Stillwater NewsPress

Local News

July 19, 2011

Architects: Any changes to new Stillwater elementary schools won't be noticeable

By Silas Allen sallen@stwnewspress.com

STILLWATER, Okla. — Plans for two new elementary schools in the Stillwater school district look much the same today as they did when architects presented final concept designs in January.

Carol Ross Barney of Chicago-based Ross Barney Architects presented an architecture update on designs for two new elementary schools. The presentation came during the Stillwater Board of Education’s meeting Tuesday.

Ross Barney said the two projects look substantially the same as they did the last time they were shown in public, before Stillwater-area voters passed a bond issue to fund the two projects.

Since then, Ross Barney said, architects have been working to develop the spaces in and around the two buildings. In both cases, she said, architects have worked to make sure those developments are in keeping with characteristics residents liked in the initial design.

The two new buildings will replace Highland Park and Will Rogers Elementary. Both buildings were built in 1950, and district officials have said both have deteriorated beyond the point of effective repair.

The construction projects are being funded by money raised through a $61.5 million bond package approved by Stillwater voters earlier this year. District officials hope to be able to move into the new schools over the 2012 winter break.

Among the developments added to the plans for the two buildings were covered plaza areas that are designed to provide a pleasant spot for parents to wait for their children after school. Parents had expressed interest in including such an area in the plans, she said, but it hadn’t been factored into the last design.

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