# Civic Matters > Suburban & Other OK Communities > Norman >  OConnells to close-OU to get new housing in 3 years

## ou48A

December 31, 2010

OConnells, Pad Thai to close soon for OU housing 
By Andrew Knittle
 The Norman Transcript The Norman Transcript Fri Dec 31, 2010, 01:34 AM CST 

NORMAN  OConnells Irish Pub and Grille and Pad Thai, at the corner of Lindsey Street and Jenkins Avenue, will soon close to make room for more student housing at the University of Oklahoma.
OConnells will close Jan. 21, 2011, while Pad Thai will shut down for good Jan. 10, 2011. Both restaurants have other locations in Norman that will remain open.

The two well-known eateries are the last of several businesses still open at the corner strip mall.

Subway, Campus Market, Sooner Shop and the old OU IT store have already shuttered and moved on.

According to OU President David Boren, who discussed the situation at a recent Board of Regents meeting, the university is planning to build a mix of student housing, retail space and possibly condos for out-of-town alumni who frequently return to Norman to catch football and basketball games.

Thats becoming really popular at a lot of universities, Boren said of the idea of providing condos for alumni. Were testing the market for that right now.

*The university hasnt set a demolition date and still needs to raise about $40 million through private donations*, he said. The rest of the money needed  about $50 million  will come from OU Athletic Department and housing bond dollars.

*Boren said the project will take about 18 months to complete, but is still about three years out, in any case.*

OConnells to go out with bang

To mark the closing of its Lindsey Street location, OConnells will host a 21-day celebration with a Throw Back to 1968 theme, according to its owner.

Festivities will include daily specials, community events and activities  all leading up to the final closing party Jan. 21. 

Jeff Stewart, owner of OConnells since 1979, said he feels like now is the right time to close the original location.

Since OU purchased our building in 2007, we have been working closely with the university to transition the OConnells tradition to our new location, Stewart said. Over the past 42 years, our Lindsey OConnells has been a proud part of Sooner game-day outings, Friday night gatherings and, of course, St. Patricks Day celebrations for thousands of OU alumni and Norman residents. 

http://normantranscript.com/headline...for-OU-housing

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## ou48A

I hope they build nice condos because this would be a great location for your retirement.

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## jstaylor62

I wish they could have delayed for one more St Patty's Day

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## gen70

Anyone remember the Squeeze Inn bar on the same corner?

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## Tritone

Was that the place down in the basement?

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## Jersey Boss

> Was that the place down in the basement?


That was the CELLAR for awhile. Also remember the original Norman Hideaway on that corner.

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## Soonerus

Pad Thai is closing this Friday...I went tonight and they have a sign up...

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## MustangGT

I also recall Munchies Sandwiches there in the 70's and 80's.  They even delivered to the dorms.

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## Pete

Strange they are running everyone out of there if there are no plans for at least three years.

At any rate, I know the university needs that land to expand and I'm sure whatever they build there will be more pleasing to the eye.

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## ou48A

There are rumors that this area will be turned into a temporary parking lot until OU receives enough donations to build the project.
But OU needs major donors to step up and help.
Donations to fund major athletic projects seem to be much harder to come by in recent years. 
I have heard all kinds of reasons why this is so.

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## kevinpate

Everything changes now and again.  I spent a lot of time in several of the establishments on this corner during school, and long after school was completed as our operations were in nearby space which we leased from OU.   I'm sad at the loss of the locations.  But I get to keep some of the many, many memories, and that's not so bad.

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## Jersey Boss

> our operations were in nearby space which we leased from OU.


Don't miss the water standing on the sidewalk out front when trying to get to the office after it rained though.

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## Dulahey

I think they money they have already from the Athletic Department is going to build the new dorms for athletes.  I'm pretty sure this project is going to start pretty quickly.  I know people that were bidding on certain parts of the job already.  I think the article is kind of misleading, implying that they're tearing these buildings down now and not planning on doing anything.  OU bought the properties over 3 years ago.  They all just kind of hung around until they actually needed to go.  That time is now.

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## kevinpate

> Don't miss the water standing on the sidewalk out front when trying to get to the office after it rained though.


Yeah, but seen another way, not every agency in this state had their own private swimmin' holes.
8^)

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## jstaylor62

> I think they money they have already from the Athletic Department is going to build the new dorms for athletes.  I'm pretty sure this project is going to start pretty quickly.  I know people that were bidding on certain parts of the job already.  I think the article is kind of misleading, implying that they're tearing these buildings down now and not planning on doing anything.  OU bought the properties over 3 years ago.  They all just kind of hung around until they actually needed to go.  That time is now.


The NCAA does not allow "Athlete Only" housing any longer. Athletes can not be more than 50% of the population for a particular building or complex.

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## ou48A

> The NCAA does not allow "Athlete Only" housing any longer. Athletes can not be more than 50% of the population for a particular building or complex.


This is 100% correct. Some the housing will be reserved for national merit scholars.
For recruiting proposes,,,,,,,,,,, if OU had the money they would have already been building this project.

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## ou48A

I have recently read this project is currently estimated to cost $75 million, which is expected to be funded primarily with gifts and contributions

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## Pete

As part of this plan, I believe they are going to rework all the dorms and housing facilities on the NE corner of that intersection as well.

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## lasomeday

So, are these dorms for the athletes or all students?

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## john60

> So, are these dorms for the athletes or all students?


Both, I think.  They are still the athletic dorms, but they have to have 51% non-athletes there.  They have separate food plans and amenities than the "main dorms."  Also, there are no athletes at the main dorms--they're all in those athletic dorms or off-campus.

I can see OU building new athletic dorms on the O'Connells site and then making the site of the current dorms gameday condos, like Loft 401.  I think they'll wait and see how succesful Loft 401 is, but I think there will definitely be a market for it--they're big at other big football schools.

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## ou48A

> As part of this plan, I believe they are going to rework all the dorms and housing facilities on the NE corner of that intersection as well.


Originally I had heard they were going to demolish the old jock domes but that’s been some time ago so plans could have changed. 

The information that OU would spend 75 million comes from this linked article.
I strongly suggest its reading to anyone who has an affinity for OU. I find the article to be very disturbing.
Pete Brzycki I would love to hear your comments about OU’s debt and the comments of others.

http://stocks.newsok.com/newsok/news/read?GUID=16649473

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## Pete

That is an interesting credit report but it's merely a function of government funding being reduced and the resulting tuition hikes keep enrollment down (although I believe enrollment is still near all-time highs, it seems they have found some resistance to the ever-increasing fees).

It also appears the $.9 billion endowment is not throwing off the returns they had hoped for...  Hopefully that will pick up as the economy takes an upward turn.

It does seem OU has slowed down in it's capital expenditures but good grief, they are way north of a billion in just a decade, so being more cautious with these projects is probably wise.

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## BoulderSooner

> Originally I had heard they were going to demolish the old jock domes but thats been some time ago so plans could have changed. 
> 
> The information that OU would spend 75 million comes from this linked article.
> I strongly suggest its reading to anyone who has an affinity for OU. I find the article to be very disturbing.
> Pete Brzycki I would love to hear your comments about OUs debt and the comments of others.
> 
> http://stocks.newsok.com/newsok/news/read?GUID=16649473


remember that the new athletic dorms will be funded mostly from the AD so this has little bearing on this or any athletic dept project

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## SoonerDave

I wonder how similar bonds from other state universities might be rated. That is, I would think many (most?) other state institutions across the country are facing comparable pressures but in varying degrees, eg decreasing funding, flat enrollment due to tuition hikes, etc. I guess the concern in my book would be whether OU was at the worst end of that spectrum, factoring in things like population and relevant economic environment...

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## lasomeday

The Athletic Department at OU is one of I think 2 schools that does not get money from the school.  They have their own budget and work more like a private entity.  They get most of their money from branding of OU products, tv contracts, alumni, and tickets.

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## Pete

Pretty sure this project would not be funded completely by the AD since they will be sharing it with the larger university.

I know they have been soliciting donations for quite a while.

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## ou48A

I doubt the funding sources have changed very much.
On the very first post of this thread I posted this information

The university hasnt set a demolition date and still needs to raise about $40 million through private donations, he said. The rest of the money needed  about $50 million  will come from OU Athletic Department and housing bond dollars.

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## Spartan

Housing bond dollars are not the OU Athletic Department.

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## rcjunkie

> Housing bond dollars are not the OU Athletic Department.


That's why ou48a said Athletic Department AND Housing Bond Dollars.

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## twade

The site is nearly cleared. All that remains is the Subway, but I'm sure that will be gone in the next few days. The regents' agenda noted that leveling, foundations, and steel would start going up in May.

Here is the press release from the university with renderings. I'm impressed, especially with the ground-level retail.

http://www.soonersports.com/genrel/032411aaa.html

The Sooner Housing Center: Opening Fall 2013
230,000 sq. ft.; 392 beds; 49% athlete, 51% students [rumor is that it will be used for national merit scholars and honors college]

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## ou48A

Thanks for posting that twade

That looks like a very impressive structure that is sure to attract even more good recruits to OU

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## Dustin

The architecture fits in well with the campus!

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## Pete

That looks awesome!

Here is the full press release with a site plan:




The University of Oklahoma's Board of Regents today (March 24, 2011) approved the conceptual design for the $75 million Sooner Center Student Housing, which will house almost 400 students with both student athletes (49%) and students (51%) who are not participating in intercollegiate athletics.

The new facility, which will replace Bud Wilkinson Hall, will be funded by the department of intercollegiate athletics, which has launched a campaign to raise the private funding portion of the project cost.

Sooner fans interested in learning more about contributing to this facility should contact the Sooner Club at (405) 325-8000 or toll-free at (866) Sooner Club.

The 230,000 square foot housing center, which will be located on the corner of Jenkins and Lindsey, southeast and across the street from the football stadium, will have 392 beds in two- and four-bedroom units. The building will include central dining, computer labs and study rooms as well as a Faculty-in-Residence unit.

"We are grateful to President David Boren and the OU Board of Regents for their leadership and support of a project that will benefit our students for generations to come," said Joe Castiglione, OU's Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and Athletics Director. 

"This impressive housing project will be consistent with the architecture of our beautiful campus and will provide a state-of-the-art housing facility for hundreds of students.

"In addition, it will present prospective student-athletes with a facility that will rival any of its peers nationally," Castiglione said.

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## mcca7596

Anyone know what will be done with Bud Wilkinson Hall?

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## Pete

I believe they want to pull down pretty much everything in that area; all the residential buildings and dining hall.  Then, I believe the plan is for another building like this one.

I bet once this project is completed, they'll start trying to raise fund for a similar one where Bud, Jefferson and the rest now stand.

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## kevinpate

> Anyone know what will be done with Bud Wilkinson Hall?


I've heard a bit of talk about an alumni type condo village, either there or elsewhere near campus.  may just be talk, but that would be a whale of a spot for one if they wanted to go that route.

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## BoulderSooner

from what i have heard there is going to be a extension of Heisman park .. in that location with an amphitheater and more sooner statues

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## BG918

> I've heard a bit of talk about an alumni type condo village, either there or elsewhere near campus.  may just be talk, but that would be a whale of a spot for one if they wanted to go that route.


That is what I've heard too, that the university is interested in having that location (NE corner of Lindsey & Jenkins) for a combination hotel/alumni center/conference center and condos all of which would overlook the stadium.  Still hoping a new basketball arena would then be built just to the north at Brooks & Jenkins with an expanded Heisman Park in between the two east of the stadium.  

Also hoping the Sooner Center is the first phase of a massive student housing upgrade where Cate Center is torn down and similar styled buildings are built in its place for student housing facing an extension of the south oval across Lindsey.

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## twade

The school just spent millions redoing Cate I, and they remodeled another a few summers back. I'd be surprised if they leveled them. Now Cross would be an all together different story for me...

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## BG918

> The school just spent millions redoing Cate I, and they remodeled another a few summers back. I'd be surprised if they leveled them. Now Cross would be an all together different story for me...


It wouldn't be done right away but eventually Cate will be razed.  The set-up does not fit 21st century college students and something like the Sooner Center with individual suites and bathrooms would be built in its place.  It's also an opportunity to better define the Lindsey corridor through campus with new buildings fronting the street.

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## soonerliberal

This is an outstanding add to the university.  I am incredibly impressed!

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## Kerry

OU should replicate the Chinese terracotta army. All Sooner athletes could get a life size replica in their sport uniform if they graduate. What athlete wouldn't want to be part of that.



They could make them like this - only bigger

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## BG918

There are four retail spaces at street level: 1 on Lindsey, 1 at the corner of Lindsey & Jenkins,  and 2 on Jenkins.  Subway already has a Campus Corner location but might want a south campus location.  I'd rather see a local place though like Penny Hill.  Hopefully Campus Market moves into the larger retail space at the south side of the building and operates as a small grocery for students and residents in that area without the gas pumps.

This is a huge improvement for that section of campus.

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## Pete

Photo by Bouldersooner:

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## pw405

Wow, I need to make it by there, had no idea the project was this far along.

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## Just the facts

Why can't they build with this style in downtown OKC?

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## Dekoung

"I'd rather see a local place though like Penny Hill."

Scratch this since a new one is opening on Lindsey at the old Patsy's location.

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## Just the facts

> "I'd rather see a local place though like Penny Hill."
> 
> Scratch this since a new one is opening on Lindsey at the old Patsy's location.


The only problem is Penny Hill subs is not exactly 'local'.  They are part of a very small chain.  2 locations here in Florida and one in Norman.

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## dankrutka

> The only problem is Penny Hill subs is not exactly 'local'.  They are part of a very small chain.  2 locations here in Florida and one in Norman.


Did they start here? Whoever owns the Main location sure does love the Sooners. It certainly feels local.

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## Just the facts

> Did they start here? Whoever owns the Main location sure does love the Sooners. It certainly feels local.


My wife asked one of the long-time employees at the Vero store.  If I remember correctly, it started in Vero but they opened the Norman store when their son attended OU so they could be close to him and have a place for him to work while at OU.  After he graduated they returned to Vero but kept the store in Norman open.

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