Houses Going Up On Site Of Burned Down Historic Tulsa School

After the Bernard school burned down in 2012, neighbors were worried about what could replace it.

But four years later, construction is under way in one of Tulsa’s oldest historic district, and houses are going up.

Single-family homes were approved for the site; the first new house is well underway - it's 3,800 square feet, three bedrooms, two stories, and about $800,000.

It's on the upper end, size and price-wise, of the other homes imagined for the Barnard site.

There are 18 lots - nine of them already sold and three under construction.

"It's an exciting site, and we think we can be a positive for Tulsa and the neighborhood. It's a midtown site and it's unusual to find four acres in midtown Tulsa," said developer Lindsey Perkins.

The fire, now four years ago, destroyed a school that had been there since 1930.

The redevelopment plan required preservation of about the only thing left, the massive retaining wall that runs along two sides of the property.

Homes on the south side will have combined walkways to their front doors and developers built an alley so all the garages are in the back.

The house plans are up to each builder, but, since it’s within the Yorktown Historic District, they have to be approved by the Preservation Commission.

It's something Perkins says delayed the rebuilding, but, ultimately, ensured the homes fit into the neighborhood and improve on what's already there.

Perkins said, "We're pleased with the way it's going. It's been a little slower going than we hoped, to be honest. It takes a little longer to go through the process than we hoped."

But that process is done on the fourth house, construction about to start.

As it stands right now, half the lots are sold for the new construction on the historic site.