core to shore area set for multiple projects

The north section of the Core to Shore area of downtown Oklahoma City, from SW Third Street to the relocated Interstate 40, will see multiple major construction projects over the next few years.

Construction has begun on the north 40 acres of the 70-acre MAPS 3 Downtown Public Park, which will include a grand lawn for large outdoor performances, a lake large enough for small boats, a cafe, a boathouse and multiple areas of differing types of programming. Just to the southwest of the park, at the corner of SW Seventh Street and S. Hudson Avenue, the streetcar storage and maintenance facility will soon be under construction. The facility will complement the historic Union Station next door, even using exterior stone from the same quarry as that used to build the railroad station in 1931.

Just across S. Robinson Avenue to the east of the park, the new MAPS 3 Convention Center will begin construction late next year. The facility is being designed to interact with the new park and to take advantage of beautiful views of the park and the downtown skyline. A proposed convention center hotel is planned to be located directly north of the convention center, also just across the street from the new park.

To the north of the park, the new Oklahoma City Boulevard will begin construction on its central section soon. The boulevard will be a beautifully landscaped, pedestrian-friendly corridor between the Central Business District and the Core to Shore area. The new MAPS 3 modern streetcar system will travel along the boulevard in this section, serving the arena, the park, the convention center and the proposed convention center headquarters hotel. Construction of the rail for the main line of the system will begin this year, and patrons of those facilities will have easy access to Bricktown and Midtown via the new streetcar system beginning in late 2018.

Read the full article here in the May 31st edition of The Journal Record.