More than a decade ago, a consultant brought in to look at revitalizing Norman's Main Street proved his point about the lack of traffic coming downtown by stretching out in the middle of the road for quite some time.
Today, Main Street is the city's top tourist destination, according to a recent convention and tourism survey. It beat out OU football and campus arts events for the top spot. The combination of public and private investment has paid off.
But it wasn't always that way. Some merchants never recovered from the reconstruction and were gone. Others remain bitter about lost business during the numerous construction delays.
At a public forum on revitalizing nearby Porter Avenue, some participants wondered aloud if the merchants on Porter could withstand a prolonged construction period. Many are mom and pop operations that found cheaper rent on Porter.
The designs put on display Wednesday afternoon showed some options for planners. The road will likely be narrowed from four lanes to two with a turn lane in the center. Traffic circles weren't shown on the plans Wednesday.
Planter boxes would separate the road from the sidewalk. Wider lanes would accommodate cyclists. One participant suggested different tree varieties to allow blocks to establish identities.
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Guests arriving at the Norman Regional Health Foundation's third gala fundraising event Friday night feared the worst. An ambulance at the entrance to the Embassy Suites convention center could have meant someone went down hard.
But the oversized ambulance -- specially equipped as a mobile cardiac care unit -- was just one of the props for the foundation's Cirque d'Amour! evening. Foundation funds were responsible for the state-of-the-art vehicle and organizers wanted to show guests where their donations went.
Guests were treated to jugglers, dancing between meal courses, acrobats, more dancing and a special toast from health center president and chief executive officer David Whitaker re-committing Norman Regional to being a center of excellence in the health care arena.
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The mayor and council races seem to be getting some traction with voters this month. Three areas, Wards 4, 6 and 8, will get to select representatives on March 2.
One of the candidates, Jack Dawson, jokingly referred to Mayor Rosenthal as "Snow White and the seven dwarfs," in a League of Women Voters Forum this past week.
Dawson didn't say which council member was attached to which dwarf name but several audience members had their own list penned by the end of Monday's forum
All of the candidates and incumbents expressed concern about city finances. Don't confuse them with state numbers. Norman's General Fund is down about 2 percent but that includes the half-cent public safety tax. It'll be higher when that tax is pulled out.
A mayoral forum is planned for Feb. 24 at City Hall.
Andy Rieger 366-3543 editor@normantranscript.com
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Main Street thriving now, but merchants suffered through revitalization
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