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Classes are held in Lincoln School, a renovated Oklahoma City public school, and students live in a residence hall that was completed in early 1998. The schools gymnasium opened in March of 1999. The Samson Science and Discovery Center houses physics and chemistry teaching and research laboratories and faculty offices. The Senator Bernice Shedrick Library will eventually hold 50,000 volumes and provides space for OSSMs administrative offices. With a planned addition to the residence hall, another 75 dormitory rooms will become available.
Lincoln School was built in 1903, rebuilt as Lincoln Elementary in 1914, and renovated in the 1930s and again in the 1950 s. The school was closed for good in the 1980s and was donated to OSSM by the City of Oklahoma City in 1989. Restoration of the building began in early 1991, and classes were moved from temporary quarters at OU in Norman to Lincoln School in January of 1992. Public and private funds paid for the project, with $1.5 million from private donors and $750,000 from the state. Major replacement costs included a heating and cooling system, new electrical and communications systems, asbestos removal, a new roof, and code and handicapped accessibility requirements. The school has six labs, ten classrooms, a computer room, a student lounge, an auditorium, and student reading rooms.
The Atrium is an 11.000 square foot addition to the 36,000 square feet of Lincoln School. The area is used for office space. The inside brick wall of the reception area and some offices are the former outside brick facing of the old school that faced Lincoln Boulevard.
To economize and to create an atmosphere for a learning community, Designer Larry Keller, at HTB, Inc. used a method called peeling away of the new so that the old construction is exposed. Also added to walls and stairwells are artists conceptions of early Greek and Roman design which mask the former windows and doors of the old school. In the computer lab, which was the boiler room of the original building, the brick walls show years of wear and water damage. The floor was raised, the old steel beams painted with clouds and sky, and an artists brush created an illusion of a roofless ruin with faux-painted bricks. During the renovation, hardwood maple floors were discovered under coatings of grime in the classrooms. The rooms remain essentially the same as they were for a century.
The Dan Little Residence Hall opened in the spring of 1998, with 61,092 feet of living space for 144 students and six faculty families. The final cost for construction of the dormitory was $6,708.262, with furnishing purchased from Oklahoma State Industries at a cost of $335,510. Kitchen equipment was donated by Sonic Industries. Funding for the dormitory and parking lot was provided by a 1993 higher education bond issue and a 1991 matching program bond issue.
The residence hall is designed with two towers, three stories, with 12 student rooms and one faculty apartment per section. The student rooms are 12 x 16, and students share one common bathroom and shower area per section. The Great Hall on the ground floor serves as the dining room and an area for students to study and socialize. The hall can seat up to 500 individuals. The basement provides a space for relaxation (also serves as a storm shelter) with billiard tables and game tables. An addition is planned for the residence hall which is a mirror image of the current two towers and will provide an additional 75 student rooms.
Construction of the OSSM Gymnasium was completed in March, 1999. The gym provides state-of-the-art equipment for weight training and exercise, volley ball and basketball courts, risers for spectators, a weight room, dance/aerobic exercise areas, locker rooms and showers. The building was designed by Dewberry Design Group and built by JW Skaggs Construction Company at a cost of $1,859, 830, with funding through a federal grant. State dollars provided the funds for equipment for the gymnasium.
Samson Science and Discovery Center was the third building to be constructed on campus, and is named in honor of Tulsa-based Samson Investment Company and its founder Charles Schusterman who, through the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation, provided the bulk of the funding for the facility. Other major donors included the Presbyterian Health Foundation (the property), the Noble Foundation, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, ONEOK Foundation, the Oklahoman Foundation, McCasland Foundation, the Kerr Foundation, the Chapman Charitable Trust, Rodman A. Frates, Seagate Technology, the Weyerhaeuser Foundation, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center Foundation, DuPont Central Research & Development, and Conoco, Incorporated. Matching funds were provided by the State of Oklahoma.
The Samson Center provides OSSM students with laboratory space where they and the faculty can participate in ongoing research and hands-on learning. The two-story, 25,763 square foot building was designed by Dewberry Design Group, and built under the supervision of Terra Construction, Inc., at a cost of $3,377.239. The Center houses four physics laboratories, three chemistry laboratories, a dark room, four preparation rooms, sixteen faculty offices, one demonstration laboratory, eight individual laboratories, and one computer laboratory.
The Senator Bernice Shedrick Library was the fourth building to be constructed on the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics Campus.
The library is named in honor of Oklahoma State Senator Bernice Shedrick of Stillwater. Senator Shedrick was one of the original authors of House Bill 1286, the legislation that established the School of Science and Mathematics in 1983. She continued to be one of OSSMs staunchest supporters in the senate during the years the school was struggling for its very existence in the state legislature. Along with Senator Penny Williams of Tulsa, Bernice Shedrick is referred to affectionately as one of OSSMs Mothers.
The building was designed by Atkins/Benham of Oklahoma City, in consultation with Aaron Cohen Associates of New York City. It will be the focal point of the OSSM campus. Anyone entering the campus will enter through its doors. Funding for the 20,000 square foot, 2.76 million dollar library was provided by a major grant from the Sarkeys Foundation, generous donations from foundations, individuals and corporations, and a match from the State of Oklahoma. Mrs. Angie Hester gave the largest individual, private donation to the project.
The Senator Bernice Shedrick Library features:
- a 1,000 square foot Board Room with adjoining kitchen;
- a 450 square foot conference room;
- 14 administrative offices;
- one media production room;
- one 400 square foot classroom;
- the campus computer center;
- the campus security office;
- a media wall;
- stacks for over 40,000 volumes of classical and scientific tests;
- The Sarah Hogan Reading Room*
The Shedrick Library provides space for OSSM students for study and research. The Board Room, Conference Room, and Reading Rooms are available for OSSMs partners in the community, organizations and individuals intent upon excellence in education for the youth of Oklahoma, to gather for meetings, workshops, and conferences.
*The Sarah Hogan Reading Room is named for the first chairman of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics Foundation. Under Sarah Hogans leadership the OSSM Foundation was formed with a Board of Trustees made up of over 50 community leaders from across the state. During her tenure as Chairman, from April of 1992 until June of 1997, the Foundation raised over $4.32 million for the OSSM Capital Campaign.
06/22/05