Replacement of parking lot gets underway

Replacement of the parking lot for Pawhuska High School and the junior high building was slated to begin this week, and school district Maintenance Director Dean Hix estimated it would probably take about a week and a half to tear up the old pavement and put down a new surface.

“That will be a big, big help to us, getting that parking lot fixed,” Hix said. He intially anticipated work on the parking lot would begin Tuesday, but heavy equipment was in place Monday getting a start. The parking lot project is just the latest in a series of important facilities improvements that have been ongoing this summer.

Hix mentioned that Pawhuska Public Schools has benefited from the generosity of City Church, a Bartlesville congregation that has provided painting services on four offices at Pawhuska High School, as well as classrooms.

“These people are from Bartlesville and they’re coming over here and helping us out,” Hix said. He also expressed special admiration for the hard work of Pawhuska athletic director Chris Walker on a project that involved installing bathrooms and a concession facility for the softball field.

“He worked his tail off,” Hix said, commenting that the upgrades had been needed for a long time. “That’s a big step. He worked hard, himself, out there.”

Yet another improvement, one that should noticeably affect the quality of the experience of students and teachers this year at Pawhuska High School, is the correction of a drainage problem at the high school. Hix said that when a French drain was installed some years back, the pipes weren’t hooked up. The result was that the roof collected water. That should stop, he said.

In September, the school district is planning to ask for public help with the replacement of aging vehicles. The Pawhuska Board of Education has approved a bond election for Sept. 10 regarding a proposed $250,000 transportation bond.