All members of the Alva Board of Education were present for a special meeting held Wednesday, Feb. 7, 5–7 p.m. in the district's administrative offices to hear presentations from TriArch of Tulsa and Boynton Williams & Associates of Norman.

The last bond issue payments are winding down and the board sees the reduction of those bond payments as good timing to vote another bond to address the problems at the high school site. At a previous community meeting a couple years ago, a few topics such as cramped space in both the basement band room and the basement choral rooms were identified as a real problem. This became even more of a problem as the programs grew in popularity partly because Alva received a lot of statewide awards in the arts. The high school band now practices at the middle school. They must come to school early and be back to the high school before the second bell. The speech department uses the old band room.

Also, a major problem at the high school is lack of parking when major events fill Memorial Auditorium. Some patrons have blocked private drives with "creative" parking and sometimes the lawn in front of the high school is appropriated. Parking is also a serious problem for events on the other side of the campus in the two gymnasiums.

Other items up for discussion are several problems at the high school football field. Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU) has asked if the Alva High School track may be used if they re-institute a women's track program. (Jill Lancaster, returning as NWOSU cross-country coach, brings Division 1 coaching experience to Alva and provides the university a major opportunity in Division II competition.) The AHS Track is the only one in town since the college track was removed in the renovation of Ranger Field. The AHS Track is only six lanes, and eight lanes is typical for 4A-6A schools and colleges.

The architects at the school board meeting said widening the track to eight lanes is possible, but also would be costly, since retaining walls on both sides would have to be moved.

The light poles on the field are too close to the track and previous inspections have revealed they are rotting and need to be replaced with metal poles further from the action. This would solve a problem of light brightness fall-off on the edges of the football field, but also would require brighter lighting systems to cover the distance.

ADA-qualified restroom facilities need to be added, as well as a small concession stand and press box.

One of the architects asked Superintendent Parkhurst if there was any thought of moving the high school games back to the high school and he gave an emphatic "No." Parkhurst said, "That will be the main field for middle school football, elementary football and high school practice."

In their presentations, the architects pointed out several problems with the south entrances to the high school. "Which entrance to use is not clear." Also, there is a 100-foot long ramp that is pretty daunting.

Architect Presentations

Both architectural firms displayed beautiful catalogs of their projects at schools all over the state, including samples from Cherokee, Woodward, Waynoka and Guymon. Clarence Williams said the two firms handle probably 90 percent of the school architecture work in the state of Oklahoma. Their rates are 6 percent of projects costs.

Their presentations also included significant drone and traditional videography. One of the firms said they could create virtual reality video where board members, wearing special eyepieces, could visually walk through the project halls before construction began.

Both firms said they would handle all promotion needed to pass as a bond issue. They displayed a long list of successful bond issue attempts. They both said if the bond issue fails, then there is no charge for any of their work.

Since the Wednesday night meeting was mainly a sales presentation for the services available at the architectural firms, and they had never met with the board before, no detailed proposals were presented. The cost of the project would be determined after architectural drawings and specifications are made an put out for bids.

The presenters did mention that Alva's distance from large general contractors in Oklahoma City impacts the costs negatively. Both liked the idea of employing a construction manager to reside locally so that more local sub-contractors might be used. They estimated the project would take from 12-15 months.

The second architectural firm was Boynton Williams and Associates who traveled to Alva from Norman. In this photo, their audio-visual producer, Charlie Reeves demonstrates some of their produced videos to help educate a community on a construction project.

The Alva Board decided to table a vote on selecting an architect to the March regular meeting. They also will schedule a board meeting on Feb. 22, to announce a new superintendent selection.