Tornado damage hits home for 3D printing CEO, Railroad Square tenant, Red Cross volunteer

Reality sunk in for Kyndra Light.

On Monday, she and husband, James Light, listened as tenants at Railroad Square Art Park were notified the property's direct hit by deadly tornadoes on May 10 were devastating; killing two residents. Parts of the eclectic, color-splashed art park, formerly an industrial park of old warehouses now used by local artists and businesses, were too far gone and will not be repaired.

Without warning, lives were changed for many. The Lights, too.

Three tornadoes shredded neighborhoods, segments of Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Community College and popular destinations like Railroad Square, a place where locals go in search of art, food and unique wares.

Your solutions needed: Share your thoughts on how Railroad Square should be saved

Though, the Lights are unique themselves given they own Gulf Coast Additive Manufacturing & Design and are making a name in the emerging 3D printing industry for residential and commercial construction. Their office was located in Railroad Square. Now, they'll need to relocate.

On top of that, Kyndra Light — a board member for the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross — has spent grueling days as a volunteer in the historic recovery following the worse tornado damage in Tallahassee's history.

Her perspective, one as a victim of the storm and also a recovery worker, weighs on her like the fallen trees and piles of dead limbs still littered across the capital city.

"The mental load that you see that is on this community, which was already taxed to begin with, is just so great," Light said. "I can offer one example, just providing a single hot meal for a woman, and she broke down in tears. It really hits home."

Light: 'Some of those companies will not bounce back'

The woman, a stranger before that day, will be forever seared into Light's mind as one of the many faces of residents reeling from the storm's wrath.

The American Red Cross had partnered with Big D's Barbeque to pass out hot meals to residents in Apalachee Ridge, a small and longtime neighborhood on the south side. The day Red Cross volunteers arrived, power had just been restored.

"So not only were we handing out hot meals, but we were also providing boxes of shelf-stable food for them to have for the next few days," said Light, adding volunteers were there for about four hours. "That would kind of tide them over."

For Light, it's one thing to know residents were in need and another to see it first hand with her own eyes. Fast forward nearly two weeks, and that same look of need could be seen on faces of tenants she calls neighbors within Railroad Square Art Park.

The Lights were already planning to leave their 2,000 square-foot space in the park since their lease was set to expire soon. However, the storm shifted priorities so that the couple had to regroup sooner than expected.

On Friday, they salvaged what they could and covered the rest with tarps. They still don't have complete access to all of large commercial equipment housed on the property.

"We have a small office in the building, but it's mainly a storage site for us to store all of our large construction equipment," said Light, who also owns another construction company called Precision Building and Design with her husband that made history by building Florida's first affordable 3D printed home in the Griffin Heights neighborhood in Tallahassee. "It's where the bulk of all both business assets are held."

They're nearly decided on where the next company location will be. Although, Light said she's thinking of the adjacent tenants who were most devastated by the storm.

"For the other companies that are in there that are not going to be able to reopen their business within Railroad Square," Light said. "I know that's going to be a genuine hardship for them.

"It is a hardship for us. But, we will have other options moving toward. Some of those companies will not bounce back from not being able to operate within Railroad Square."

As previously reported in the Democrat, majority Railroad Square owners and siblings Adam and Lily Kaye are turning to local government for assistance and said they can no longer shoulder the needs of the park on their own, adding it's "the largest collection of public art in the city."

“It has always been our hope that the city of Tallahassee, or a related government entity, would purchase at least a portion of Railroad Square, and make it a publicly run or non-profit-owned community resource,” they said in a statement.

At this time, it's unclear what will come of Railroad Square and whether the city, county, the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency or some other government-run entity will come to the park's aid. Light and others are hoping for a solution that meets the needs to come.

"I do hope that moving forward Railroad Square is able to restructure that space in a way that is industrious for the community," she said.

Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tornado a double blow for Railroad Square tenant and Red Cross helper