Board reviews multipurpose facility plans for Midwest City, Carl Albert and Del City; Del City layout draws concern

Architects for the district presented schematic plans for three high‑school multipurpose facility projects and took board questions about layout, program and timeline.

Jordan Hall of MA+ described Midwest City’s new multipurpose building as just under 49,000 square feet, anchored by a 60‑yard indoor practice field, locker rooms, coaches’ offices, storage, an athletic trainer space and three overhead doors that allow indoor/outdoor flow with the adjacent outdoor practice field. Hall said the facility will include a reception area and accessory parking to support coaches and visitors.

Grant Gallagher presented Del City’s plan: a multipurpose facility of just over 48,000 square feet, an 8,500‑square‑foot storm shelter designed to accommodate the school population, and a 15,800‑square‑foot fine‑arts facility with dedicated band and orchestra spaces and storage mezzanines. Gallagher said the project includes a new lobby connection to the existing field house and that the team plans to go to bid in January or February.

Board members raised several programmatic concerns about Del City’s configuration, including the absence of a dedicated training room and limited usable locker‑room and coaches’ spaces in the proposed footprint. Board member comments repeatedly urged staff and architects to seek modest adjustments to the storm shelter placement and the building’s footprint to gain “a few hundred square feet” that could be repurposed for a trainer’s room, coaches’ meeting space or additional program rooms without adding a costly second story and elevator. Gallagher and the architects agreed to explore shifting the storm shelter west to recover usable area; the architects said that adjustment would be less costly than adding a second level and an elevator and would avoid parking impacts.

Architects also noted design choices intended to limit long‑term maintenance: bright exterior colors are composed of EIFS and painted elements so maintenance staff can refresh them over time. Board members praised the branding approach while continuing to press for functional parity across campuses—asking that Del City not be treated as an outlier compared with Midwest City and Carl Albert.

The board and architects also reviewed interior elements including trainer spaces, washer/dryer pass‑throughs for uniform laundering, auxiliary locker rooms and shared coaches’ offices. For the Midwest City and Carl Albert facilities, the locker rooms and training zones were presented as adequate for varsity operations, with auxiliary spaces available for smaller programs. At Del City, the team said existing adjacent facilities (the Manning Center/field house) would continue to be used to house the primary locker rooms while the new multipurpose building serves practices and additional program needs.

Timeline and next steps: the architects confirmed plans to release construction bids in January or February. Board members asked architects and district staff to return with revised options that (1) push the storm shelter slightly west to gain usable square footage, (2) include a possible small trainer’s room or flex space, and (3) present comparisons showing how Del City’s usable program area will align with the other two campuses.

No formal vote was taken on design changes; the presentation concluded with staff agreeing to return with revised schematic options and cost implications prior to bidding.