EDMOND — The Edmond City Council approved this past week an important first step in creating a future for Edmond’s downtown. It created a task force that will be asked to envision what might be next for the heart of this city. This task force, created under the auspices of the Central Edmond Urban Development Board, will focus on updating a downtown masterplan last worked on in 1998.
Many of those projects have come to fruition in the past 13 years, such as the streetscape project, the creation of the Festival Market Place and the creation of the Downtown Development Guidelines that outlines a set of rules for upgrades to existing buildings in the area.
But it’s past time to take another hard look at what is needed now to help our downtown remain viable and healthy.
Part of the Council discussion focused on including the University of Central Oklahoma more in the downtown plans as it borders the downtown area and is an integral part of this portion of the city. While it’s absolutely vital to include them, there still remain some goals from the 1998 plan left undone to better connect the university to the downtown. We hope this next round of planning will place higher emphasis on accomplishing that goal.
The proposed Public Safety Center to replace the Edmond Police Department building on Littler will be a key factor within whatever the task force recommends. Whether the project is built in the heart of downtown or whether it’s built at Main and Kelly and the current downtown location is reutilized will have a major impact on the downtown’s future. This board continues to be a strong advocate of pursuing this project, especially with the hope that it will open an opportunity to create more parking in the core downtown.
The one area that is truly evolving isn’t in the heart of downtown, but is located within what’s called the Central Business District at the edge of downtown. Mark Neighbors, owner of Parkway Cleaners and Menswear, has changed not only the face, but also the scope of what’s possible with his developments along Fifth Street. His structures in conjunction with the UCO Jazz Lab are prime examples of what will take the downtown into the future.
We applaud Neighbors’ efforts to bring an exciting mix of retail, quality dining and night life to this area. We believe he’s on the right track and hope that other developers realize the potential for more dining and entertainment in this area of Edmond. Those two components will change the face of downtown and bring it the success the city needs.
With the thought of more dining and entertainment needs in the area, the task force also will have to consider what further investment should be made by the city to enable the sort of synergy downtown and its patrons will need to change. In our current economic climate it’s tough to advocate any big expenditures on taxpayer dollars, but we do encourage the task force to think big for our downtown. Economic climates can change and we hope the city is ready to invest in a dramatic improvement when the time is right.
Our View
Downtown dreams
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OUR VIEW: Feb. 14 vote about ideas
If you read any of the letters to the editor in the past two weeks regarding Tuesday’s District 2 Edmond school board race, then you already know that this election is not about the individual candidates so much as it’s about what type of school board do Edmond residents really want governing their school district?
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OUR VIEW: Bright spots highlight 2011
Last year was mostly marked with grim economic news and continued worries for the future by most individuals and businesses. However, there were several bright spots that highlighted 2011 and they are good examples why Edmond continues to weather the nation’s economic storms better than most.
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City still needs a business navigator
At the outset of her first term in office, then-Mayor Patrice Douglas appointed a task force dedicated to helping the City of Edmond better understand the needs of small businesses in our city. This task force met for several months and released a number of recommendations for how the city could better serve this huge sector of its economy.
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OUR VIEW: It’s time to bring ME’s office to Edmond
The exhumation of Dwite Morgan’s body earlier this month by state and local authorities is a travesty and symbolizes what has been wrong with the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s office.
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OUR VIEW: HOPE needs your help
Stories like the one shared today by Oneka Parker on page A1 are both troubling and uplifting at the same time. It’s a stark realization that so many Edmond residents find themselves in crisis and in need of basic, everyday supplies. But it’s a blessing to know that someplace like the nonprofit HOPE Center exists to help residents like Parker.
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Our View: Sustainment center good news for Tinker
The Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base will now be a command site for a new Air Force sustainment and logistics center. Other changes include adding a three-star general that oversees operations at Tinker and two other Air Force bases.
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Our View: DHS needs an overhaul
A recent conviction of an Edmond foster mother has added fuel to the angry fire of scorn heaped at Oklahoma’s child welfare system. The system has been rocked by multiple recent failures ending in the loss of very young, innocent lives entrusted to either the state’s care or supervision.
In the case of Amy L. Holder, she was convicted of felony child abuse and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine plus a $10,000 assessment to the victim’s compensation fund with no jail time in the death of 2-year-old Naomi Whitecrow. Family members of the victim seethed with anger at how the system failed their young relative. -
Peters exemplifies service
This Friday is special for more than just a national commemoration of Veterans Day. It also will mark the induction of Edmond resident Oren Lee Peters and eight other military veterans into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame. The annual banquet will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Oklahoma Christian University. The ceremony also will posthumously honor 14 Comanche code talkers who made pivotal contributions to encoding communications during World War II.
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OUR VIEW: Brain gain plan needs to start earlier
Gov. Mary Fallin came to the University of Central Oklahoma campus along with State Superintendent Janet Barresi in September and touted her new “brain gain” initiative. The goal of the new program is to increase the 30,500 college degrees conferred annually now by 67 percent to 50,900 degrees annually by the year 2023.
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Our View: Time to look at what’s next
With voter confidence strongly behind city leaders, the Public Safety Center project can now move to the planning stage.
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OUR VIEW: Feb. 14 vote about ideas
