(Oklahoma City) – Heritage Hall recently broke ground on construction of a state-of-the-art gymnasium as part of its Safer School, Stronger Community campaign, which focuses on the safety of Heritage Hall’s students, employees, and campus visitors.

“As our enrollment has grown over the years, so has our campus,” observed Heritage Hall president Aaron L. Fetrow. “In particular, the consistent growth in our Lower School enrollment points to the importance of keeping pace with construction of the facilities needed to serve our thriving campus. The safety of our students and employees inspired us to launch a capital campaign driven by that goal of improved campus safety,” Fetrow added.

The new gymnasium will also serve as an all-school, FEMA-approved storm shelter, rated to withstand an EF-5 tornado and spacious enough to accommodate the School’s campus population quickly in the event of an imminent weather threat.

The Safer School, Stronger Community campaign was launched in August, 2023, with a generous lead gift from Lauren and Leo Mingee, who issued a $2M matching gift challenge for the Heritage Hall community. To date, Heritage Hall families have helped raise $4.3M toward the campaign’s $7.5M goal.

“Knowing that all Charger families share our commitment to maintaining a safe campus, we’re excited to co-chair the Safer School, Stronger Community capital campaign for Heritage Hall,” stated Lauren Mingee.

Construction on the Mingee Family Gymnasium began in late June. The new, regulation-sized gymnasium will be located at the north end of the School’s campus, near the Lower School. Among its modern amenities, the gym will include locker rooms, spectator seating, and scoreboards. With square footage measuring nearly twice the existing gym’s size, the new gym will also provide the campus an additional venue for hosting campus and athletic events. The Lower School’s existing gym will be completely transformed to accommodate several additional classrooms. The project will also add a new music room with a performance area 1.5 times larger than the current music room, along with office and storage space.

Attendees at the groundbreaking, held at the construction site of the new gymnasium, included Lauren and Leo Mingee, several representatives from the School’s Board of Trustees, other project donors, faculty, staff, and students, as well as Heritage Hall co-founder, Mrs. Maxey Reynolds. 

In the early 1970s, Mrs. Reynolds was instrumental in the purchase of 67 undeveloped acres in northwest Oklahoma City, which the School currently occupies. Heritage Hall has subsequently expanded its footprint to 112 acres, providing ample room for growth through projects such as the Safer School, Stronger Community capital campaign.

Construction on this project is overseen by L5 Construction and Bockus Payne, with a scheduled completion date in the fall of 2025.