TCC Downtown

[jne]

The plan is to eventually have a "quad" at 9th and Boston, a parking garage behind the center for creativity and eventually other lots. They aren't opposed to garages but currently the best bang for the buck is surface lots.

[Renaissance]

The plan is to eventually have a "quad" at 9th and Boston, a parking garage behind the center for creativity and eventually other lots. They aren't opposed to garages but currently the best bang for the buck is surface lots.

Yeah, when I was at OU and parking was a constant issue, student government was always agitating for structured parking to replace lots in order to more efficiently use space.  The answer we got--and this was a fair point--was that structured parking didn't actually use space as well as surface parking.  I believe the figure that was quoted to us was $30,000 per parking spot to build effective vertical structured parking (effective meaning to adequately replace what was being built on and then some).

Parking garages are nice for the streetscape but they're often not a cost effective solution.

[Red Arrow]

Parking garages are nice for the streetscape but they're often not a cost effective solution.

A change to the tax code to raise the taxes on surface parking and lower taxes on structured parking might help. 

[Conan71]

A change to the tax code to raise the taxes on surface parking and lower taxes on structured parking might help. 

It would be an incentive, but I'm not really a fan of using tax codes for punitive measures.

[Red Arrow]

It would be an incentive, but I'm not really a fan of using tax codes for punitive measures.

We use the tax code for all sorts of things.  Maybe we shouldn't but we do.

Interest deduction on home mortgage is the big one that I can think of.
The tax deal for the ball park "punishes" local businesses that won't gain from the ballpark.

Maybe just making structured parking tax free rather than raising the tax on surface parking would be more palatable.  It wouldn't be any worse than church properties.

[Conan71]

We use the tax code for all sorts of things.  Maybe we shouldn't but we do.

Interest deduction on home mortgage is the big one that I can think of.
The tax deal for the ball park "punishes" local businesses that won't gain from the ballpark.

Maybe just making structured parking tax free rather than raising the tax on surface parking would be more palatable.  It wouldn't be any worse than church properties.

Then it becomes more corporate welfare 

[Red Arrow]

Then it becomes more corporate welfare 

OK, how about zoning.

NO Surface Parking.  Period.

[Conan71]

OK, how about zoning.

NO Surface Parking.  Period.

I like that solution a whole lot better.  Then the development industry says that makes it grossly unfair as it raises the cost of construction.  Bottom line is, you simply can't please every interest.  My disdain for taxation as a method of behavior modification or punishment goes back to the increase in sin taxes when I was still a slave to nicotine.  It's only gotten worse from there, i.e. Crap & Trade, etc.

[Red Arrow]

I like that solution a whole lot better.  Then the development industry says that makes it grossly unfair as it raises the cost of construction.  Bottom line is, you simply can't please every interest.  My disdain for taxation as a method of behavior modification or punishment goes back to the increase in sin taxes when I was still a slave to nicotine.  It's only gotten worse from there, i.e. Crap & Trade, etc.

I find it exceedingly difficult to find any sympathy for the Parking companies.  They do however contribute to the cardio-vascular health of people able to walk and to cheap to pay exorbitant rates. (Me)

[SXSW]

The plan is to eventually have a "quad" at 9th and Boston, a parking garage behind the center for creativity and eventually other lots. They aren't opposed to garages but currently the best bang for the buck is surface lots.

Something like this where the new buildings are built around a quad would be great for this area.  Yellow = buildings and blue = parking garages.


It would be nice to at least see a master plan, like this:

[SXSW]

Thanks to TN forumer Booworld for pointing me towards the downtown master plan which features ideas and concepts for TCC.  I like the quad concept at 9th & Boston.  

http://www.cityoftulsa.org/media/109992/DAMPVolume2-11-1-10.pdf

If OSU were to move to this area they could build on the lots south of 10th (in orange) while TCC (in blue) could expand to the north and east.  Both TCC and OSU could share facilities, such as classrooms and labs, as well as a student rec center and student union.  This campus would support as many as 20,000 TCC and OSU students.  The Greenwood campus would then be OSU's primary research center.  New student housing would be concentrated on the surface lots west of the campus along Denver, Cheyenne and Boulder, and also as infill in the Gunboat Park area to the east.  Parking garages are shown in red.

[Townsend]

TCC plans to open physical therapy clinic downtown

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=17&articleid=20121020_17_A12_CUTLIN778436

Tulsa Community College has announced that it will open a stand-alone physical therapy clinic downtown.

The new clinic will allow the physical therapy assistant program to see more patients, who will pay a one-time fee of $10 for all services, said Suzanne Reese-Taylor, associate dean of allied health for TCC and former director for the physical therapy assistant program.

It will be the college's first free-standing clinic.

Students in the five-semester program will work with instructors to provide therapy to patients of all ages.

Each student must complete 680 clinic hours before graduating, she said.

The college will use a former car dealership building at 815 S. Cincinnati Ave.

About 2,000 square feet will be added, and the building will be renovated to include classrooms and offices.

It's across the intersection diagonally from TCC's Metro Campus main building, where the current program is housed in a couple of rooms on the fifth floor.

The college is about $340,000 short of its fundraising goal of about $2 million as it enters the public phase of the campaign.

The college is launching its public fundraising initiative Friday.

Officials hope to have the clinic operating by the beginning of 2014.

The program now treats four patients. At the new location, they expect to be treating about 40.

Having a small one-time fee will help people who don't have physical therapy covered by insurance, or who have used it more than the insurance company will pay, Reese-Taylor said.

"I think there's a lot of people who can use some financial assistance with health care, and that's who we're approaching with this," she said.

David Fetherston's daughter, Lora Fetherston, has been getting therapy at TCC for about 12 years. She had a car accident in 1994 and now uses a wheelchair. They drive from Pryor once a week for therapy.

Lora Fetherston takes pride in helping teach the therapy students. She has read many books on the subject herself, her father said.

A new, larger space would be good for the program, he said.

"It would improve the whole atmosphere here," he said.

TCC physical therapy instructor Jeff Hammontree said Lora Fetherston and other patients are a great asset to the program.

"She teaches them so much more than I ever could," he said.

The new clinic will allow students to interact with patients their first semester, instead of waiting about six months like they do now, he said.

Reese-Taylor said the physical therapy program, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, has grown dramatically, with more faculty and students. It now gets about 250 applications for 35 slots.

"It's just become more and more popular," she said.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=17&articleid=20121020_17_A12_CUTLIN778436

The building:

http://tinyurl.com/9k4z57m

[carltonplace]

Thank goodness they are not removing any surface parking!

[Townsend]

Thank goodness they are not removing any surface parking!

Well, they're expanding the structure and it's taking up an empty building.  (glass half full)

[rdj]

This is in the former car dealership/Tulsa 66'ers HQ that KMO has been attempting to lease for years, correct?  Great building from the street, but limited use without extensive interior modifications.  Hopefully this works.