Sophia Dunklin likes the color and the new bathrooms. Christian Burns likes the additional basketball goals. Joshua Garcia likes that it has more space.

All three agree that the new gym/safe room at Ridgecrest Elementary School is just pretty cool.

Lawton Public Schools officials cut the ribbon Sept. 17 to officially open the facility, which has been under construction for more than a year. Ground was broken in early July 2025 on the 7,310-square-foot building on the west side of the school. The facility cost about $4.5 million, of which 60 percent was paid for through bond funds. The facility contains a full-size gymnasium, restrooms, an office, storage space and a 4,980-square-foot safe room which will hold 991 people.

The freestanding gym/safe room replaces a gym which was contained in the school. That space has since been made into a Makerspace classroom and the ABL lab.

Principal Oscar Castro expressed his appreciation to the Ridgecrest staff, students and community for making the project happen.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” he said. “Our students are excited to use it.”

But Burns, 7, and Dunklin, 9, were not too interested in those facts. The second and fourth graders, respectively, were more interested in practical issues: like more room to run and more basketball goals.

Burns said his favorite game is to play basketball with his friends. The former gym only had two goals; the new one has six.

“We have more goals in this gym and more can play at the same time,” Burns said. “There’s more room to run around and play with my friends.”

Dunklin said she also likes the larger space so she can play tag with her friends.

And she appreciates one of the new amenities: the bathroom.

“I like the bathroom, it’s beautiful,” she said.

Burns and Dunklin aren’t the only two who enjoy the new space. PE teacher Joshua Garcia enjoys more room to roam.

“It’s so much more space. Over there, it was so cramped. We have so much more room to do activities,” Garcia said.

He said he can do different activities than in the old gym and can have different stations so he can accommodate those at different physical levels. He also can separate students and play different sides. Garcia said it is easier to monitor students since they are able to spread out; students were so bunched together that it was sometimes hard to see and to give instructions.

“It’s making a more friendly environment,” he said.

The extra space has allowed him to introduce some new games. Although he had only been in the space a week before the ribbon was cut, he introduced students to a noodle game. Some students were given a pool noodle while other students were the runners. Those with the noodles were instructed to tag those without a noddle. The activity involves students running all over the gym.

“I didn’t have space before,” Garcia said of the new game. “Over there, they would have run each other down.”

Like Burns, Garcia also appreciates the extra basketball goals.

“The basketball goals make a big difference. We had two portable ones, now we have six,” Garcia said, adding that the new ones are adjustable so he can set them lower for kindergarten students. More goals allow more students to play at the same time.

The larger area means that students have more opportunities to participate in games, Garcia said. He said in the former gym, students may have only been able to kick the ball once during a game of kickball before they had to go back to class.

“Now they can play multiple times,” because he can have more than one game going at the same time, he said.

Garcia said he is looking forward to getting some new equipment; some balls still have Hoover Elementary printed on them. He said he will be pursuing grants to fund that equipment.

“I’m very grateful for the gym,” he said. “This is one of the bigger gyms I’ve seen. The kids really love it. You can tell they are not stressed out. It’s nice scenery. They feel very safe in here. Whatever stress they are feeling in the classroom, they let it all out in here.”

Dunklin and Burns also like the scenery. The gym walls and floor sport the yellow and purple of the school’s colors while the mascot — a hawk — is painted on one wall.

“I like the color purple. It’s a cute dark color,” Dunklin said.

“I like the colors because they are different from the colors in the old gym,” Burns said.

There is one other thing Burns likes.

“I like that it is safe from tornadoes,” he said.