Tulsa’s Evans-Fintube Site Evolves after MICD Technical Assistance Visit

Mayor Kathy Taylor hosted the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) Alumni Technical Assistance program in Tulsa, Oklahoma, January 11-13, 2009. During the 3-day visit, Mayor Taylor charged the MICD Resource Team to develop a design concept for the Evans-Fintube site, a 22-acre industrial parcel located northeast of Downtown Tulsa. Just two years earlier, Mayor Taylor presented this site at an MICD session in Charleston, SC, and spoke to the challenges of developing land cut off from downtown Tulsa and surrounding neighborhoods by an interstate highway and rail yards.

After attending the MICD session, Mayor Taylor made significant steps towards planning for the Evans-Fintube site’s future. In early 2008, Mayor Taylor asked Dr. Jack Crowley FAICP, FASLA (Professor at the School of Environmental Design, University of Georgia) to serve as the Advisor to Urban Planning and Development for the Mayor’s Office. Crowley’s unique background in transportation and land use planning and development, as well as his experience with Oklahoma’s local and state governments, made him an ideal addition to the Mayor’s Office. One of Crowley’s initial plans for the site was to help craft the site’s RFP process for design and redevelopment. Though the city received several proposals through the RFP process, none conveyed the Mayor and community’s vision for the site.

To support the planning and development efforts of Mayor Taylor, MICD invited a team of urban design experts to analyze the site’s challenges and propose solutions. Attendees included MICD Resource Team members: Angie Brooks, AIA, LEED-AP (Pugh+Scarpa Architects, Santa Monica, CA), Phil Erickson, AIA (Community Design+Architecture, Oakland, CA), and Laura Solano (Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Cambridge, MA). Special guests included Evelyn “Deedie” Potter Rose (The Edward W. Rose III Family Fund of the Dallas Foundation, Dallas, TX) and Mary Suhm (City Manager, City of Dallas, TX). American Architectural Foundation participants included President and CEO, Ron Bogle, former Vice President of Programs, Jess Zimbabwe, and Special Projects Manager, Elizabeth Blazevich.

Upon arrival in Tulsa, MICD team members had the opportunity to tour the site, surrounding neighborhoods and business districts. City staff arranged for local stakeholders to brief the MICD team on focused topics applicable to the site, including economic development, transportation, adjacent land uses, unique partnerships (most notably with the adjacent Oklahoma State University – Tulsa and Langston University campuses) and neighborhood context. Also, the MICD team met with staff from various city agencies and departments to talk about the site as it relates to their work and the City’s master plan.

The MICD resource team tirelessly sketched, modeled, discussed best practices, and interviewed more local stakeholders. During a break in this concentrated work period, MICD team members had the opportunity to present their ideas during a special evening public presentation. Tulsans attending were engaged and energized by the presentations, which showed successful solutions to challenges similar to those of Evans-Fintube.

The final day included another site visit, more drawing, a preliminary briefing with the mayor and a public presentation with final thoughts for the Mayor and citizens. To a standing room only crowd, the MICD team presented their observations and ideas for site lay-out, appropriate land uses, phasing for development, and applicable best practices used in other major U.S. cities. Specific recommendations included:

• Creating an outdoor community amphitheater and space for cultural uses;
• Extending the existing bike trail system and proposed light rail transportation through the site;
• Incorporating the existing industrial structures into the site development, e.g., as live/work artist space or a farmers market;
• Enhancing both the pedestrian’s and the bicyclist’s experience under the highway viaduct with public art and dedicated pedestrian and bike lanes;
• Using innovative landscaping to encourage active and passive recreation;
• Consider constructing elementary and secondary school buildings at the northern edge of the site, adjacent to OSU / Langston campuses and existing neighborhoods;
• Connect the site via pedestrian bridges over the railroad tracks to the OSU / Langston campuses, and improve pedestrian and vehicular bridges to the existing neighborhoods; and
• Working with neighbors to modify incompatible uses adjacent to the site, e.g., parking lots and storage yards.

The public audience’s questions and comments were thoughtful and proactive, most speakers noting that they would like to continue a dialogue about this site with the City and were inspired by the MICD resource team’s suggestions for the site. Mayor Taylor was also inspired by the MICD resource team’s work and felt the ideas conveyed Evans-Fintube as an amenity for all Tulsa residents.

Mayor Taylor and the City of Tulsa was the 4th awarded MICD Alumni Technical Assistance program. This program is made possible through a generous gift of the Edward W. Rose II Family Fund of the Dallas Foundation, directed to the National Endowment for the Arts by Mrs. Deedie Potter Rose, a former member of the National Council on the Arts (NCA). Currently, the Mayors’ Institute is accepting applications from alumni mayors for the 2009 funding year.

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To apply for this program or for more information, email liz@micd.org.