Owasso Public Schools outlines timeline for four bond-funded construction projects

Owasso Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Coates said the district’s recently passed bond will fund four major construction projects, and district construction director Mark Knowlton described how they will be designed and delivered.

Coates opened the update on site at Ator Field and said the projects will begin moving forward now that the bond has passed. Knowlton said the first project — an eighth-grade center currently under design — "will be ready for bid in January." He said the facility will include "a new safe structure, which is a cafeteria and kitchen, six new science labs, two dedicated art rooms, two dedicated SPED rooms, and an expanded choir room."

The district also plans a Fine Arts Center at West Campus with a 400-seat theater, a drama classroom, a black box, a choir room and a music instructional area. Knowlton said the project will include new outdoor seating off the existing cafeteria and a new loop road intended to improve traffic flow on the West Campus.

At the interview location, Knowlton described the seventh-grade center as "where we're standing today," noting it will include a new safe structure incorporated into the cafeteria, additional instructional classrooms and offices, upgraded athletic facilities with new coaches' offices and a training area, and a walking track around the athletic perimeter for student and community use.

The fourth project is a two-story fifth-grade elementary center to be added at the current sixth-grade location. Knowlton said it will be a fully separate facility with its own office pod, cafeteria and gym. He added that safe structures are planned for the new fifth-grade center and that the sixth-grade side will also receive a new cafeteria and kitchen.

Describing his role, Knowlton said his work begins in pre-design: evaluating campus spaces, selecting architects through interviews, coordinating with principals, athletic staff, teachers and kitchen staff, and then bringing on a construction manager. "I oversee the architect, the construction manager, and our teams to make sure that we start building or start designing the structure that we want and it's gonna work the way we need it to," he said.

Knowlton and Coates said these projects are aimed at improving instructional space, arts and athletic facilities, and campus circulation. The district did not provide construction start dates beyond the bid-ready timing for the eighth-grade center, and no dollar amounts or contract timetables were specified in the update. Future public updates are expected as design and bidding proceed.