Projects Update: Street rehabs to start soon; rain slows work at Price Fields

Several City of Bartlesville projects are in various stages of development, from the voter-approved Bartlesville Public Safety Complext, which will house a new police department and an expanded Central Fire Station, to new baseball and sofltball fields at the Price Fields Complex and a long-awaited road project set to begin soon, the Camelot Drive Rehabilitation project.

Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said recently provided updates on several City projects:

Johnstone Pavilion Phases 2 & 3

The Johnstone Pavilion is available for events and rental, but work continues at the site, located near the south entrance to Johnstone Park. The pavilion project is a multi-phase project funded with 50/50 matching funds from the Community Development Block Grant Small Cities Set-Aside Program grant.

The project is in the finishing stages of Phase 2, with Phase 3 plans currently under design.

“Plans will be completed for Phase 3 and the bid advertised by February 26,” Siemers said.

Phase 3 will include a perimeter 10-foot-wide sidewalk along Hensley Boulevard, Cherokee Avenue and First Street that will connect to a plaza on the south side of the pavilion. The plaza will be constructed out of a combination of concrete and brick pavers, Siemers said. The project will also include lighting for the plaza.

“Phase 2 work is essentially complete, other than adding a rock border around the base of the restroom to match the columns on the pavilion,” Siemers said, nothing the engineering department is working to obtain enough quotes from contractors to meet the grant requirements.

“Hopefully, we will have that work underway prior to construction on Phase 3, which is anticipated to begin towards the end of April,” Siemers said.

Bartlesville Public Safety Complex

Voters approved funding for the Bartlesville Public Safety Complex in the 2012 General Obligation bond election, and construction started on the new facility in March 2016. The complex, located in the 600 block of Johnstone Ave., will be home to the expanded Central Fire Station, which already existed on the northern portion of the site, and a new police facility, located on the south end.

Firefighters moved in to the expanded station several weeks ago, while fire administration, which is currently housed on the third floor of City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave., will relocate to the expanded station in the next few weeks. Police are set to vacate the current facility, 100 E. Hensley Blvd., and move in to the new station next month.

“We could go ahead and move staff into the spaces, as they are essentially complete, but there are still punch list items remaining, like replacing damaged ceiling tiles, touching up paint and generally fixing items that aren’t quite up to snuff,” Siemers said. “We don’t want the workers or city staff to have to work around each other, so we would rather just wait until it’s all wrapped up to avoid conflicts.”

Price Fields Phase 2

Work continues on Phase 2 of the multi-phase renovation of the Price Fields Complex, which involves the construction of a new quadrant of youth baseball/softball fields in the northwest corner of the complex, located on Tuxedo Boulevard near Silver Lake Road.

In addition to the fields, Phase 2 of the project also includes:

  • The construction of an asphalt parking lot along the east side of the complex directly south of the Phase 1 quadrant of fields, which were completed in 2013
  • The relocation of existing pre-cast concrete restrooms to accommodate the new fields
  • Re-working two of the Phase 1 fields to be used for softball
  • Address drainage issues from the Phase 1 quad
  • Minor utility relocation

Rain has slowed the project down a bit, Siemers said.

“When an entire site is dirt, a little bit of rain really slows progress,” he said.

The fence work continues, though, with all the posts set and workers starting to stretch chain link.

“They will start laying sod as conditions allow,” Siemers said.

Siemers said irrigation lines are about 95 percent complete and “heads will be fine-tuned as sod is installed.”

The lighting is installed, and foundations have been poured for the bleacher shade structures as well, he said.

“The structures will be set in place as soon as the site is dry enough to get the equipment on-site,” he said.

Additionally, concrete sidewalks have been poured from the parking lot to the restroom and quads.

“There is quite a bit of concrete left to pour between all of the fields and dugouts, but it should go pretty quick with good weather,” Siemers said.

The infields of the two north fields of the Phase 1 quad have been “skinned” and new infield soil has been brought in to create softball fields, Siemers said. Also, the parking lot has been paved and striped and is complete.

“Things are really starting to come together, if we can just get the weather to cooperate,” Siemers said. “Unfortunately, we have more rain in the forecast (this) week. Right now we are pushing for completion in mid-March, but it’s really dependent upon weather.”

Camelot Drive Rehabilitation Project

According to Siemers, a contract for work on the Camelot Rehabilitation project will likely be awarded in March, and construction could start toward the end of the month.

The project consists of a concrete panel replacement along Camelot, from U.S. Highway 75 to Candlestick Court.

Construction shouldn’t pose too big a problem for traffic in the area, Siemers said.

“Two-way traffic will remain open along Camelot as much as possible, though it will be one lane with flag personnel the majority of the time,” he said.

Other street projects

Several street projects are in the planning stages, Siemers said.

“We have quite a few street projects under design that are nearing completion and should be going to construction later this spring and early summer,” he said.

“We’ll have rehabilitation projects on Skyline/Moonlight, Sirocco, Nebraska, Spruce, Rogers, Penn and Osage,” Siemers said. “If plans progress, later in the summer/fall we’ll have work on Castle between Adams and Baylor, Comanche between Adams and Frank Phillips, and Tuxedo between Madison and the Caney River.”