NORMAN — Students in a semesterlong OU presidential “dream course” repurposed a wide swath of downtown Norman this semester, envisioning a revitalized area that encourages easier movement between campus and downtown.
The nine students — three each from architecture, interior design and visual communication — created the “Signal District” along Front Street and the railroad corridor from Gray Street to Duffy Avenue. They were lead by professor Karen Hayes-Thumann, assistant professor Janet Biddick and associate professor Hans Butzer.
They presented their collective findings to developers, city staff members, Mayor Cindy Rosenthal and others Monday in the Republic Bank conference room. The project establishes three distinct areas beginning at Front Street and Main Street.
“Currently people move through this space and don’t stop. They don’t linger,” architecture student Aric Yarberry said. “We aim to create a destination on this plot of land.”
First stop on the students’ design is a traffic circle at Apache Street and Front Street. “The Circle” includes public art, retail stores below loft apartments, paths to downtown and the campus with colors complementary of “old” Norman.
“The Station” repurposes the existing train depot on Jones Avenue with a casual restaurant that caters to downtown office workers during the day then becomes a nightspot for students..
The plan projects future housing, office and retail development near the station. Fountains resembling crossing trains capture the energy of the trains.
A third feature, “The Grove,” repurposes the vacant space between the Sooner Theatre west to Benvenuti’s Restaurant into a common space, park with a pond and gallery for vintage Norman photos. Winter temperatures will transform the pond to an ice skating rink.
Signage throughout the area will create more foot traffic between Main Street and downtown, the students said.
“Creating this link will encourage people to walk,” Shaun Bhow, a visual communications senior, said.
“There are some great ideas here,” Mayor Cindy Rosenthal told the students. She said the southernmost project, The Circle, appears to be the most viable.
Students were selected for the course and toured redeveloped areas in Dallas and Houston. They worked in collaboration for the semester and heard lectures from experts on urban design.
Brent Swift, a Norman developer who has transformed numerous homes and buildings, congratulated the students. He said the idea of living, working and shopping without driving somewhere has long appealed to him.
“I know it took a lot of hours to put it together. I like the idea of connecting these pieces,” Swift told them. “I’m really impressed. I think they did a good job.”
Bob Goins, an OU professor and longtime consultant on historic projects, echoed Swift’s comments.
“What a wonderful approach,” he said of the collaboration between disciplines. Goins has tackled Front Street before, in creation of Legacy Trail and in the design of a through street from Robinson Street to Duffy Street.
“I don’t think you could have taken on a more complex problem,” he said.
