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Top left: Housing renovation plans include the lobby of the Barksdale Apartments. Lower right: The Bell Block building is part of the revitalization. Lower left: The Grand Old Post Office on the corner of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue in Okmulgee is included in the renovation plans.
the building is ready for up to 70 student occupants by 2017. “It’s a pretty major renovation — new electrical systems, new plumbing, new wiring,” Path says. The second property purchased is the Bell Block Building, built in 1900 on the corner of Morton Avenue and Sixth Street, for $95,000 plus closing costs. The estimated renovation costs are still pending. After the former post office is renovated, work will begin to turn the second floor of the Bell building into eight to 10 loft-style spaces. Administrators are reviewing options for the first floor, which faces downtown Okmulgee’s commercial
“We could have spent a lot of money building a brand-new residence hall on campus, but we can accommodate students and help out the community at the same time by renovating these historic buildings,” he says. About a dozen members of the Okmulgee community including downtown building owners and Main Street board members were on hand for the regents’ vote in January. “We know what a vital project this is for the Okmulgee community, and we’re proud to be a part of it,” Board of Regents Chairman Rick Davis said during the meeting. Former regent board member Fred Harlan, who owns a Ford dealership in
PHOTO / OKMULGEE PUBLIC LIBRARY
he phrase win-win may be overused, but in the case of Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology and its investment in historic downtown Okmulgee, the description fits perfectly. OSUIT President Bill R. Path says the university needs additional student housing. Downtown Okmulgee has beautiful structures in abundance sitting empty with enormous potential. Still, it took the vision of an outsider to recognize that each had what the other needed. Ron Drake, a consultant who has spent the last 10 years renovating and revitalizing the downtown district of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, is working to replicate his success in his hometown. With Drake’s help, OSUIT leaders identified two properties in downtown Okmulgee to purchase and renovate. In January, the OSU/A&M Board of Regents approved purchasing the two properties to develop future housing for OSUIT students. The property at Grand Avenue and Fifth Street consists of two connecting buildings, Okmulgee’s original post office, built in 1918, and the Barksdale Apartment Building, completed in 1919. The university bought the halfblock of buildings for $280,000 plus closing costs with renovations estimated to cost between $3 million and $4 million. “It’s a beautiful building with a grand entrance,” Path says about the old post office. “It has a lot of character, and it has such good bones. It really met our criteria for student residential needs.” The building sits a block from the Okmulgee Police Department and a block from retail businesses and restaurants. Construction is expected to start this summer, and administrators hope
Constructed in 1900, the Bell Block building sits along Sixth Street, the main commercial stretch of downtown Okmulgee. district along Sixth Street. Both buildings are just under two miles from the OSUIT campus. “This gorgeous building has been remodeled many times over the years and housed several different retail interests but originally served as Okmulgee’s first opera house,” Path says. “We love the prominent location and wanted to secure the building before someone else buys it.” The board also approved beginning the selection process for an architect and construction manager to determine the layout and floor plans for the buildings. Path says renovating the historic downtown spaces is comparable, or hopefully even cheaper, than constructing new buildings on the campus.
Okmulgee, says he was very happy with the unanimous vote for approval. “I’m looking forward to working with OSUIT. It’s going to be good for both the students and the community,” Harlan says. “It’s going to be exciting.” Drake says OSUIT is stepping up as the leader of the Okmulgee Rising revitalization projects, spurring others in the community to purchase and renovate spaces and buildings downtown. The recent renovation boon means OSUIT can leverage its investment with the owners of these new living spaces, Path says. “This falls squarely within the university’s land-grant mission,” he says. “It is tangible community engagement for the greater good of Okmulgee and OSUIT.”
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