Several City of Bartlesville projects are in various stages of completion — from the ongoing construction of the new Public Safety Center at the corner of Johnstone Avenue and Adams Boulevard, to the 14th Street asphalt overlay set to begin this summer.
Public Safety Center 
One of the largest and most visible of the ongoing projects is construction of the voter-approved Bartlesville Public Safety Complex, located near Adams Boulevard and Johnstone Avenue. The complex will house a new police station and an expanded Fire Station No. 1, which is currently located on the northern portion of the site.
Bartlesville residents have no doubt noticed the steel framework that sprang up quickly once construction started in March, by Crossland Construction of Tulsa.
“Construction on the public safety complex is going well and is, for the most part, still on schedule,” City of Bartlesville Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said recently. “We’re working on getting the brick for the exterior, and we’re pretty close to being ready for the ‘topping out’ ceremony.”
A topping out ceremony “is something they typically do for buildings once they get all the structural steel in place and finalized,” Siemers said.
“They hold a ceremony to celebrate that,” he said.
Funding for the $5.8 million complex was approved by voters in the 2012 bond election.
Construction is targeted to be complete sometime in November.
“Nov. 9 is actual target date, so we anticipate it will be sometime very close to that date,” Siemers said.
Price Fields, Phase 2
The renovation of the Price Field Complex, located on Tuxedo Boulevard near Silver Lake Road, continues with the second phase — the construction of four fields in the northwest corner — going out for bids just recently.
“The second phase of Price Fields is out for the bid now. We should be receiving the bids in a couple of weeks,” Siemers said. “We will hopefully get the bids in July and get the contract approved and start work sometime in August or September.”
The City recently completed Phase 1 of the project, the construction of four fields in the northeast corner.
The $1.75 million second phase of the project includes the quad in the northwest corner, just west of the first phase fields, as well as a new asphalt parking lot, which will be located to the south of the first phase fields.
Johnstone Park Pavilion
The Johnstone Park Pavilion project is a multi-phase project that includes the construction of a 6,000 square-foot open-sided pavilion at the entrance of Johnstone Park, located in north Barlesville, west of the Cherokee Bridge.
The project is funded with 50/50 matching funds from the Community Development Block Grant Small Cities Set-Aside Program grant.
Phase 2 of the project consists of constructing prefabricated, precast concrete restrooms, as well as associated site and utility connection work. Bid invitations were sent out and only one was returned — at an amount nearly $64,000 over the amount budgeted for the project.
The Bartlesville City Council, following City staff recommendations, voted to “reject” the bid during a meeting held June 20. Siemers told the council modifications will be made to the project to allow City staff to do some of the work needed in an effort to drive the cost down, and that the project will be re-bid.
“We’re working through the rebidding process for the second phase of the pavilion project due to the one bid that we received being over budget,” Siemers said. “We should have that advertised next week, but we are looking at ways City staff can do some of the work to try to get the cost down.”
14th Street asphalt overlay
Expect work to start soon on 14th Street between Cherokee Avenue and Armstrong Avenue in the downtown area. An asphalt overlay and concrete work is set to begin late summer or early fall, Siemers said.
“The project is out for bids now,” he said. “It includes an asphalt rehabilitation — we’ll mill the edges, complete the overlay, and there will be some concrete work near Armstrong. We should see construction begin on that project in the August/September time frame.”
Cherokee water line project
Work began in February on the Cherokee Water Line Project, which consists of installing a new six-inch water line along the west side of Cherokee Avenue from Adams Boulevard to 14th Street.
“They’re to 13th Street now, and the project extends to 14th Street,” Siemer said. “We’re slowly making progress on this project and expect it to wrap up soon.”
Siemers said rain slowed the project in the beginning stages but progress has been made quickly with drier conditions.
“We had a lot of rain issues early in the project, but obviously, it’s drying out now, so we’re hopeful the project will be complete within the next month and a half or so,” he said.
Water treatment plant/Waste water rehabilitation
Two ongoing water projects include weather-proofing the generator and the transfer switch for the electricity at the Ted D. Lockin Water Treatment Plant, and a waste-water rehabilitation project in the Jane Phillips Elementary School area.
“A tornado that hit the area about a year and half ago caused some problems with the generator and transfer switch at the water plant, so we’ve been working to make that tornado resistant,” Siemers said. “We’re getting close to completion on that project.”
Siemers said the waste-water project in the Jane Phillips school area has involved sewer line rehabilitation and repair.
“The waste-water (sewer) rehabilitation is probably two-thirds complete, so we have a couple of months left on that project,” he said.