Vinita DesignWorks
In November 2017, an IQC team visited Vinita to create a series of conceptual strategies for downtown development.
Vinita, Oklahoma | Fall 2017
View full report below.
The City of Vinita received a matching grant from the Oklahoma Municipal League to seek assistance from the University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities. Our team spent a 48-hour period studying the downtown area and drafting recommendations for community members to review.
The site visit included a walking tour of the community, field studies by IQC team members, and two public meetings to present initial recommendations.
Several key concepts are covered in this report:
- Preserve Vinita’s Heritage: Efforts to preserve historic buildings and cultural aspects of Vinita.
- Create a Cultural Campus: Opportunity to create a new public space that ties together key cultural properties.
- Redesign Wilson Street: Solutions for a main street corridor that is also a highly traveled artery and Route 66 tourist attraction.
- Walk + Bike Vinita: Physical solutions to improve walking and biking, starting with two key corridors on Scraper Street and Canadian Avenue.
- Organize Stakeholders: Thoughts on how to continue progress among downtown stakeholders.
Local Implementation Highlights
In July 2018, Vinita received a $25,000 grant from AARP Community Challenge focused on the quick-action public space in a downtown alley which was included in the report. The space has now been installed in Vinita.