NATCHEZ — County officials will dedicate this morning the FEMA 361 storm safe room in honor of the late Louis Gunning.

The ceremony will be 11 a.m. at the shelter, which is located next to the Steckler Building on the Natchez High School campus.

Construction of the building — first proposed in 2009 — began in Feb. 2014, and was completed last month. This will be the first glimpse members of the public get of the inside of the facility.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said that after the ceremony members of the public will be given an opportunity to go in the shelter and see the interior.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors voted last year to name the building after Louis Gunning, the long-time director of the Natchez Stewpot, in August 2014. Gunning died in May.

At the time that the board decided to designate the building with his name, Gunning said it was “quite an honor.”

The FEMA 361 shelter building was funded by money originally tied to federal emergency preparedness grants that were released after Hurricane Katrina.

The 10,000-square foot structure is meant to withstand the wind force of an EF5 tornado.

The shelter — which is only meant for short-term emergency situations and not for housing post-storm — was built near Natchez High School because the grant requires it must be near a school.

County officials have said the school district will maintain the building, and it will be exercised by allowing some public use.

Bradford said this week the final agreement on how the school district will use the ballroom-type space has not been finalized, but he plans to sit down with school officials in the next couple of weeks to hash out those plans.