The Best Buy State Higher Education Ever Made: Former BP- Amoco Faciltity

Monday, February 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Renovations are already underway on the new OU-Tulsa Schusterman Health Sciences Center at 41st Street and Yale Avenue. The university hopes to move into the former BP-Amoco facility in June. A $10 million gift from the Schusterman Foundation enabled OU-Tulsa to buy the 59-acre BP-Amoco campus last December. University of Oklahoma officials say the price tag of $24 million was a rare bargain in terms of time and money. "This is probably the best buy that higher education ever made in the state of Oklahoma," said OU-Tulsa President Ken Lackey.

The school recently selected architect and contractors for a $3 million campus renovation. Workers have started wiring for sprinkler systems and distance learning. Plans call for more restrooms, a student lounge and larger library. O-U's colleges of medicine, nursing, public and allied health, and harmacy will all be housed in the new facility. A plan call for a new pharmacy school to open in 2001 and is expected to attract another 60 students. However, O-U officials say not much work is needed to get the building ready for all five colleges. â€œThe building looks nice from the outside and it looks even better from the inside,â€ Lackey said. â€œWe had structural engineers and architects go through the building before the university purchased it, and it is a first class building in every respect.â€

O-U will continue to operate its clinic facility at the Justice Center on Sheridan Road.
The remaining offices on that campus will be closed. The move is scheduled for June, and students will fill the classrooms beginning this fall. Lackey says it would likely have taken O-U at least five years and as much as $40 million to build a campus equal to this one. "We have a building, facilities, furnishings and fixtures that have a value of about $65 million dollars and appraised at 65 million,â€ he said. â€œThe net cost to the state of Oklahoma was about $14 million after the grant from the Schusterman Foundation.â€

Lackey says the Schusterman Center will also save Tulsans health care costs by treating some 125,000 patients per year; many of those patients are insured. With only seven months from purchase to completion, progress is flying right along with the O-U flag. The genetic research lab formerly at Children's Medical Center will also move into the Schusterman Center. Lackey said discussions about a cancer research center are also underway.