe, Dibble Middle School Principal and Dibble High School Boys Basketball Coach.

The structures are called monolithic domes. It's created by attaching a tarp to concrete walls and then inflating it with fans. After that, the interior of the dome is sprayed with polyurethane, and steel rebar is placed underneath. The final touch is spraying about six inches of concrete on the dome.

"I thought it was a good idea because it's energy efficient and all these things, just something different," says Howe.

School officials say the fact the buildings are 50 percent more energy efficient than conventional ones was only part of the reason for choosing this construction.

"During school times, we came under the bleachers in the old gym, and it was really not a storm shelter," says Howe. "Now we'll have storm shelters for the entire school.

Dibble has no community storm shelter, so officials wanted a multi-purpose building.

"I think that's wonderful," says Goins. "They do need a storm shelter in the town."

Some critics say this type of structure may not be able to withstand Oklahoma's most severe weather, but school officials say because it was slightly cheaper to construct and energy efficient, it was worth the choice.

"That was a good draw for the community, so we'll know for sure they'll have places to go," says Howe.

The two buildings are not classified as storm shelters until FEMA approves certification.

The project began in December 2007, and officials estimate it will be completed by February or March 2009. The price tag for the two buildings is about $3.5 million.

For more information about monolithic domes, go here.