The City of Norman today kicked off construction of the Municipal Maintenance Complex with a groundbreaking ceremony at the City’s North Base, located at 1301 Da Vinci Street. The complex will house the new Fleet and Fire Maintenance Facility and the Parks Maintenance Facility designed to meet current and future needs for the public transportation, public safety and parks maintenance fleets.

“It is important, especially now, that we take the time to celebrate the wins and this is a win for Norman. Each of these buildings represent an investment in high-impact community programs and the City’s commitment to continual progress. The vehicles maintained here will be used to get our most vulnerable residents where they need to go, maintain our many wonderful parks, and answer our resident’s emergency calls,” said Mayor Breea Clark.

The new Parks Maintenance Facility, a 15,900 square foot metal building with office space and ten service bays for large parks maintenance vehicles, will replace the current Parks Maintenance Facility in Reaves Park. The vacated building will be removed to provide space for the youth baseball, youth softball and adult softball facilities planned in the Norman Forward program. The $2.2 million for this project is provided through a combination of Norman Forward funds and City Capital Sales Tax funds.

The new Transit and Fire Maintenance Facility will be an 18,635 square foot metal building with office space and service bays to maintain the City’s fleet of large public transportation and public safety vehicles. The City’s transit system, currently operating out of rented space at the University of Oklahoma, will move operations to the new building, including bus drivers, dispatchers, schedulers, and customer service representatives.

“The construction of this new transit maintenance facility is a great example of leveraging federal transit funds with local dollars to help us become a Top Ten state in public transit,” said Mark C. Nestlen, Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma Transit Association (OTA). “It also shows how to leverage partnerships with other City entities like parks and the fire department, ensuring local dollars are used in the most effective manner possible.”

State Sen. Rob Standridge (R-Norman), who serves as Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, added that Norman’s new maintenance facility is in line with the Oklahoma Public Transit Policy Plan released on Oct. 23 by ODOT and OTA. The plan, mandated by HB 1365 authored by Standridge, exposures the inadequate level of transit maintenance facilities statewide. “Norman is leading the way in addressing maintenance facility needs identified by the statewide public transit 20-year plan,” Standridge said. “In order to meet mobility for all Oklahomans, other transit systems will also need to construct facilities necessary to provide maintenance across the state."

Nestlen said that the maintenance facility would have a $45 million economic impact on the City of Norman and reduce operating costs of the city’s fleet. “The city will be able to perform service on its vehicles beyond the current limitations of 4:30 to 7:30, increasing efficiency and saving on maintenance costs,” he concluded.

Funding for the $6.4 million project is provided through a combination of Public Safety Sales Tax funds, City Capital Sales Tax funds and a $5.1 million federal transit grant through the CARES Act.

“We are incredibly thankful to our federal legislators for their timely investment in local public transit through the CARES Act grant, which has allowed us to move forward with these critical projects,” said City Manager Darrel Pyle.

All facilities, designed by GSB, LLC and PDG, LLC and contracted to Flintco, LLC of Oklahoma City, OK, will have alternate fueling systems, including slow fill compressed natural gas and electric charging stations. The facilities are anticipated to be completed and occupied in July 2021.

[ABOVE PHOTO: City officials and partner agency representatives break ground on the new City Maintenance Complex in a Nov. 2 ceremony. From left: Darrel Pyle, City of Norman City Manager; Mark Nestlen, Oklahoma Transit Association CEO; Jason Ferbrache, EMBARK OK Director; Breea Clark, City of Norman Mayor; Corey Rackley, Flintco Project Director; Shawn O’Leary, City of Norman Public Works Director; Jud Foster, City of Norman Director of Parks and Recreation.]

[BELOW LEFT PHOTO: A City bus, parks cherry picker and fire truck representing the transit, parks and fire vehicles that will be maintained in the new facilities formed event’s backdrop.]

[BELOW RIGHT PHOTO: An artist rendering shows what the vision for the completed Municipal Maintenance Complex housing the Fleet and Fire Maintenance Facility and Parks Maintenance Facility.]