Mayor Cornett speaks of city’s future
By Alice Horn, News Writing Student
Mayor Mick Cornett spoke about the success and history of the MAPS initiatives in Oklahoma City, as well as what residents might look for in the future, when he spoke on campus March 12.
Cornett is widely credited with bringing the National Basketball Association’s Thunder franchise to Oklahoma City and with putting the city on a diet.
He focused his remarks on the proposed MAPS 3 initiatives.
MAPS 3, also known as the Core To Shore Project, is part of a multi-step plan to connect downtown Oklahoma City to the Oklahoma River.
Moving Interstate 40 seven blocks south of its current location will open up a large area for development, Cornett said. One initiative will consist of tearing down the Crosstown I-40 bridge and replacing it with a metropolitan boulevard.
“For too long we’ve been focusing on getting people from one place to another as fast as we can,” Cornett said.
“I actually want to slow down traffic.”
He envisions a boulevard through the city that would do that.
The boulevard would then connect to a large green space that could become park land.
New York City’s Central Park and Chicago’s Millennium Park were mentioned by Cornett as examples of what he is working toward.
The park would extend to the relocated section of I-40 where a footbridge over the interstate would link the park to the Oklahoma River development.
The relocation of I-40, the development of the boulevard and the footbridge are all currently funded, and set to be completed by 2012.
The green-space connecting the two, however, is still waiting on funds.
Cornett hopes the park will be completed by 2014. The proposed MAPS 3, which may be on the ballot by December 2009, would include funding to pay for the park.
“We are the envy of every other city in the country as far as what we have been able to do,” said Cornett, speaking of Oklahoma’s willingness to invest in the city’s future.
“We have asked citizens to believe in themselves and believe in the city, and they have supported us,” said Cornett, adding that it will be up to voters to see how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to spend.
MAPS 3 also will likely include funding for a new convention center to replace the Cox Center which, despite a renovation in 1999, has remained largely the same since its construction in 1971.
The plan would propose building a new convention center, in an area with room for expansion.
The plan also would allow Oklahoma City to use the Cox Center during the construction and spare the city the cost of two years in lost convention revenue.
The third part of the MAPS 3 plan would revamp Oklahoma City’s struggling public transit system.
The city has used its vast physical size and its relatively low density, as an excuse to avoid the issue, he said.
Cornett wants a public transportation system that would not only help downtown residents commute, but also bring people into the city from the metro area.
“We need to stop creating cities where you need to own a car,” Cornett said.
The MAPS 3 projects are a continuation of the 1991 MAPS Projects, which funded the renovation of the Bricktown area, including the canal, the Oklahoma River Development, and improvements to State Fair Park, and MAPS for Kids, which raised $514 million for physical improvements to the Oklahoma City school distric.
