Olney ISD High School Storm Shelter

Olney ISD completed a $1,470,000 storm shelter project at its high school on 704 W. Grove St. in Olney, Texas. The addition, filed as the Olney ISD High School Storm Shelter, consists of a 2,500 sq ft hardened corridor connecting the Career and Technical Education (CTE) building to the main high school structure. The project passed its final TDLR accessibility inspection in September 2026, confirming that construction is complete.

Project Scope and Cost

The work involved additions to an existing building, specifically a hardened corridor designed to serve as a storm shelter. The estimated cost of $1,470,000 translates to $588 per square foot. This cost per square foot is above the Young County median of $230 for similar additions to existing buildings. The total project cost is also above the county median of $1,150,000 for this type of work. The scheduled build window was 317 days, which is close to the county median of 296 days.

Olney ISD is the owner of record for this project. The district has three other TDLR-registered projects in Olney, including an elementary school, a daycare, and a junior high, totaling $6,880,000 in estimated costs. All three other projects have completed their inspections. The design firm of record is Parkhill (Chip Whitlock) mm, which has six other registered projects totaling $9,040,000, including work at McMurry University and Hillcrest Church of Christ in Abilene.

Timeline and Registration

The project was registered with TDLR in January 2025. Plan review was completed in the same month, and construction started in February 2025. The filing listed a completion date of January 2026. The registered accessibility specialist for the project was Stephen D Macphie. The project involves public funds and public land. The final TDLR accessibility inspection was passed in September 2026, marking the end of the construction phase.

Young County has 14 TDLR-registered additions to existing building filings, with five registered in the last 24 months. The median estimated cost for these filings is $1,150,000, with a middle half ranging from $706,250 to $2,617,500. The median size is 5,000 sq ft, and the median cost per square foot is $230. The median scheduled build window is 296 days.