OKLAHOMA BASKETBALL OU to anchor arena
NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma has agreed in principle to serve as the anchor tenant for a 10,000-seat basketball arena that is part of a new entertainment and mixed-use development in north Norman.
The Norman City Council still must approve the plan that includes making the University Park North plan a Tax Increment Financing district. But if the Council approves the plan, OU has agreed to take its home basketball games off campus.
“We’ve come to the conclusion this might be a very special opportunity to be a part of a little bit of renaissance with this particular part of Norman,” OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said Wednesday. “The idea of creating an experience and an overall destination gives us the opportunity of serving our fans.”
The arena would sit
near the intersection of Rock Creek Road and Interstate 35. It would include a variety of club seats and luxury suites, plus an adjacent, 2,600space parking garage. An OU source said that the arena would have to be top quality for the Sooners to agree to move there from Lloyd Noble Center, which opened in 1975.
Castiglione said Lloyd Noble Center has “served us well,” but that OU is limited in how it could renovate the 43-year home of Sooner basketball. Lloyd Noble is quite
functional as a multipurpose arena but does not provide the on-topof-the-action atmosphere that basketballspecific venues provide. Turning Lloyd Noble into that kind of facility is cost-prohibitive.
Castiglione said he believes the new arena could be built basketballspecific, but with the flexibility to be a multiuse arena.
Norman mayor Lynne Miller said it’s her hope that the city can study the financial implications of the proposal “in fairly timely fashion,” though that would require at least a few months.
The land of University Park North is owned by
the OU Foundation, an independent, not-forprofit corporation that encourages and supports charitable giving for the benefit for the university. Guy Patton, president of the OU Foundation, said he would be working with potential master developers to be ready to start the project if and when the city gives the goahead.
Patton said the arena would be included in the first phase of development and the plan would create “a unique place in Oklahoma. We see this as a way to fulfill a need for the university and create significant economic impact for the city of Norman.”
Castiglione said both the OU men and women would play in the proposed arena. He said both coaches, Lon Kruger and Sherri Coale, “are very excited about the opportunity it creates. They know the competition they face; they know the environments. They’re very excited about the prospects.”
Castiglione said the new arena could open more possibilities for hosting NCAA and high school events, either at the new arena or Lloyd Noble Center, which would be retained as a multi-purpose venue. Castiglione said the new arena could even be a candidate to host the
NCAA men’s basketball tournament, though the NCAA historically has played those games in larger arenas.
National architectural firm CallisonRTKL designed the master plan proposal. Attorneys with the Center for Economic Development Law are advising the city of Norman. And OU professor Robert Dauffenbach has provided an economic analysis of the plan, which includes restaurants, entertainment entities, residential areas, an expo center, an events plaza, offices for technology industries and hotels.