COVER STORY, JULY 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY’S BOLD FUTURE
The city’s new Core to Shore initiative is poised to change the face of downtown.
By Coleman Wood

A rendering of the redeveloped shore of the Oklahoma River.

Signs of progress can be seen everywhere in Oklahoma City. A massive transportation project is currently under way that will relocate a portion of Interstate 40, known locally as the Crosstown Expressway Bridge, that passes just south of the city’s downtown area. The old bridge was seeing much more traffic from the growing city than it was ever meant to accommodate, and additional repairs brought on simply from age were needed. Rather than expand the bridge, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) decided at the beginning of the decade to move the bridge one-half mile south of its current location.

Once this is relocation is complete, an approximately 750-acre area south of the bridge will be opened up. The area was previously cut off from downtown, mostly due to the physical barrier of the bridge, but the realignment stands to increase its accessibility.

The new park that will be developed as part of Core to Shore.

Previously a rail corridor, the largely industrial area now is dotted by vacant land parcels and shuttered homes. Rather than let the area remain a blight, Oklahoma City has chosen to redevelop it by creating a new urban village with an eye toward mixed-use development, civic amenities, and alternative transportation. The plan is known as the Core to Shore initiative, reflecting the neighborhood’s location south of the downtown core and north of the shores of the Oklahoma River — two areas that have seen their own revitalizations in recent years.

The idea of urban redevelopment is not new to Oklahoma City. In fact, it could be called the culmination of a program that began in the 1990s. During this time, the city began an urban improvements program know as the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS). Funded by a one-cent additional sales tax, MAPS raised $350 million for the revitalization of downtown Oklahoma City and the creation of a park system along the Oklahoma River. Since its genesis, MAPS has spurred an additional $5 billion in public and private investment for the city.

Skydance Bridge

The Core to Shore initiative is a result of years of planning, which began soon after ODOT announced plans for the I-40 realignment around 2000. Current Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett ran in 2003 on a platform of continuing the improvements brought about by MAPS. This was reflected in his campaign slogan of  “Let’s Keep Oklahoma City Moving Forward.”

By the time Cornett took office, the last MAPS projects were wrapping up and another program, MAPS For Kids, was just starting. Funded by the same one-cent sales tax that helped finance the original MAPS program, MAPS For Kids, was a program that renovated or rebuilt all 75 schools within the Oklahoma City school system.

“I felt like if we didn’t execute MAPS For Kids correctly, then there wouldn’t be a MAPS for anything else,” Cornett says, adding that a tremendous amount of oversight was needed and the project had to come in within budget. “I felt like if that went well, then we would have built the political capital to move forward,” he adds. 

A future botanical garden.

MAPS For Kids was a success and the city is using the momentum created by it and the original MAPS program to launch the first projects in the Core to Shore initiative. The first phase will include the construction of a new east-west boulevard where the Crosstown Expressway Bridge once stood.

“We want it [the boulevard] to be the downtown address for this new urban area that we’re creating,” says Robbie Kienzle, urban redevelopment division director for the city of Oklahoma City.

Construction for the boulevard will break ground as soon as the new I-40 alignment opens, which is expected in 2012. Completion of the boulevard is expected in 2014. The new boulevard will run just north of another key component of Phase I, an approximately 40-acre park that will serve as the focal point for the area. The city is planning significant civic and entertainment components for the park, and is looking to some of the country’s more successful public parks as models.

“In order for it to be successful, it needs to be a well-programmed park, and we look to places like Millennium Park in Chicago as an example of a programmed park that is well-used by its citizenry,” says Alison Oshel, director of community redevelopment for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. 

The new convention center.

A north-to-south thoroughfare is also being planned, but this road will cater to pedestrians instead of cars. Currently known as the Harvey Spine, the road will create an uninterrupted path from downtown through the Core to Shore area to the river. At the new boulevard, The Spine will include a new pedestrian bridge known as The Skydance Bridge. The result of a design contest, the bridge resembles Oklahoma’s state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher.

For Core to Shore to be successful, it is going to take much more than the city coming in and developing new parks and roads. The city is counting on private developers to create residential, retail and commercial projects that will turn the area into a true community. For this to happen, though, the city knows it has to lay the groundwork for an area that people want to live in and visit.

“Before the private development will occur, the city has to do its part,” Kienzle says.

The Ford Center

Some private development has already begun. Construction is under way for Devon Energy’s 54-story headquarters office tower, which will be the northern anchor of the Harvey Spine within the Core to Shore area. Once complete in 2013, the tower will be the tallest building in Oklahoma City and one of the tallest west of the Mississippi River. Its four- or five-story ground floor will be open to pedestrians travelling along the Harvey Spine, and it is anticipated there will be retail or some other use to attract visitors. The tower is being built adjacent to a formerly city-owned parking garage, which is being expanded to accommodate workers and visitors to the tower.

The city is also hoping to establish a thriving residential corridor within the Core to Shore area, specifically around the park. While development is still years away, initial plans call for up to 3,000 residential units, comprising single-family homes, residential towers, and even units located within multi-use buildings. This last type also highlights another aim of the project: a significant retail component. Right now, plans call for up to 550,000 square feet of retail space, but the type of retail is more important than the amount. 

Kienzle points out that one of the first projects the city would like is upscale retail along the new boulevard. She says that the retailers they would want would be the type in larger cities such as Dallas but not currently in the Oklahoma City market. Cornett adds that the city is interested in partnering local landowners together with national developers to better facilitate these projects, and he is confident this will be successful. These new retailers will provide downtown with a stronger retail presence, and would also serve as a draw for tourists and those visiting for conventions.

The new events center and waterfront park.

The city is pushing hard to build a new convention center within Core to Shore. Its current center, which was last renovated in 1999, is too small to accommodate the city’s plans to host larger conventions. Oklahoma is currently in the third tier of convention cities and officials are hoping to move it up to the second tier to compete with other, larger midwestern cities. To do this, though, the city needs a bigger convention center as well as a headquarters hotel, since Oklahoma City contains a shortage of hotel rooms for that level of activity.

While Core to Shore is set to transform the appearance of downtown Oklahoma City, it is the city’s hope that the project can also change people’s attitudes. At 621 square miles, Oklahoma City is one of the largest cities in the country in terms of area. Combine this with cheap energy prices and a lack of rapid transit, and it was only natural for cars to become the preferred mode of transportation as the city developed.

“Even though we had a downtown and thought we were urban, we were not urban at all,” Kienzle says. “We didn’t think about walking eight to 10 blocks. We didn’t think about walking instead of taking the car.”

City planners have already made some strides to change this. Many of downtown’s one-way streets have been converted to two-way roads as a way to slow down traffic and encourage people to explore the city. Core to Shore will go a step further by encouraging pedestrian and bike traffic, and eventually developing a public transportation plan. All of these options have the same goal, though: encourage residents of Oklahoma City to take the time to explore their city.

“It is my hope that we can transform ourselves from what has been nearly a 100 percent vehicular mode of transportation into a pedestrian- and bike-friendly downtown,” Oshel says.

The timetable for Phase I of the project takes up the next 5 to 10 years, and city officials estimate that it will take decades to fully build out the Core to Shore area. Future development in the city core will emanate from here into an area that will ultimately total 1,375 acres — including Core to Shore and the surrounding neighborhoods — making it a launching pad for future development for decades to come.

“This is not just a downtown deal; this is going to be a focal point for our city going forward,” Cornett says.

A project of this magnitude would have not been possible without the cooperation of city officials and those in the private sector. From the beginning, a steering committee was formed to develop the formal plan for Core to Shore, and the group met for almost a year to hammer out all the details.

“These people were true visionaries and leaders of our downtown, and it was their consensus that put together the Core to Shore plan,” says Oshel.

Even more work is needed to raise the funds for the public projects that have been proposed. 

“We have our leadership on board with Core to Shore, but we don’t have the public’s consensus yet,” Oshel says. “We’ll have to take that to a public vote, because we’re hoping that some of these public projects will be paid for by another penny sales tax initiative.”

Cornett adds that MAPS was popular with voters, but even its most ardent supporters can tire of these public improvement projects if they become too expensive or are deemed unnecessary. This is why the quality of the projects proposed and the ideas presented are going to matter the most when the sales tax measure is taken to a vote later this year. The city has spent years formulating a plan, but the future of Core to Shore is ultimately going to depend on the voice of the people.

MAPS: How this city program has changed downtown Bricktown Canal: Before MAPS was responsible for the redevelopment of the Bricktown Canal area, the downtown library, the Civic Center Music Hall and the expansion of the city’s convention center, but the program’s most notable achievement is the construction of the Ford Center, a sports and event arena. Completed in 2002, the arena became one of the top venues in terms of tickets sold in its first year open. In 2005, it found a different use when the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, relocated to Oklahoma City for two seasons. The Hornets drew enough basketball fans to help the city land the Seattle Supersonics franchise, which relocated this past season and changed its name to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bricktown Canal: After (Photo/Jeffrey Widener) Another MAPS project was the creation of a park system along the Oklahoma River. The riverfront now contains 7 miles of parks, greenways and trails. Most notable, though, is the creation of an Olympic rowing training site on a natural straightaway of the river — something few artificially created training facilities can boast. — Coleman Wood

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