Rogers State University will announce the finalization of the purchase of the Reda Building to serve as its new campus in downtown Bartlesville at a ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 25.
The ceremony will be held in the main lobby on the first floor of the facility, which is located at Fourth St. and Dewey Ave. University officials and Bartlesville community leaders will speak at the event. The public is invited to attend.
At the event, RSU will announce the imminent closing on the purchase of the building, which is scheduled for next week.
“This is a major expansion of higher education opportunities for Bartlesville area residents, a cornerstone in the redevelopment of downtown Bartlesville and a key component of economic development in the region,” said RSU President Dr. Joe Wiley.
The university will begin renovating two floors of the building in the next few weeks, adding classrooms, offices and laboratories, Wiley said.
The new downtown campus will officially open its doors in August, in time for the fall semester. Students interested in enrolling in summer or fall classes should visit the current campus location at 4001 E. Adams Road through June 30.
During the past year, a task force of Bartlesville citizens, RSU faculty members and students has been studying the educational and economic development needs of the Bartlesville area. The task force developed a strategic plan for the RSU Bartlesville campus, which included purchasing the Reda Building, expanding the number of four-year and two-year degrees available at the campus, improving student services, adding faculty members with doctoral degrees and increasing enrollment to more than 2,000 students by 2015.
During the next few years, the university anticipates expanding the number of bachelor’s and associate’s degrees offered at the RSU Bartlesville campus in areas such as accounting, business management, education, liberal arts, nursing and social sciences.
In addition, the university expects to announce a major fundraising campaign in Bartlesville this year to help support expansion of the campus and the development of academic programs.
The historic building was constructed in 1919 by the Bartlesville Masonic organization, which occupied the ninth floor of the building until 2000. The building originally served as headquarters for the Cities Service Oil Co. and later was the home of the Reda Pump Co. Schlumberger, a worldwide oilfield services company that has major operations in Bartlesville, was the most recent owner of the building.
RSU is the fastest-growing university in Oklahoma, with more than 3,700 students on campuses in Bartlesville, Claremore and Pryor, and through its online program. For more information about the RSU Bartlesville campus, call (918) 335-3500.