David Gore still remembers when Norman North and Norman high schools first played each other in football in 1997.
The temperature at kickoff was 107 degrees with no wind, and dust hung in the air at Harve Collins Stadium. Gore, athletic director for Norman Public Schools from 1994-2002, was concerned about players, coaches and fans alike passing out in the extreme heat.
While fall temperatures in Oklahoma have mellowed, a particular conversation about high school football in Norman is starting to simmer again. When Norman North opened in 1997, there was already interest in building the Timberwolves their own varsity football field.
“I just remember all of the conversations that we had back in the late 90s about ‘When do we get our stadium?’ and I understood exactly where they were coming from,” Gore said. “But, at the time, it was just a real challenge to think, 'We can make this happen right away.'”
Fast forward over 25 years and North is still sharing Harve Collins with the rival Tigers. However, the opportunity for Norman North to have a home stadium for varsity football games and track meets appears more realistic.
At its Nov. 28 special meeting, the Norman Public Schools Board of Education authorized a bond election for Feb. 14, hoping to improve facilities across the district. The $353.9 million bond proposal includes a more than $24 million upgrade to the already-standing football stadium at Norman North, which is currently used for freshman and junior varsity games, to make it suitable for varsity competition.
According to the bond resolution, renovations include — but aren’t limited to — stadium expansion and upgrades, track improvements, turf improvements and additional lighting. A conceptual rendering of the enhanced stadium from MA+ Architecture is available on the Norman Public Schools’ website.
Stakeholders, including board members and Norman North parents, hope the bond passes to ensure a more equitable opportunity for Norman North football, track, band and cheerleading students, who regularly pack up their equipment and bus nearly two miles to Harve Collins for home games.
“The Norman community has been incredibly supportive of the school system over the years with passage of bond issues,” Gore said. “Hopefully, this one will be no different in terms of support from the community.”
Gore said, based on the space available around the current Norman North stadium, he was slightly surprised to learn that NPS plans to build onto that site, but trusts district officials have given the decision appropriate consideration.
Just nine miles north, in Moore, there is precedent for such a renovation model.
Moore Public Schools intends to upgrade existing football stadiums at Southmoore and Westmoore high schools after passing a bond issue in May 2021 that was worth $346.7 million, according to a sample ballot obtained from the Cleveland County Election Board. The bond issue passed, with 3,162 votes in favor and 1,040 opposed.
Jeff Horn, recently retired MPS facilities director, said the new stadiums will cost an estimated $6 million each, according to an email from an MPS spokesperson. All three Moore high schools are also building indoor practice facilities, estimated at $5 million each, according to the spokesperson’s email.
Westmoore and Southmoore play their home freshman and junior varsity games at the stadiums on their campuses. For home varsity competition, the Jaguars and SaberCats share Moore Schools Stadium on Moore High School’s campus with each other and the Lions.
"These stadiums at Westmoore and Southmoore are something I've felt we've needed for a long, long time," Brian Fitzgerald, MPS athletic director told Moore Monthly in September 2021. "Our central stadium is a fantastic facility, and it has hosted a lot of state and regional events. But there's just something special about having a game on your campus. There's something to be said for coaches and teams to be able to dress in their locker rooms and not board a bus and drive it to home games."
Scott Christian, a Norman resident and business development officer at First Fidelity Bank, advocated for the Norman North stadium upgrades at the board of education’s Oct. 3 regular meeting. His son, Bryce Christian, was a senior on the Norman North football team during the 2022 season.
“He's my oldest, so he won't see the fruits of this if it gets passed, but his perspective was, it always felt like an away game, because they had to pack up everything because they had to leave Norman North, even if it was just to drive a couple miles over to (Norman High),” Scott said. “The locker room really didn't have that flair, that feel, like it's theirs. They always felt like they had an away game, even if it was quote-unquote, at home.”
Giving Norman North its own stadium could help the Timberwolves, who were ranked No. 5 in 6A-1 this season, stand boldly beside Tulsa-area powerhouses like Owasso, Union, Bixby and Jenks, which are known for the strength of their football support.
Christian also thinks facility upgrades could more broadly impact Norman schools once OU transitions to the Southeastern Conference for athletics. He noted that when Texas A&M left the Big 12 and joined the SEC, it experienced significant enrollment increases. He hopes that by improving NPS resources, more OU students will stay in Norman to start their families.
As for impacts beyond football and economic development, Dirk O’Hara, a Norman Board of Education member, emphasized equity for North band members and general students during the special meeting.
He recalled sitting inside Norman North’s gym during its 25th-anniversary celebration in July and realizing that its football team had never truly played a home game. When he started taking his oldest child, a Norman North freshman, to games, he noticed band students loading up their equipment to transport it back to North’s campus.
O’Hara also noted that students at Norman High have the luxury of camping out at school after classes are over before walking across the parking lot to a game, whereas students from North may have trouble finding transportation to events at Norman High. Giving Norman North its own field suitable for varsity games would solve accessibility issues.
“This is a huge equity piece for me,” O’Hara said. “It’s a huge addition of school spirit, but it allows Norman North to be its own freestanding high school, and more than just for the football players, but for the band, for the students, for everyone involved. It creates a lot of momentum for what they’re doing there, and it’s a lot more fair.”
Justin Milner, NPS associate superintendent and chief operating officer, who spent over a year preparing the bond proposal, seconded O’Hara on the importance of equity for all students during the special meeting.
He also said there shouldn’t be any animosity about the project from the Norman High community, which is eager to claim Harve Collins as its own. Upgrades to Harve Collins are also included in the bond resolution.
“I think our folks at Norman High have been strong advocates for Norman North to have their own competition stadium,” Milner said. “I think it's an exciting opportunity that our community's been asking for.”
