Construction Manager Named for Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid

Contact: Kathy Dickson
(405) 522-5231
or Michael Dean
(405) 522-5241

Oklahoma City, OK
March 30, 2006
For Immediate Release

Bob L. Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Societyannounced D. C. Bass & Sons Construction Company of Enid, OK has been selected as the construction manager for the project to develop the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center also in Enid. The OHS currently operates the Museum of the Cherokee Strip just off of highway 412. This project will completely renovate the existing museum and add approximately 6,000 square feet of new exhibit space. According to Dr. Blackburn the museum will close to the public in June of this year so site work can begin on the project. As President of D.C. Bass & Sons Construction Company Bob Bass Berry will work with the architectural firm Fritz Bailey of Tulsa to get the best value forthe money in the construction process.

D. C. Bass & Sons Construction Company was launched shortly after Dan Bass made the run into the Cherokee Strip in 1893. The company is now the oldest General Contractor in the seven state area of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico and one of the oldest contractors west of the Mississippi River. In 1960, Bass Construction Company and H.B. Bass were inducted into the National Builders Hall of Fame at Pepperdine University. The company remains family owned and the current President, Bob Berry, is the great-grandson of the company founder.

"My family has had ties in the Enid community and the region for generations. I am excited to be a part of a project that will make sure the lessons of the past are appreciated by future generations and not forgotten," stated Berry. "Bass Construction built the original museum building in 1976, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to complete the remodel and expansion."

According to Dr. Blackburn, "This project is only possible through the dedicated efforts of key individuals in the Enid community. Among many others Lew and Myra Ward, Dick McKnight, Doug Frantz, Gary Brown, and Jerry Blankenship have committed themselves to make sure this project becomes a reality for the State of Oklahoma."