Facility History
Campus Additions
By March, 1949 the campus was packed with 1,042 students and bonds were voted to build a stadium and classroom addition. The amphitheater and tennis courts, which had often flooded, were covered with dirt hauled in from the downtown Phillips complex (Adams Building site).
Thus began many changes to the buildings and campus, as summarized below:
| 1952 | A track and field were designed by Buck & Caldwell and constructed for $66,000. There is a 1953 photo of the band out on the field. In that photo you can see how the east side of the school looked before the stadium, annex, and counseling suite were built. |
| 1954 | The stadium was designed by Buck & Caldwell, constructed for $476,000, and built by the Wickersham Construction Company of Tulsa. The project started in May, 1953 with most funds coming from private sources. The completion date slipped three months from May to August, 1954 and the three-floor 10-classroom stadium was dedicated on September 17, 1954. There is a 1955 photo of the stadium. The stadium also contained a metal shop (now rooms S-1 and S-2), band room, and locker rooms. Before the stadium band room was built, the old field house had a stage that doubled as a band room - that area is now the concession stand. Tiny rooms on various levels around that area were once music practice rooms and are now coaches' offices, lounges, and storage areas. The football field and stadium were dedicated in memory of Coach Cecil "Lefty" Custer, who came to Bartlesville in 1924 and was the head football coach for many years. Custer had previously coached for a few years in Augusta, Kansas and had pitched for the University of Kansas baseball team for three years, and was also active in football, track, and basketball; he passed away in 1953. Prior to 1954, football games were held crosswise on the baseball field at the Bartlesville Municipal Stadium (now Bill Doenges Memorial Stadium). |
| 1956 | A new basement cafeteria was designed by Caudill, Rowlett, & Scott and constructed by Lambert Construction of Stillwater for $94,583. The cafeteria was originally across the hall from the library, and served as an auxiliary reading room. It was moved to the basement and the upper room became a study hall. That area was the library reference room for many years and is now classrooms, offices, and storage. |
| 1958 | The annex was designed by Charles Woodruff and constructed by Langley Construction of Tulsa for $214,188. This brought the confusing "3rd, 4th, and 5th floors", with the "3rd" floor below-ground! The home economics classes, which were on the first floor across from the office, moved to a customized 3rd floor. The 4th floor included a skybridge connecting the main building to the stadium. The 5th floor had a rooftop greenhouse which was used by environmental science and business classes (which grew homecoming mums) until the late 1970s. The annex originally had 11 classrooms and several hundred lockers. |
