Downtown Edmond City Council workshop

The Edmond City Council's recent workshop on Monday, Aug. 24 featured lively discussion of several important issues to Downtown Edmond including the built environment, branding, economic development, and city-owned property.

In addition to the mayor and all council members, City Manager A.J. Krieger, Planning Director Ken Bryan, Economic Development Program Manager Leana Dozier, and Edmond Electric Director Glen Fisher all contributed to the discussion.

All policymakers involved agreed that now is a good time to revisit Edmond's Downtown Master Plan, which was last updated in 2014.

Using the City of Edmond's side-by-side aerial maps of the downtown area from 2014 and 2026, we've highlighted areas of urban core development and redevelopment during the past 12 years in green.

Below is a bullet-point summary of some of the key points brought up by council members and city staff at the workshop.

Urban Built Environment 

• Landscaping and plant life are very important to the business district experience; We need to go beyond just tree wells and invest in flora diversity that bring more year-round color

• Need to promote holiday lighting and string lighting across streets 

• Need to enhance the gateways to downtown, especially on northbound Broadway

• Need more patios and gathering spaces that keep sidewalks and storefronts activated 

• Festival Marketplace needs aesthetic enhancements and possibly a larger footprint

Branding

• Do we consider the University District part of Downtown Edmond or a wholly separate area?

• City has been working on potential subdistrict branding for Stephenson Park and University District areas

Events

• Downtown is increasing more lively on weekends and needs more events to keep streets on weekdays/nights

• Need more organizations to step up with events and programming

Economic Development 

• Boutique hotel remains a major need in downtown to keep visitors here overnight

• A downtown hotel could take advantage of locations near the two new parking garages 

• We're six years into the current 20-year TIF; the last 5 years of a TIF bring the biggest bang for your buck

• Additional TIF districts could be considered for the University District and the area between Fretz and Broadway south of Edmond Rd/2nd St.

City-owned Properties

• City council will exercise patience in planning for sale and/or redevelopment of excess city property in the downtown area

• City Manager is facilitating a plan to move remaining city staff and resources to the new city hall in order to fully vacate the old buildings on E. 1st St. (Site D and Site E)

• The two parking lots north of city hall (Site A and Site B) are in particularly bad shape and an eyesore for the area

• Site C was formerly Littler Lawn, a small pocket park, before it was used as a staging area during construction of the new City Center Complex. Since many of the trees survived construction, the site could perhaps be a pocket park or some type of recreational space again.

Watch workshop video recording

Download workshop presentation

Download workshop handout

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