Langston Tulsa - Vision 2025

[Neptune]

From Tulsa World

After 30 years of renting and sharing space, Langston University-Tulsa has a place to call its own.

Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday to dedicate the first phase of Langston's Tulsa campus.

The $8 million building was financed through the Vision 2025 Tulsa County sales-tax initiative. It contains 35,000 square feet and includes classrooms, faculty offices and a media center.

"This campus and our drive to develop it demonstrates Langston University's commitment to the (Tulsa) community," Langston President JoAnn Haysbert said Monday.

The new campus, at 914 N. Greenwood Ave., is just north of Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, which housed the Langston programs until the new building was completed earlier this year. The only program that will remain at the OSU campus is Langston's nursing program.

The first phase of the campus initially was scheduled for completion in August but was postponed by various permit and approval delays. The building had to be scaled back and some features moved to later phases before the university was able to break ground in May 2007.

It is one of the last Vision 2025 projects to be completed.

The final plans for the campus call for four buildings and other aesthetic features, such as a water fountain. The remaining three phases have not been scheduled, and funding for them has not been identified.

Haysbert said Langston has long wanted an expanded presence in Tulsa, which she said has proven its dedication to higher education repeatedly.

The Langston building was designed to create a separate identity for the university that would distinguish it from the OSU-Tulsa campus. It is made of brick and cast stone.

OSU-Tulsa President Gary Trennepohl has said previously that OSU-Tulsa needs the space that is being freed up by Langston's departure. OSU-Tulsa wants to offer more daytime classes, and additional faculty offices also are needed.

Haysbert said she hopes that the new Langston campus will help the university with its goals to expand offerings and increase enrollment.

"This campus represents the power and belief of hope embraced by the residents of this community," she said.

[TheArtist]

Yaay! I am aaaall for our colleges growing and expanding. Good for our competitiveness, and economy.

[sgrizzle]

Very good for Langston and North Tulsa. If I remember correctly, part of the delays/cutbacks were issues with sharing a Board of REgents with OSU, which I feel they need to resolve.

[Neptune]

I might have to head down there for some photo action.  I have not seen a decent pic of this facility yet.

[dsjeffries]

I might have to head down there for some photo action.  I have not seen a decent pic of this facility yet.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'm so glad they'll finally have their own home. This, coupled with OSU's plans for expansion, will prove to be a boon to Downtown and North Tulsa for a very, very long time.

[SXSW]

I recently came across this master plan for Langston on Beck Design's website.  Beck designed the current building at the SW corner of Greenwood & King and the plan shows three other buildings, a lake near the MV trailhead, and a parking garage along Greenwood.  Does anyone know the status of these future Langston projects?  It will be cool to finally see the OSU and Langston campuses united along Greenwood...someday.


Existing building completed in 2009


Also found this interesting concept for OSU.  I usually like the idea of making downtown streets two-way but Cincinnati and Detroit seem like exceptions to me.  You could still have this roundabout concept work with Cincinnati and Detroit as one-way streets.  And if they're retooling the streets in this area why not have OSU purchase the Sunset Apts., demolish them, extend Elgin up the hill and expand the campus there with great views of downtown..
http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/recovery/tiger/tulsa_i244/pdfs/traffic-circle.pdf

[sgrizzle]

OSU Tulsa owns way too much land to justify purchasing additional land.

[SXSW]

OSU Tulsa owns way too much land to justify purchasing additional land.

OSU can sell its property west of Cincinnati to residential developers and then purchase the Section 8 apts. on the hill.  Hopefully then the former neighborhood east of Brady Heights can be rebuilt in the style of the surrounding neighborhoods.  It would aid OSU having a new, attractive neighborhood just to the west and land for future development, the rundown Sunset Apts., to the north.

[sgrizzle]

OSU can sell its property west of Cincinnati to residential developers and then purchase the Section 8 apts. on the hill.  Hopefully then the former neighborhood east of Brady Heights can be rebuilt in the style of the surrounding neighborhoods.  It would aid OSU having a new, attractive neighborhood just to the west and land for future development, the rundown Sunset Apts., to the north.

Technically the land is still UCAT land and I believe OU was looking at using it to build student housing on, possibly in connection with OSU.

[SXSW]

Technically the land is still UCAT land and I believe OU was looking at using it to build student housing on, possibly in connection with OSU.

It would be nice to see a master plan done, with public input, for this entire area north of downtown.