Lawton Public Schools new multipurpose buildings are under construction

Construction is underway as Lawton Public Schools adds new multipurpose buildings containing locker rooms, restrooms, and concessions for athletic programs at all three high schools.

This construction comes following improvements made to the turf at all high school football fields last summer.

In a two-phase plan centered around providing top of the line resources and experiences for Lawton Public Schools students, 6,600-square-foot multipurpose buildings are being added near LPS athletic facilities. Lawton Public Schools Chief Operations Officer Jason James said the goal of these buildings is to allow the school to be able to host more events on their own campuses.

“We’re proud to provide these facilities for students and help advance them in their academic journey,” said Lawton Public Schools Chief Operations Officer Jason James

In the first phase of the project, six locker rooms will be added along with coaches’ offices, restrooms, storage, and concessions. The floor plans for the buildings are nearly identical at each site, the only difference being the color of the building dependent on the school. Phase one of the project is expected to be finished by Spring 2025.

The buildings will be focused on housing spring sports and women’s sports that don’t have their own locker rooms like football or basketball. James said it also will allow more events to be held at each campus including high school, middle school, freshman, and junior-varsity.

The multipurpose buildings make getting to games easier for residents that live close to their school, according to James. By no longer making fans travel to Cameron University’s field for home games, James said, “Fans from the east side of Lawton near MacArthur won’t have to travel. They can come to their home school and have their games.”

Lawton Public Schools will still use Cameron University for its games for the 2024 season. LPS won’t be disregarding Cameron’s field after the project, planning to continue intracity games at Cameron Stadium according to James.

Phase two will be a 15,000-square-foot indoor practice facility for athletics. This part of the project will take a little longer as it won’t start until the first phase is finished. It’s expected that this phase at the earliest will be finished in 2026, according to James.

Lawton Public Schools received funding for the project from the Oklahoma State Department of Education Redbud Grant. In the last fiscal year, LPS was allocated $4.7 million in funds from the grant to use toward building projects and the three multipurpose buildings at high schools around Lawton will cost $3.7 million, according to James.

“We want our people to know we’re continually looking to improve facilities for our kids,” said James. “We want to meet the needs of students best we can.”