BOND BUILDING BLOCKS: TPS construction projects continue on pace

Jul. 21—As the first days of school draw nearer, construction has continued at several Tahlequah Public School sites.

TPS Superintendent Tanya Jones, said the sites that are a part of a bond project approved in spring 2022 are Greenwood Elementary, Cherokee Elementary, and by the Tahlequah High School baseball/softball field.

The projects at Cherokee Elementary involve some areas being moved and new structures being erected. Cherokee Elementary Principal Marissa McCoy said the library is moving to where the old cafeteria was housed, and new restrooms will be installed in the space where the library is currently located. In the new library space, McCoy said, the old kitchen area will be converted into a special services room with a clothing closet, shower, washer, dryer, and nurse's station. McCoy said the new library portion is set to be completed in December, with Christmas Break being used to move the old library to its new space.

"It will be bigger, and it'll just be a little more quiet. Right now, our library is surrounded by tons of classrooms, and when the library gets loud, they can hear it in the classrooms, and when the classrooms get loud, they can hear it in the library," said McCoy. "It's just going to be nice to separate those spaces, and we'll get a little bit more storage as well in that new library space — and honestly, we just need more restrooms."

McCoy said the current library area had a set of restrooms 15 years ago, but they were removed to create more office space. This has forced the second-graders to make a longer trek to the nearest restroom.

A new administration addition will be placed at the same side as the cafeteria, essentially making it the new front of the structure.

McCoy said this will feature a foyer added for safety reasons and offices for the school resource officer, principal, assistant principal, and secretaries.

It is set to be completed for the 2024-'25 school year. The old offices will then be converted into spaces, such as outside counseling agencies.

TPS Director of Operations Brad Jones said concrete for plumbing and prepping for electric has started to take place at Cherokee Elementary, with the outside also being ready for footings.

The project at Greenwood began with redoing the parking lot to create a better carline and safer parking at the front of the building.

Tanya Jones said they assumed the renovation would be simple, but has become a little more complicated.

"They had to go in and dig a bunch out, and then backfill it with the appropriate type of material, so it's stable and will last for as long as you would expect something like that to last," said the superintendent.

Greenwood is also receiving a new addition at the east end of the school. This will include three special education classrooms, including a multi-handicap classroom that will feature a restroom and changing facility, plus a new music room and a teachers' work room. The new area will also be a tornado shelter, and will be able to hold the entire school population.

The new structure has not been started yet, but the footings and dirt work portion have begun. The superintendent said she is hoping the parking lot will be done by the start of school, but the latest completion date could be November 2023. If the parking lot is not finished by the time school begins, the superintendent said, a smaller car line may have to take place until it is completed.

"They're going to start from one end and work toward the other, so we have a little bit of area to work with for parents," said Tanya Jones.

The new additions to the building will not be completed until the 2024-'25 school year. Jones said people should monitor the school's Facebook page and website for updates on the Greenwood site.

"We'll make plans for none of it being finished. We'll make plans for some of it being finished. We'll make plans for it being perfect, but we just won't know until time for school to start," said the superintendent.

While the turf field project has been finished, Brad Jones said the indoor athletic facility had a slight delay on the roof, which has now been resolved.

The structure is up, and interior panels are starting to be installed. The operations director said it looks like it will roughly be a month to six weeks before more will start to "take shape," especially since masonry work will start on the outside in a couple weeks.

The superintendent said the new indoor athletic facility will be available for many TPS groups to use upon its completion, including football, pom, choir, band, and softball.

With the remaining funds after the big bond projects are finished, she said the district will start touching up on little things throughout the other sites.

The operations director said the smaller projects they are looking at doing with the extra funds include bathroom renovations at THS, and other renovations throughout the district to classrooms and hallways.

"We're going to assess and find out what is the biggest need and try to go from there," said Brad Jones.

Tanya Jones said the main reason for the projects is due to the growth the district has experienced and wanting to provide better facilities.

"It's not a tremendous growth, but most of these buildings are extremely old, and we do everything we can do on a daily basis to fix problems as they come up, or beautify things as we have extra funds, but that just doesn't happen very often," the superintendent said. "They're old facilities and our students deserve to be in nice, beautiful facilities. They spend more waking hours at school than they do at home during the school year, and we want them to be proud and safe."