Infrastructure revamp revealed during Ardmore downtown master plan meeting

ARDMORE, Oklahoma (KXII) - After years of research, meetings, and surveys, residents got an early look Tuesday night at Ardmore’s new downtown master plan.

It came together as a community-guided vision for the future of the main street area.

“I’m glad that we kind of have a road map on where we want to go with this project,” Ardmore Assistant City Manager Kevin Norris said.

The plan would add lots of green spaces, with rows of second floor apartments overlooking Main Street.

“Having people live downtown, I think, helps make it a better, more vibrant area,” downtown business owner Colin Chapman said.

The plan would also bring an expansion to the depot district with dreams of a hotel and convention center, and a re-imagined Paradise Alley that would stretch from one end of downtown straight to the other.

“I think the most important thing that came out of this was that a lot of these were ideas that came from the community,” Norris said.

But before any of those big changes can happen at street level, there are plans for some major upgrades underground --- and it all starts with Phase Zero.

“Phase Zero would be to improve the sewer, the water, and the water drainage,” Norris said.

Downtown Ardmore has dealt with flooding, drainage, and water line issues for some time.

“Businesses don’t want to come in one morning and have an inch of water on their floor or have all their carpets soaking wet,” Chapman said.

So with the new vision for downtown’s future, Norris said rebuilding a foundation of strong infrastructure is the right way to begin.

“It will have to be done in snippets because the area is so big, there’s no way that we can just go in and just tear everything up,” he said. “It’s going to be hard, but it’s something that has to be done.”

The plan suggests revamping downtown in a five-phase journey:

• Phase Zero: Make all required infrastructure improvements
• Phase One: Streetside improvements (signage, bike lane, etc.) and a downtown stage
• Phase Two: Improve Paradise Alley and add a park, trails, green space, and outdoor dining.
• Phase Three: Focus on downtown commercial and residential growth
• Phase Four: Add a new welcome center, hotel, convention center, boardwalk area, food truck area, stage, and development at the west end of Main Street.