Edmond OKs contract for new school shelter

Edmond Schools' goal of providing ultimate storm protection for all 25,000 students is proceeding.

On Monday, the Edmond Board of Education contracted with a company to build a $3 million shelter at Cimarron Middle School, 3701 S Bryant Ave. Meanwhile, plans are underway for a new gymnasium at Charles Haskell Elementary School, 1701 NW 150 St., which will double as a storm shelter.

In the past five years, the district has added shelters to schools, which double for another use. That can include gymnasiums, band rooms, classrooms, cafeterias and media centers. These storm shelters are built according to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) standards and can withstand effects from an EF-5 tornado, which carry winds ranging from 262 to 317 mph.

The Edmond School Board, and administrators, made the commitment to the shelters following a deadly EF-5 twister that struck Moore in May 2013 killing schoolchildren.

In a letter to the Edmond School Board, the district's construction supervisor Jason Ferguson said Edmond received 10 bids to do work at Cimarron. That shelter will double as a media center as well as additional science rooms. Ferguson recommended Pillar Contracting of Oklahoma City and its low bid of $3.08 million. That company is also wrapping up a shelter and media center at Ida Freeman Elementary, 501 W Hurd St.

The board voted 4-0 to award Pillar the bid. Board President Meredith Exline was absent.

Preliminary plans were also presented for Charles Haskell's shelter in the western part of the district that falls in Oklahoma City. In this case, the shelter will be an addition on the school's campus, according to district chief operations officer Justin Coffelt. It would be built on an adjacent part of the school, now used as a playground.

The board signed off on the preliminary plans and is expected to approve the final plans sometime this fall.

Coffelt wasn't expecting construction of the shelter to begin until the end of this school year and predicted a completion date sometime in 2020.

Both of the shelters will be funded by a bond package passed in 2017. An upcoming 2019 bond proposal most likely will fund a shelter at Summit Middle School, 1703 NW 150 St., which is near Charles Haskell.

After the meeting, Coffelt said Summit does provide good storm protection now by being built into a berm. Although, he added, the goal is to eventually have a FEMA approved shelter there, as well.