Norman — Norman Public Schools has begun to pave a road lined with 2009 bond issue projects — literally.

The school board approved plans to pour concrete to renovate the parking lots of Norman High School and Norman North High School Wednesday during a special board meeting, along with designs to lay synthetic sports turf on the practice football field at Norman North High School and the football field at Alcott Middle School.

“It’s great to see us moving forward on these, even though it doesn’t really measure the priority of the projects we have,” Superintendent Joe Siano said. “But it gives us the opportunity to have these things available to these kids.”

The remodeled parking lots will add 84 new spaces at Norman North and 24 at Norman High, said Bill Kaighn of Kaighn Associates Architects, who made the presentation to the board.

The board plans to award a construction contract in April for work completion in July for Norman North and August for Norman High for the 2010-2011 school year.

Kaighn presented designs that would include constructing a new reinforced parking area on the west side of Norman North.

“I’ve been out there many times and seen cars parked on the grass so I think this will be a welcomed addition for them,” Kaighn said.

Designs also were submitted to repave the east side of Norman High’s parking lot, which Kaighn said builds on a 2006 reconstruction of half of the east side parking lot. The bus loop, however, will not be replaced, since it was renovated two years ago, he said.

Kaighn also said plans for the Norman High parking lot include adding tree landscaping to the islands on the ends of the parking rows.

Both parking lot designs include new lighting and underground drainage systems.

After unanimous approval, the board plans to move to the bid phase and a construction contract will be awarded in April.

Project costs are estimated at $334,321.05 for Norman North and $902,720.70 for Norman High, a higher ticket because of more square footage. These amounts will be expended from $2,655,000 worth of available bond funds to each school, as part of its remodel budget from the 2009 bond issue.

The board also approved plans to replace grass football fields with synthetic sports turf at Norman North’s practice football field, used by the school’s ninth-graders and junior varsity, and the field at Alcott Middle School, used by all of Norman’s four middle schools.

It’s a proposal, Kaighn said, that reflects the new synthetic turf at Norman’s Harve Collins field.

Siano said he and the coaches at Norman High have been pleased with the turf at Harve Collins. He referenced a recent example when heavy rains flooded Norman’s soccer field, so the girls soccer game was moved to Harve Collins to avoid being rained out.

“It really, really came in handy having that field,” Siano said.

Project total costs are estimated at $926,162 for Norman North and $716,696 for Alcott from $1,000,000 worth of available funds for each projects.

The board plans to award a bid in May for construction to start that month and end Aug. 17.

The board also approved plans that round the corner of its 2007 obligated bond issue project list.

A contract bid for $995,000 was awarded to the Hardesty Team in Oklahoma City for the replacement and repair of the HVAC system at Cleveland Elementary School.

While in January construction costs were estimated at $874,202 for the system, a complex installation peaks the bill now at $1,076,950.91, meaning the work would require $206,950.91 worth of undesignated funds, Kaighn said.

A lack of space above the school’s ceilings that prevents any air duct work means the installation must be custom designed, making it more expensive, he said.

Lastly, the board approved designs for a kitchen addition project at Cleveland Elementary.

Currently, the serving line in the kitchen building is set up in the cafeteria and takes up space. This proposal would move the serving kitchen to the north end of the kitchen building as a separate addition, Kaighn said.

He said the project is similar to the kitchen project at Jefferson Elementary.

Following the board’s approval Wednesday, Kaighn will return in April with construction documents for a contract to be awarded in May and work to begin that month for completion in January 2011.

The construction, coordinated alongside the HVAC repair, can continue throughout the school year without disrupting the school’s day-to-day activities, Kaighn said.

Project costs are estimated at $565,570 from $578,099 worth of available bonds.

“It’s nice to be able to get closer to completion of the 2007 bond issue,” said Siano, adding that these projects are on the timeline the board initially approved in 2007. “To complete that and meet our obligation to the voters, and to get quickly started on what was just approved by the voters and get these 2009 projects going is really good news.”

Nanette Light 366-3541 nlight@normantranscript.com