Major downtown facelift in works for Oklahoma City

The summer of 2007 was brutal for downtown Tulsa when the rebuilding of several major streets created a drought for merchants. It prompted the city’s mayor to send an e-mail to about 25,000 workers pleading with them to frequent their neighborhood restaurants.

An even bigger $141.5 million makeover is in the works for downtown Oklahoma City — one that designers say will span 36 blocks and be one of the largest downtown street programs in the country.

"It’s massive,” Planning Director Russell Claus said. "Tulsa did some streetscaping like this, but not to this degree. It’s essentially a complete transformation of the public realm.”

The project is a direct spin-off of the new Devon Energy Corp. world headquarters. With construction set to begin next month, city officials are fast-tracking improvements being paid for by a $115 million tax increment finance district tied to the 50-story tower’s construction. Utility companies, meanwhile, are following city requests to start relocation work now to avoid tearing up streets once they are rebuilt.

The first phase of the makeover, totaling $77 million, is being drafted by the Houston office of James Burnett and Associates, which in turn hired walkability author and consultant Jeff Speck. His report on downtown Oklahoma City released earlier this year challenged conventional thinking about street patterns.

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