Rebirth of Capitol Hill

Patrick · 11-23-2004, 08:37 PM

I'm glad to see all of the revitalization efforts going on in Capitol Hill. I went down SW 25th Street through Capitol Hill just last week...I was impressed with the recent street scape project that was being implented.

One can only hope that area districts like this will only continue to grow and thrive. Capitol Hill, Western Avenue, Stockyards City, Little Saigon, etc. are all great neighborhood entertainment districts. I just love the small districts in Tulsa, like Cherry Street, Brookside, and Greenwood. One can only hope Oklahoma City will follow suit with its own neighborhood districts. Western Avenue District is continuing to grow, and I'm always impressed everytime I drive around that area. I suppose Chesapeake Energy should be thanked for starting a revival in that area.

Anyways, the new streetscape projct in Capitol Hill is worth looking at and I'm glad to hear about the renovations that will occur at the old John A. Brown Building.

I only hope that Capitol Hill becomes a thriving Hispanic District similar to Little Saigon!
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"King of the hill: Capitol Hill is on cutting edge of inner city revitalization efforts
Posted: Monday, November 22, 2004
King of the hill: Capitol Hill is on cutting edge of inner city revitalization efforts

By Steven E. Wedel

The Oklahoma Main Street Program is renowned for revitalizing the downtown areas of many small communities.
You might not think a program that’s worked in towns like Shattuck, Tahlequah or Enid would have much interest in urban Oklahoma City.
But Oklahoma City has swallowed some small towns as it has grown. One of those towns is Capitol Hill and it’s become a shining example of what Main Street can do for a community.

By the end of this year, community partners will have invested about $6 million in improving a five-block area of the old city, Capitol Hill Main Street Program Manager Joe Mendoza said.
“It’s amazing,” Mendoza said. “Just last year, over $800,000 in property was sold to business owners in the Capitol Hill area.”

The name Capitol Hill dates back to 1900 and was given by Benoni Harrington, who thought the highest point in the area should be the site of the state Capitol. Capitol Hill was incorporated as a city in 1904, but merged with Oklahoma City in 1910. The area became desolate in the Seventies as people left the inner city for the suburbs. Today, Capitol Hill is the heart of Oklahoma City’s Hispanic community.

Main Street established a Capitol Hill presence in 1997.

“Property values have increased dramatically since then,” Mendoza said. “Main Street reports show a net gain of 55 new business and over 100 new jobs in that time.”

Mendoza added that the vacancy rate is the lowest it’s been in 30 years, with only about 10 percent of the available space unoccupied.

“There are still plenty of opportunities for large and small business,” he said.

A couple of other tangible changes include a streetscape project, renovation of the old John A. Brown building, and a new post office.
“Our $1 million streetscape is making great progress,” Mendoza said. “It includes new paved sidewalks, decorative street lamps and attractive features at each intersection.”

The streetscape was made possible by a bond issue. Mendoza said the bond was the result of the city’s confidence in the Main Street idea.
“The city and state have put a lot of effort into helping Capitol Hill succeed,” he said.

The John A. Brown building renovation is a $3 million project that will become the headquarters for the Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian Counties Inc. Mendoza said the agency will be home to 90 to 100 employees. The building originally was a department store; renovation is made possible through a federal grant administered by the city.

In an Oklahoma Department of Commerce report, Sen. Keith Leftwich compared Capitol Hill’s revitalization to similar successful development efforts that have taken place in Oklahoma City’s Automobile Alley, Stockyards City area and historic downtown Guthrie.

“This project will be a huge shot in the arm for Capitol Hill, and it’s particularly timely since it’s happening during a tough economy. The result will be a revitalized building for Capitol Hill’s retail district that, for decades, was one of the main economic centers of the metropolitan area,” Leftwich said.

But improvements go beyond what you’ll see just walking along the new sidewalks under the fancy street lamps.
In May, Capitol Hill Main Street opened a voter registration office and registered 100 people to vote in the community.

Other social improvements include a partnership between Azteca Youth Boxing, Main Street and the Police Athletic League. Mendoza said the Police Athletic League recently donated a lot of boxing equipment for use by young residents.

Latino Youth in Action is working with Main Street to have members adopt S.W. 25 Street from Shields Boulevard to Western Avenue, Mendoza said.

“We want the community to take ownership of the area,” Mendoza said. “We want people to start grouping together, to work together.”

The future of the Capitol Hill area is bright, Mendoza said, citing plans to build a world-class skate park in the area. There also is hope that some national restaurants will want to open stores in the neighborhood now that the street nearly is refinished.

“We’re still about five to 10 years from where we want to be,” he said, but added that he believes the community is on the right track."

Patrick · 11-23-2004, 08:56 PM

"Action Agency comes to the rescue of the landmark John A. Brown building

Action figures: The Community Action Agency comes to the rescue of the landmark John A. Brown building

By Jody Noerdlinger

To many long-time Oklahoma City residents, the John A. Brown department store building at 321 W. Commerce in the heart of the old Capitol Hill neighborhood, brings back fond memories of family shopping excursions.

Built in 1947, the store opened during a snowstorm, saidDave Sellers, owner of the decades-old local newspaper, the Capitol Hill Beacon. It was one of the largest buildings in the metro area at the time, he said, second only to the downtown Civic Center.
But, as consumers began to take their money to the new shopping malls, neighborhood department stores became a thing of the past. The John A. Brown store in Capitol Hill was no different. It closed in 1974, stood empty for more than 10 years, then served as a warehouse for the city.
Today, the dilapidated old building is on the verge of a rebirth.
The property is undergoing a $3,000,000 face lift in preparation for its new occupants -- the Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City and Oklahoma/Canadian County.

The Community Action Agency, currently housed at 1900 N.W. 10th in the old Whittier school building, employs about 500 workers in the two counties. With an annual budget of $28 million, the agency administers Head Start along with everything from drug and alcohol awareness programs to home repair workshops.
It also aids economic development by providing low-interest loans and financial advice to help new businesses get on their feet, according to executive director Jim Sconzo.
“We’ll have a tremendous impact once we get there,” Sconzo said. “We’ll have over 70 employees to begin with, and we’ll bring a lot of traffic to town.” He also said that people in the area have expressed interest in starting new businesses.
“Hopefully, we can get Capitol Hill going,” he said.

Steve Rhodes, urban redevelopment specialist in Oklahoma City’s planning department, explains that the property was given to the city in 1986 by the Smiser family.
The city used the building primarily for storage, but, Rhodes said, “That didn’t do much to help the residents of Capitol Hill.”
In 1997, Capitol Hill residents organized a Main Street program. They urged the city to do something with the property, which, as Dave Sellars said, was a glaring “white elephant,” impeding revitalization.

Russell Davis from the city planning department agrees that the building was “a blight on the neighborhood.”
“It was once a full-blown commercial district, serving a large geographic area, but it began to suffer,” Davis said.

Now, the city will deed the property to Community Action. The agency makes a good owner, Davis said, due to its large budget and number of employees that are sure to increase traffic in the neighborhood.
Community block grants have been used to fund the renovation, which has gone through some “rigorous oversite action” in order to help preserve the building’s historic charm, he said.

Allen Morgan, construction contract administrator for Beck Associates, who are the architects for the project, said he remembered shopping at the Capitol Hill store.
He said he thinks maintaining that charm is essential to the character of the neighborhood.
“It will be an attractive building,” he said. “After all, it’s the most important anchor to that area and it’s an example of something the city has worked hard to achieve.”
Morgan estimated that renovation of the 53,300 square feet building will be complete in January. "

**mranderson** · 11-23-2004, 09:07 PM

I know David Sellers and will say this. He is a big dreamer. His newspaper, if you want to call it that, is nothing more than a gossip column with stories about Maud's dog running across the street and jumping on Gert's bed. He has said for years that Capitol Hill would be restored. I have yet to see any real progress, and will not believe it until I see it. Probably looking down from my office in heaven after I die.

Yes. There are memories. Just that... Memories. The TG&Y, Zales, Emmers, Langston's, Lavine's, my dad's stock brokerage dealership, Fred Jones, Eskridge Oldmobile, Otasco and more. However, those are gone. Even Anderson-Bryant & Co. We sold it in 1989. I remember walking up and down Commerce while my mom was picking up orders from my dad to pick up stock from First Fedelity in the First National tower (we later bought First Fedelity) (sp). Anderson-Bryant was a big part of my life and of the Hill's life.

However, David Sellers only dreams. I see no action, and I doubt I will ever see any. I think someone should buy the roughly six square miles, tear it down and build a motion picture studio. At least it would not look like a slum or the downtown of smallville USA.