Old School, New Beginning: Breathing New Life into the Heart of Moore

by Rob Morris with Moore Monthly

Architects and builders tackle the difficult rehabiliation of Moore’s Old School Building

All renderings provided by Abla Griffin Partnership (AGP).

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Just over two years have passed since the Moore Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of the two-story Old School Building from Charles Cotton for $965,000. That purchase culminated years of discussion about how to incorporate one of Moore’s original school buildings into the current school district’s holdings. It also launched the district’s exploration of the costs and requirements to renovate and modernize the aging building to house the MPS Vista program and address other district needs.

Moore Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Romines said he and his team have approached the project with deep respect for the building’s history and importance to Moore.

“It has a place in Moore’s history that is important to all of us in our community,” said Romines. “My grandfather, Guy Fulgate, actually taught fifth-grade math to Susie Pierce, the superintendent before me. So, I have a very deep and personal connection to the Old School Building.”

Architects from Abla Griffin Partnership (AGP), which has worked with Moore Public Schools for 12 years, joined MPS staff and builders to assess the building’s safety and integrity.

“Our alternative programs and our night school are going to be housed in the building,” said Romines, “Ultimately, this building will end up being used more than any other school in our district. So, safety is a critical factor.”

It didn’t take long for the team to realize that rehabilitating the Old School Building would be a daunting task.

“The building was built in the early 1900s, and it was tough and strong,” said Romines, “But while the brick exterior looks good, the very old wooden interior was aging poorly. And that presented some significant challenges.”

Clay Griffin, principal architect with AGP, says that as the investigative process continued, the team also discovered they were pretty much flying blind when it came to understanding the building’s foundation.

“There were so many unknowns right from the beginning,” said Griffin, “But we also discovered there was a lack of good documentation about the foundation. We were going to have to perform careful excavation to determine what the footings were like.”

It quickly became clear that the interior would have to be rebuilt entirely. That meant finding a way to preserve the building’s exterior walls while replacing the existing interior structure with a modern, safe reconstruction. Dr. Romines said recent construction challenges made it clear this would be a difficult path to follow.

We’re determined that this building will continue to reflect its place as the heart of Old Town Moore.

-Dr. Robert Romines

“We were going to end up with four, freestanding walls, supported by stilts,” said Romines. “I think everyone remembers what happened to the indoor practice facility at Westmoore when that solid steel framework was hit with Oklahoma straight-line winds.”

Complicating matters was the building’s basement, which had housed the original locker room. Griffin said the unused basement had flooded multiple times and presented a major obstacle to ensuring a safe foundation for the high-use building the school district needed.

“When you start putting all these things together; shoring up the external walls during construction, filling in the basement with a sufficiently stable material, and other issues, we estimated that it would cost between $4 million to $6 million dollars just to get to the point where we could begin work on the new part of the building,” said Griffin.

Griffin added that the project’s delicacy would limit the use of conventional mechanical equipment, which would also lengthen the time required to complete it and to meet modern safety standards.

“We had come up with plans to try and work around all of the obstacles,” said Griffin. “But there were just so many unknowns we couldn’t account for, along with the man-hours and materials needed, that it was going to be extremely risky.”

Add those factors to the unpredictability of Oklahoma’s windy weather, and it became clear to the team that keeping the building intact and restoring the interior would be impossible, both from a practical construction standpoint and from a financial standpoint.

Such moments can lead to deep soul-searching about the importance of buildings like this to a community. After all, even if a building is aging poorly and at risk of ultimately becoming a detriment to a community, it’s still an important part of that community’s identity.

It’s hard to find someone more invested in Moore’s history than Mayor Mark Hamm. Mayor Hamm says he recognizes both the importance of the Old School Building to Moore’s history, along with the need to make sure the existing space continues to anchor the city’s Old Town area.

“The Old School Building is kind of the heart of the community,” said Hamm. “It’s probably the most symbolic building in Moore. I would hate for a private developer to come in and put in a fast-food restaurant or something like that,” said Hamm.

Hamm says the most important thing for him during this whole process is that he’s felt reassured that the building is in the hands of people who have the resources and genuine concern for the community at the core of their decision-making process.

“The building is so incredibly old, and you just have to have a lot of resources to maintain it,” said Hamm. “I was glad when Moore Public Schools got it back because they have the resources to invest and utilize the space. They are also folks who consistently have the best interests of the Moore community at heart, especially students, parents and teachers.”

Hamm says that while he wishes there was a way to rehabilitate and save the Old School Building, but he understands that safety concerns and the responsible use of taxpayer dollars left the school district with limited options.

“If I personally had the kind of money it took to preserve the building, I would gladly spend it,” said Hamm. “But I completely understand the challenges here and respect the school district’s decision as the best one under the circumstances.”

Dr. Romines admits that the decision to pivot from restoration to reconstruction was gut-wrenching on a lot of levels. But he also says that in the end, he believes he and his team are making the right decision for the long-run.

“I think one of the things our community respects and trusts about us if what we’ve done with our building projects,” said Romines. “We’ve always come in on time and under budget, so we have a track record of that. And as we looked at having to spend an additional $6 million of bond money on this project, it became clear we needed to change our plans.”

Griffin said shifting plans from restoration to a complete rebuilding project gave the team room to preserve the building’s historic character, even though it would now be a completely new structure.

“We’re going to be replicating the three-color brick look of the original building,” said Griffin. “We’re also going to salvage some of the ‘cast stone’ pieces, especially the main front entrance. That will allow us to incorporate that back into the new building.”

Griffin says the new plans will include space to preserve elements of the old building and display them in a place of honor and reflection. That includes the “Washington Irving Camped Here” monument in front of the building and portions of the old basketball court that are currently in place on the auditorium’s stage.

“We’re determined that this building will continue to reflect its place as the heart of Old Town Moore,” said Romines. “For example, one of the things that people notice as they drive past the building is those black metal staircases on either end of the building. We don’t typically have those on a two-story school building, but we’re going to keep those because it’s a distinctive part of the Old School Building’s history and look.”

Plans include a cafeteria on the building’s rear and a tornado-safe room. Griffin said plans for the new building’s exterior and interior have been made with a unique idea in mind: that if someone hasn’t seen the building in five years, they wouldn’t be able to tell it’s actually a new building, whether looking at it from the outside or inside.

“We are going to use modern materials, but it will still very much have that ‘Old School’ feel,” said Griffin. “The flooring will be a luxury vinyl, but with a wood plank look. We’re doing what’s called a ‘Crawford step’ ceiling to keep that acoustical iron look in all the rooms, and there will be wainscotting in the corridors.”

Add other elements, such as globe lighting, and the building will still feel, inside and out, like a 1920s school building, with modern safety features that will serve Moore students and staff for decades to come. The idea that resonates most with those who love Moore’s history is that future generations will see the new building as though it has always been a part of Moore’s past.

“I like to think of it in this way: in all our cars we have a great big front windshield and a small rearview mirror,” said Hamm. “It’s important to know where we’ve been, but it’s more important to see where we’re going. And I love the idea that we’re going to incorporate elements of the past into this new building that will help keep us connected to where we’ve been, while embracing the journey ahead.”

It’s a journey Dr. Romines believes we’re on together, one he never takes for granted.

“In the end, the Moore community really is a large family that has been through so much together,” said Romines. “We always step up, and we take care of one another. I think decisions like this help us keep that family feel, and I never want to lose sight of that.”

Once the project begins, work is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months. That means the building could be ready sometime between fall of 2027 and spring 2028.

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