Disaster shelter in box unveiled; local factory will produce it
Defense industry contractor Adaptive Methods develops a container that folds out into a barracks or an office.
By Mike Pare mpare@timesfreepress.com
Online: See the rapid deployment shelter. Comment on this stor y. A portable shelter that could be used for temporary housing in place of trailers at hurricane disaster sites was unveiled in Chattanooga on Tuesday. The Virginia-based maker of the rapid deployment shelter plans to make the units in the city and employ about 100 people within three years. “It’s great technology we’re bringing to a new market,” said Keith Buckner, vice president of manufacturing for Adaptive Methods, about the product that can be shipped as 20-foot containers and unfolded in less than two minutes. Mr. Buckner said full production will start in April and the business likely will employ about 30 people by then at its 42,000-square-foot Cumberland Avenue factory. He said the company is investing an initial $1.3 million in the project that uses tech-
nology developed at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Mr. Buckner said the company is targeting emergency first responders. The 400-square-foot hard shelters are equipped with diesel generators. The units will initially be priced at $200,000 each, the cost will go down in production, Mr. Buckner said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was criticized after Hurricane Katrina for the cost of trailers which housed the homeless after the 2005 storm. Critics also said that production chemicals made them unhealthy for occupants. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, RTenn., said the city is reclaiming its manufacturing heritage with the Adaptive Methods plant along with Volkswagen and other companies. “This has real potential to create next-generation jobs,” he said about the Adaptive Methods project. Wayne Cropp, chief executive of the city’s Enterprise Center, said the product demonstration comes about a year after a project team proposed the concept. “We’re excited to have a company with the quality of Adaptive Methods,” he said about the defense contractor headquartered outside Washington, D.C. Mr. Buckner said units could be used as portable pharmacies at disaster sites and be useful to the National Guard or FEMA. “The Guard has expressed a lot of interest,” said the company vice president, adding he is heading to Japan soon to seek customers. PORTABLE SHELTER Each unit can become a barracks sleeping 12 people. Staff Photo by Leslie Onstott The Rapid Deployment Shelter System is unveiled Tuesday at Adaptive Methods’ plant on Cumberland Avenue.
