MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Board recommends operating partners

Last Updated on May 5, 2022, 12:29 PM | Published: May 5, 2022

Oklahoma City (Free Press) — Most significant among the recommendations made by the MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) Thursday were: 

• Operating partners for two MAPS 4 projects, 
• Boy & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County be selected to operate the MAPS 4 Youth Centers, 
• Metro Technology Centers be selected as the operating partner for the Henrietta B. Foster Center.
• Land acquisition deals for transit expansion, and
• Beautification at NE 23rd and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Youth centers

The CAB voted to authorize negotiations with Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County to be the operating partner for the four planned Youth Centers to be built through the MAPS 4 sales tax.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County operates 15 clubs in the county, giving them a great deal of experience serving young people across the metro area and beyond. With programming focused on education enhancement and healthy lifestyle choices, the organization seems a good fit for the planned Youth Centers.

Site selection for the physical location of the new Centers will begin in approximately six months, according to David Todd, MAPS Program Manager.

Henrietta B. Foster center

The CAB also voted to authorize negotiations with Metro Technology Centers to be the operating partner for the Henrietta B. Foster Center.

The MAPS 4 project intends to put $15 million into the Center to become the Henrietta B. Foster Center for Northeast Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship.

MetroTech put together a successful bid as the umbrella organization under which multiple other organizations will be able to apply their specialties to programming at the newly renovated Center.

Transit improvement

The CAB voted to recommend a resolution to authorize the purchase of land for EMBARK as part of the MAPS 4 Transit Planned Growth package.

The land in question is next to EMBARK’s current headquarters at SW 20th and South May. The deal, which EMBARK has had ready for a couple of years, will finally move EMBARK forward on needed expansions to their campus just west of the Oklahoma City Stockyards. This will give additional space for maintenance and training, as well as space for the coming Bus Rapid Transit system’s needs.

The projected cost of the land acquisition and related real estate costs is $1,695,000.

Engineering services

Kimley-Horn and Associates were on several items of the CAB’s agenda on Thursday.

The firm will be contracted for engineering services on several MAPS 4 projects over the coming years.

Notably, on Thursday the firm was recommended for services on Transit Planned Growth, and on Master Plan development for Neighborhood and Community Parks and Neighborhood Connectivity.

Urban renewal

The CAB voted to authorize the transfer of $5 million to Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority for the purchase and amelioration of the land at the northeast corner of NE 23rd and Martin Luther King Avenue in Ward 7. This move is part of the Beautification project through MAPS 4.

Urban Renewal will oversee the clean-up and beautification of the parcel.

Arena seats

New seats are coming to the Downtown Arena, currently known as the Paycom Center.

Irwin Seating Company entered a successful bid to replace seats in the arena. The contract amount is $3,100,051.18.

This is the first construction contract recommended by the CAB, an auspicious signal that the CAB’s workload will begin to grow significantly over the coming months.

David Todd, MAPS Program Manager, said that staff does not expect to be required to close the arena at any point for installation of new seats, and that the seats will be replaced in phases in both the lower and upper bowl of the arena.

The next meeting of the MAPS 4 CAB will be June 2 at 10:30 a.m.

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