• Learn more at Public Meeting March 5
This is a look inside Burlington Public School's new gym that's nearly finished. The view is of the homeside with the new scoreboard. Behind the glass wall just to the north of the court is the Fitness Room.
Burlington's new gym has 571 seatbacks of which 166 are padded. The seats are covered while construction continues.
It's been years in the waiting, but Burlington Public School in northwest Oklahoma finally has a spacious new gymnasium that's about ready to see action. It appears third time was a charm when the tiny rural town finally passed a bond issue in a special election April 5, 2022.
The results are a 22,974 square foot gymnasium/family fitness complex with a gym area of 14,589 square feet located just north of the school building. Touring the facility Friday, the noise was deafening at times as crews from Lambert Construction work intently to finish the project. The gym is spacious and beautiful as the dream it took to make this happen.
Elks fans who have sat through hundreds of basketball games on those hard wooden board bench seats will love the 571 seatbacks in Burlington's vintage purple. Of those seats, 166 are padded. Superintendent Gerrett Spears said patrons can pay extra for one of those padded seats. The amount and how to reserve one of the chairs will be discussed at a future meeting.
All are invited to a public meeting to hear details and updates about the gym/family fitness center March 5, 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium.
Built in the early 1960s, Burlington's original gym was not near large enough for many games through the years. The size restricted the school from hosting tournaments and other post-season games. The occupant load is now 860. The locker rooms were small and needed repairs. Handicap accessibility was barely available and school officials added to meet ADA standards as best they could. The new complex will be totally ADA compliant. Spears said all doors will be ADA compliant with seating available and areas for wheelchairs.
Walking into the gym at the main entrance on the southwest side of the building, visitors will see a large trophy case that will display Burlington's rich basketball history. Spacious restrooms with attractive tile designs in purple and white cover the walls. Spears said the women's restroom has 10 stalls which should insure "no wait."
Family Fitness Room, Walking/Jogging Track, Training Room
The Family Fitness concept can be realized from walking and jogging to using a variety of exercise equipment. Spears said there is a two-lane walking/jogging track that will be on the floor level. It will have lines and take 9 laps for a mile. A spacious fitness room is located on the north end of the gym. It's separated from the court by a glass wall. Spears explained the glass is made so people exercising can see out into the gym, but people in the gym cannot see into the fitness room.
The Fitness Room features two bikes, two treadmills, two ellipticals. three half racks with platforms, one cable machine, dumbbells ranging from 5-100 pounds, an ice machine, plyo boxes, jump ropes, and other fitness equipment. The complex also has a full training room.
All details about availability, etc., to the fitness room will be unveiled at the March 5 public meeting.
Cost of This Capital Improvement Project
Spears said the entire bond issue cost was $10.2M with around $9M of spendable. Bids and costs of everything increased from the original, due mostly to inflation. The board hired Mr. Rousey to bring his expertise in cost-cutting efforts with school bond issue projects.
The entire cost for the gym/fitness center is roughly $8.6 million, Spears said.
Easley and Associates are the architects who designed the gym and oversee all aspects of the project. Lambert Construction is the contractor.
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