The first phase of the project redeveloped a floodplain acreage east of Shawnee Avenue. The front lawn along Hillcrest Drive was also be redesigned with improved and expanding parking and a drop-off circle. The construction contract was awarded to Oakridge Builders, Inc. of Tulsa. Britt Embry of SPARKS of Tulsa was the lead architect, with much assistance from Ambler Architects of Bartlesville.

About $1.7 million, or roughly 7% of the bond construction budget for BHS, was spent redeveloping the old John C. Haley Environmental Laboratory into various athletic practice fields, a 600-space parking lot, and a revised Haley Lab with an enlarged pond, plus revamping parking in front of the school. The groundbreaking was held on January 28, 2002 and the phase was completed in the fall of 2002.

Before this phase BHS had no practice fields for soccer, baseball and softball. Parking on campus was very limited, and the construction of the new Fine Arts Center removed the main student parking lot. The Haley Lab had always been difficult to access, with a small pond that had been long neglected.

The new practice fields helped those sports. The new parking lot expanded total parking space and also could accommodate bus parking during sports activities. A new larger pond was constructed in one corner of the parcel for an improved Haley Lab.

The old on-street parking along Hillcrest Drive in front of the school was eliminated. It was replaced by two protected parking lots and a large central drive for passenger drop-off and buses. This improved access and also expanded the campus parking. Before the project began, there were only 569 parking spaces, but now there are approximately 1,000 spaces on campus.