HACKLEBURG — Where there was just a large plot of dirt on the first anniversary of the April 27, 2011, tornadoes now stands the shell of the Wrangler distribution plant.

In time, it will replace the building destroyed in the storm.

Residents said the plant’s reconstruction sparks hope that their town is coming back to life after the devastating tornado ripped it apart, leaving death and destruction in its path.

“We’re going to come back, and it appears that we’re doing better than I thought we would after the tornado,” Marion County Commissioner Don Barnwell said. “I thought there would be no way we would come back in even two years. Now, it’s a little over a year and we’re coming back.”

Sam Tucker, vice president for human resources for VF Corp., Wrangler’s parent plant, said the estimated completion time for the building is mid-2013. Wrangler is the town’s largest employer.

“Of course, we would like to beat that date, but we’ve had some weather challenges,” he said. “We’re still going with that target date.”

Tucker said the new building initially will employ the same number of employees as the old building — 150 — but will have the capacity to add an additional 50 employees if there’s a need.

He added the Wrangler employees who have continued to work in the sewing facility in Hackleburg and in the Wrangler facility in Holly Pond will be the first to work in the reconstructed Wrangler distribution plant.

“The day we open it, those people will be the ones we’ll be assimilating in,” he said.

Though the new building will have less square footage, Tucker said it will have an overall larger footprint, since the old Wrangler plant was built upward.

“It will also be ... very energy efficient,” he said.

State money covered $31 million of the new building’s costs, with the Marion County Commission contributing $200,000 and the town of Hackleburg contributing $100,000 in in-kind work.

Barnwell said the main thing people are excited about is getting back to work in Hackleburg.

“When we get (the plant) done and get the school done, then it’ll really be a sign of life,” he said.

Hannah Mask can be reached at 256-740-5728 or hannah.mask@TimesDaily.com.