I will be surprised if they do in fact shut down the street. We’ll see.
Glad to see these kinds of festivals popping up in Edmond and I hope to see more like this that will further signify hatred and bigotry is not welcomed here.
http://newsok.com/uco-receives-appro...rticle/5591523
I worked at UCO for 4 years, and I drove down Ayers several times a day every day. Between the speed bumps and pedestrians it can not be considered a thoroughfare. In the late afternoon is almost impassable while you are waiting for pedestrians to clear the crosswalk. About 1/3 of the campus housing is across from Ayers. I think it' s a great idea to close it.
Good for you. It probably isn’t happening and if it does then whatever.
UCO To Break Ground On North Hamilton Annex Project
EDMOND - The University of Central Oklahoma cordially invites you to attend the ground-breaking event of yet another facilities project within the athletic department. UCO will break ground on the North Hamilton Annex project Friday, May 11 at 10 a.m. on the north side of Hamilton Field House.
UCO will soon be removing the current wrestling room, weight room, and former swimming pool area and begin a multi-million dollar renovation project that comes in a string of ambitious projects the athletics department has undergone over the past few years.
In 2017, UCO opened a brand new softball stadium. Central earlier this year renovated the baseball field with new turf and a new fence. The university is also opening later this year its grandest project with the Sports Performance Center, a $15 million, 40,000 square foot athletics facility.
A new wrestling room, an auxiliary practice gymnasium for both of Central's basketball teams as well as the volleyball team and other sports to train in, and new locker rooms and coaches offices will be built. UCO will also renovate the current locker rooms on the north side of Hamilton Field House to give Central's varsity sports the opportunity to have their own space.
UCO has also already built what will be a temporary wrestling facility on the north end of campus that the 15-time national champion Broncho grapplers can train in while the North Hamilton Annex project is under construction. That facility will serve as an alternate dressing room for visiting football teams and will soon become an indoor hitting facility for the baseball team, the softball team, and both of UCO's men's and women's golf teams following the completion of the North Hamilton Annex.
For more information on the project and Friday's groundbreaking, please call Chris Brannick, UCO Director of Sports Media Relations, (405) 301-0187.
Supposedly, Ayers Street through campus will close July 5, 2018, the day after the Liberty Fest parade uses it for float staging. Although, the fireworks and park festivities will be moved this year from UCO to Hafer Park.
Guessing Ayers on the east side will continue to the Chowning intersection and to the parking lot south of the soccer field. On the west side, It will probably stop at the circle drive by the Common's apartments and Chamber's Library?
Supposedly, Ayers Street through campus will close July 5, 2018, the day after the Liberty Fest parade uses it for float staging. Although, the fireworks and park festivities will be moved this year from UCO to Hafer Park.
Guessing Ayers on the east side will continue to the Chowning intersection and to the parking lot south of the soccer field. On the west side, It will probably stop at the circle drive by the Common's apartments and Chamber's Library?
Its happening. University already owns it and plans to build a new dining hall right there in the middle of road. UCO wants all that land to the east of the school so they don't really care if that area has access to downtown Edmond or not. We're not even talking about a very large area between UCO and Bryant. Certainly not big another to warrant keeping the road open.
The new dining hall is out for bid:
Are there any plans available for how that will actually lay out on campus?
Some pictures I took around campus this week, first the STEM building nearing completion:
And the liberal arts expansion:
The dining hall is being built south of the Fieldhouse. I'm assuming there is going to be some sort of pedestrian plaza in front of it which is why their wanting to shut down Ayers. Moving the dining hall is going to dramatically increase the number of students having to cross the street.
They want to close Ayers for construction? Or like permanently?
Announced today:
Ayers Closure — Beginning Monday, July 9, a small section of Ayers that runs through the University of Central Oklahoma campus will close permanently to accommodate the construction/operation of a new dining facility. The section is south of Hamilton Field House and north of the university’s current dining facility, Buddy’s. The section will become a pedestrian walkway between the north and south sides of campus once construction is complete and the facility operational, which is anticipated in January 2020. For an alternate route from the east, go north on Chowning to University Dr., which will connect with Ayers on the west side of campus. Coming from the west, go north on University to Chowning, which will connect with Ayers on the east side of campus. Vehicular traffic will still be permitted on Ayers on either side of the closed area.
A shot of the new dining facility construction site from about a week ago. Nothing too major yet, but the land clearing is in-progress.
Apparently parking is becoming an issue. This is my stance on it.
Very easy solutions here, but they come with a small price to pay.
1. Parking garage. Build a 1,500 car parking garage.
2. Transit and bike friendly infrastructure. Improve the city bus system. Build a streetcar downtown the links to UCO and encourage urban housing. Build more bike infrastructure throughout Edmond so on days it is reasonable to ride, people will do so.
Once the commuter and metro wide light rail system is up, students living elsewhere in the metro will also have easier car free access to Edmonds transit system.
Either way, don’t expect parking to be a breeze anymore in a growing city. Most major universities have parking and traffic issues. Edmond needs to get used it and find ways to manage and mitigate.
Otherwise the closing of Ayers certainly won’t help traffic any. The surrounding neighborhoods need to have their streets redone and if needed widened to allow for parallel parking lanes. Perhaps Chowning could be redone and widened a bit, remove two car lanes, and add parking and protected bike lanes. Same thing with Baumann.
UCO has made some really short sighted decisions as of late. I am still against closing Ayers and I’m really bummed about the tearing down Acadia Inn for a parking lot.
None the less, this is an issue they choose to have. If parking is that much of an issue, a parking garage or several with adequate capacity could solve this problem in 6 months. That is short term solutions. In the long term having a better university with more housing around it along with more transit friendly initiatives needs to be a long term goal for the university and city.
http://m.news9.com/Story.aspx?story=...6&catId=112032
As long as UCO exists, people will complain about parking but still find a way to get to class. In my day, I'd park in the nether-regions of the parking lots and bike in to class.
https://twitter.com/buildwithlingo/s...43488169046016 has a timelapse of the dining hall construction so far.
UCO Dining Hall: Look at the difference a few months make. Thank you to our subs and design team for pushing through this wet winter!
#Buildwithlingo
@UCOBronchos
@adgokc
Took these today:
New dining hall is near the center of this photo; to the right and just south of the stadium is an expansion of the field house.
A new wrestling room, an auxiliary practice gymnasium for both of Central's basketball teams as well as the volleyball team and other sports to train in, and new locker rooms and coaches offices will be built. UCO will also renovate the current locker rooms on the north side of Hamilton Field House to give Central's varsity sports the opportunity to have their own space.
I had not been in this stadium since high school. Really impressive facility.
If you can swing a tour of the new Sports Performance Center in the north end zone I'd recommend taking a look at it. It's a nice facility.
Donation from Mr Paycom for 12,000 more seats at Wantland
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...um/8538277002/
^
Richison's donation will add 1,900 seats to the east side (visitors) bringing the capacity to 12,000.
Will also provide extensive landscaping to the south end.
The stadium will be named after him as well.
The expanded visitor's side will really help when it comes to hosting high school playoff games.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks