Construction to Begin on OKWU Keating Center | The Boldt Company

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Construction began last week on Oklahoma Wesleyan University's new Keating Center — a center announced in October to house the Bartlesville university's business school.

Since the ground-breaking a week ago, crews with Boldt Construction have been on site digging footings for the building, project superintendent Jeff Swart told 2NEWS Monday at the site's construction office.

"We will be progressively getting busier from here," he said, saying he hopes all the excavation will be complete by the end of the week and the foundation poured by the end of the month.

"That all depends on the weather," Swart said.

According to the plans, the 16,560-square-foot building will feature two stories. The ground floor will host the Chesapeake Energy School of Business, thereby consolidating the university's business school under one roof, and will feature faculty offices as well as a lecture hall with simulcasting capabilities.

In this amphitheater-style lecture hall, students and instructors will be able to interact with students on other campuses and perhaps even state officials in Oklahoma City.

The upper floor will host seven classrooms and a lab for the communications department.

The building, named in honor of former Oklahoma Gov. Keating and his wife, was largely made possible by a $2 million commitment made in October by Chesapeake Energy toward its construction. This donation was the single largest one-time pledge the school has ever received, OKWU President Dr. Everett Piper told 2NEWS.

Due to the contribution by Chesapeake and funds by other donors, OKWU now has the $4.2 million necessary to pay for the center's construction, but not enough to endow the building's operations, Piper said. Funds are still welcome for this purpose, he said.

Officials expect construction to be complete and the doors open to students in time for the spring semester next school year.