POP-UP PLAZA PLAZA MÓVIL - Historic Capitol Hill - Calle Dos Cinco Oklahoma Municipal League OU Institute for Quality Communities
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POP-UP PLAZA PLAZA MÓVIL Historic Capitol Hill - Calle Dos Cinco Oklahoma Municipal League OU Institute for Quality Communities
CONTENTS
About Capitol Hill 2
Project Background 3
Tactical Urbanism 4
Community Workshop 5
Vision Boards 6
Concept Development 7
Location 8
Design Precedents 10
Pop-Up Plaza | Plaza Móvil 12
Concept Renderings 14
Next Steps 16
Collaborators 17
1
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill is a historic district located about 1.5 miles south of downtown
Oklahoma City. The area was originally developed as a separate city before
Oklahoma statehood, and merged with Oklahoma City. Capitol Hill developed
into a thriving retail main street for south Oklahoma City with department
stores, theaters, churches, and businesses. The area declined with changing
patterns of development in Oklahoma City, especially the construction of
Crossroads Mall in 1974, where many of Capitol Hill’s department stores were
able to relocate.
Since 1997, Capitol Hill organized as a district and began promoting the area
through marketing, events, and economic development efforts. Since then,
it has attracted $15 million of reinvestment including a streetscape and new
businesses.
Today, Capitol Hill’s commercial district along Southwest 25th Street is also
known as Calle Dos Cinco, featuring a number of locally-owned restaurants
and services. Oklahoma City Community College has also become an anchor
for the area with a new Capitol Hill Center for adult education. Many of Calle
Dos Cinco’s programs each year celebrate the area’s thriving Latino community,
including Fiesta Fridays throughout the summer months and Fiestas de las
Americas, a Hispanic heritage parade and festival, in the fall.
Image: Calle Dos Cinco - Facebook
2
Project Background
In 2018, Capitol Hill’s Calle Dos Cinco district leaders submitted a proposal for a
collaboration with the University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities
(IQC). IQC is an outreach program from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of
Architecture at the University of Oklahoma that provides city planning and
design assistance to Oklahoma towns and cities. IQC partnered with the
Oklahoma Municipal League, a statewide group representing Oklahoma towns
and cities, to provide matching funds for the project.
Calle Dos Cinco also worked with the Oklahoma City Metro Area Realtors
(OKCMAR) to apply for a grant from the National Association of Realtors to help
fund materials and provide volunteers for the project.
The Capitol Hill community wants to see a signature public space, like a plaza,
at the heart of their historic commercial district. To build support and test ideas
for a future permanent plaza, IQC supported Calle Dos Cinco and the Capitol Hill
community in creating a Pop-Up Plaza, or Plaza Móvil. The plaza took place at
Southwest 25th and Harvey, a location that already has community significance
during most community events.
This document explains the community visioning process and volunteer
collaboration that made Pop-Up Plaza possible, and outlines some possible
next steps for Capitol Hill.
3
Tactical Urbanism
The Pop-Up Plaza will be based on ideas of Tactical Urbanism, a process of
using temporary installations to test ideas for urban design. Tactical Urbanism is
increasingly a planning and design tool used by local groups and governments
alike, and its techniques have been used all over the world. Tactical Urbanism:
Short Term Action for Long Term Change by Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia
(Island Press, 2015) documents many techniques and examples of this tool.
The Tactical Urbanism Materials and
Design Guide (2016) is available free
online. It has a wide range of ideas
about materials and techniques for
temporary design projects.
http://tacticalurbanismguide.com/
This project by Global Designing Cities Initiative took place in Fortaleza, Brazil to
demonstrate creating plazas out of public streets.
4
Community Workshop
The process formally began with a
brainstorming session in the form of a
workshop on Monday, June 3. About
20 people from all segments of the
community attended the charrette,
gathered in groups and discussed
visions for a Capitol Hill Plaza. The
group members discussed what they
might like to do in a plaza, what times
of day, week, or year they would visit
the plaza, and who they would enjoy
the plaza with. Groups also created
vision boards that outlined their ideas
about how the plaza would look and
feel.
5
Vision Boards
Four groups at the community workshop produced vision
boards that were collages of appealing patterns, features,
activities, and characteristics of a plaza. Each group
presented their vision board for discussion. Some groups
even suggested names for the plaza, including Plaza de
Colores or Plaza de las Americas.
6
Concept Development
Calle Dos Cinco and the IQC team
considered the results of the
Community Workshop in order to
guide the development of a concept
plan for the Pop-Up Plaza. A number
of common themes emerged,
summarized to the right.
Common themes included lots
of color and vegetation, a central
feature like a gazebo for gathering
or performances, a variety of seating
options, food, and programming for
groups and families.
Harvey
The concepts were then applied to the
selected location at Southwest 25th Gazebo
Stage
and Harvey, located at the heart of the
commercial district of Calle Dos Cinco.
Performance
Zumba Children
Games
Relaxing Activities
Sitting
Reading
Templo de Greenery
Dentist
Alabanza Trees
Landmark
Wayfinding
Interactive
Art
25th
7
Location Harvey
Harvey at 25th is already an important location for
Calle Dos Cinco. Many events are held in this street
throughout the year.
The environment at this corner is attractive for a plaza.
It is anchored with a historic church building dating to
the 1940s. The intersection is has views toward the rest
of the district, including the Oklahoma Opry and Yale Templo de
Dentist
Theater marquee signs. The dramatic postcard view to Alabanza
the north features the Skydance Bridge and Oklahoma
City skyline, highlighting Capitol Hill’s connection with
downtown Oklahoma City.
The segment of Harvey stretching north from
Southwest 25th has very little traffic, and Harvey
terminates just four blocks north at 21st Street. Parallel
conversations suggest that a pedestrian and bicycle
connection into Wiley Post Park may be created at
Harvey Street.
Coney Island
El Nacional
The space between buildings is approximately 112’ on
the north side of the intersection. The curb-to-curb
width on Harvey is 40’. The team explored two ideas
for creating a plaza in this space: One idea completely
closed half of the block to traffic, and another idea
explored the possibility of preserving slow two- Harvey
way traffic through the block with a “Festival Street”
configuration. These alternatives will be discussed in
coming pages.
There are a number of advantages to using public
right-of-way for a plaza:
• Vacant developable parcels can be retained for Templo de
private investment and development. Dentist
Alabanza
• Design with the right-of-way creates opportunities
for visual focal points and landmarks in the
streetscape.
• Truly public access can be retained in the plaza.
25th
Coney Island
El Nacional
825th and Harvey is already a
key location for community
events. Dancing, food
vendors, and concerts all
take place with the church
and skyline as a backdrop.
(Images, clockwise from top: Concert performance - Tony Gaedert, Flickr; Food trucks and vendors - Calle Dos Cinco,
Facebook; Dancing with skyline view - Calle Dos Cinco, Facebook.)
9Design Precedents
One precedent for the Pop-Up Plaza
concept is the idea of a “Festival
Street.” A festival street is designed
to allow vehicles to pass through
slowly during most times, but also has
features that make the street easy to
close and convert into a pedestrian-
only plaza for special events.
Festival streets might be designed
with a curbless configuration,
eliminating trip hazards for people
walking. The shared vehicle space
might be delineated with bollards,
planters, and a different pavement
texture.
Festival streets have removable
bollards or gates at the ends of the
space. They can be put in place when
the plaza is closed to traffic. This
configuration creates a multipurpose
plaza comfortable at all times for
pedestrians, that also preserves slow-
flowing traffic when not in use for
special programs.
Curbless festival streets in Batavia, Illinois (top) and Auburn, Washington
(bottom) allow slow-moving traffic during most times, but prioritize access for
pedestrians and are easy to use for public events.
10Another precedent for the idea of
installing a plaza in street right-of-way
comes from Purcell, Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma, many historic main
streets are served by a regular grid
of streets allowing many choices for
moving through a neighborhood.
Purcell, Oklahoma took advantage Main St.
of this configuration to create space
for Santa Fe Plaza. The design uses a
100’x130’ space in the street right-of-
way for the gathering place. A parking
and turnaround space is provided at
the back of the plaza.
Reducing vehicular access, while
preserving pedestrian access, to
just one side street in a very highly- 2nd St.
connected grid does not create
significant disruption in the overall
system.
Satellite view of Santa Fe Plaza, occupying less than a half-block of right-of-way
in Purcell, Oklahoma. (Google Street View)
View of Santa Fe Plaza south entrance. For vehicles, 2nd
© 2019 Google
© 2019 Google
View of Santa Fe Plaza north entrance. The plaza’s
© 2019 Google
Street has a terminating point that includes parking and landscaping and amenities invite pedestrians in from Main
© 2019 Google
turnaround area. (Google Street View) Street. (Google Street View)
11Pop-Up Plaza | Plaza Móvil
The Pop-Up Plaza was constructed
by volunteers on Friday, October 18
and Saturday, October 19. The plaza
remained in place for community
members to experience and evaluate
on Sunday, October 20, during the
Open Streets OKC event on South
Robinson. The plaza was also left
in place on Monday, October 21.
Restaurants offered lunch to enjoy
in the plaza, and business owners
were invited to provide feedback
on a normal weekday. The plaza
was removed by volunteers on the
evening of October 21.
Materials
• Recycled tires painted with bright
colors represent curbs or bollards.
• Corn starch and water-based
washable paint represent plaza
surfaces.
• Recycled industrial spools
represented seating and tables.
• Recycled metal barrels
represented tables.
• A stage constructed from recycled
shipping pallets represented a
gazebo or performance space.
• Acrylic stencils cut by laser
cutters, sprayed by spray chalk on
the sidewalk, created wayfinding
directing people to the plaza.
Activities
• Music played from a Bluetooth
speaker to create a festive
atmosphere.
• Visitors could get a balloon from
OKC Metro Area Realtors.
• Visitors could leave a “Wish” for
the district on a colorful panel.
• Visitors carried food up from
Open Streets to enjoy in the plaza.
• Games were in place for children.
• Lunch specials from local
restaurants.
1213
Plaza Conceptual Views
The renderings show example concepts for a permanent plaza in this location.
1
2
3
8
4
Templo de
Dentist
Alabanza
5
6
7
25th Street
Harvey
1 Covered Seating/Stage - Small 5 Gazebo - Traditional-style gazebo
stage for performances for gathering or performances
2 Shaded Zone - Flexible area for 6 Shaded Seating Nooks - Corners
passive seating, street vendors, or feature shaded benches.
audience seating 7 Curb Extension - Plaza extends
3 Food Truck Parking - Designated into parking lane with protective
food vendor location. planter wall.
4 Multi-Purpose Zone - Flexible 8 Parking Access - Parking access is
open space for seating, dancing, or maintained in renovated alley.
group exercise.
100 ft
200 ft
14Views of Downtown Anchored by the Church
The covered stage at the north of the plaza frames Capitol Like many famous cultural plazas, this location is anchored
Hill’s view of the downtown skyline. The viewing area for by a beautiful church structure that creates a backdrop for
the stage is a multi-purpose plaza shaded by rows of trees. activities in the plaza, and a natural partner for activating
the space.
Traditional Gazebo
Traditional plazas often have a beautiful gazebo which plays a central role in programming the space. In this example, the
gazebo creates a memorable view from 25th and Harvey at the heart of Calle Dos Cinco district.
15Next Steps Harvey to connect to Wiley Post Park, the Oklahoma River,
and beyond to Scissortail Park. Maintenance, operations,
and programming will be important considerations for a
Based on community feedback, a colorful plaza with
permanent plaza.
landscaping, seating, and central place for performances
and events would be an important addition to the Capitol
Funding & Implementation: Current and upcoming
Hill community. This document provided an overview of
initiatives in Oklahoma City, including the Strong
the community visioning, design principles, and tactical
Neighborhoods Initiative and MAPS 4, may be able to
urbanism experiment for a Pop-Up Plaza in Capitol Hill at
provide funding support to placemaking initiatives like a
Calle Dos Cinco and Harvey. This space is picturesque, is
permanent plaza for Calle Dos Cinco.
already an important part of community events, and has a
central location to benefit the entire Capitol Hill business
Local donors and corporate sponsors are often a source of
district.
matching funds. Don’t overlook the potential of local in-
kind donations by contractors and skilled workers.
Additional Community Support: Additional outreach
to the public should continue, to better understand
The AARP Community Challenge funds over 150
the community’s interest in pursuing, building, and
community projects each year. The program funds projects
programming such a plaza. The materials in this report can
for public space, bike/walk mobility, and housing that have
be repurposed as a presentation to share with community
fast implementation schedules.
groups, build local support, and continue to refine the
design concepts to make sure that the plaza fits local
The National Association of Realtors, through OKCMAR’s
needs. Additionally, the local partners could consider
partnership with Capitol Hill, may be able to provide
following up with another public event in the space to get
additional support through its Placemaking Grant and
feedback.
Smart Growth Action Grant.
Further Design & Planning: Design efforts for a
permanent plaza should consider the findings from the
public workshops outlined in this report. In addition, the
plaza design should consider possibilities for utilizing
16Collaborators
These individuals and organizations contributed to the project in the planning or installation stages.
Calle Dos Cinco at Historic Capitol Hill
Gloria Torres Executive Director
Miriam Ortega Promotions Coordinator
Evan Rink Board President
Mario Medrano Board Vice President
Edgar Medina Board Treasurer
Miriam Campos Board Member
Community Volunteers Oklahoma City Metro Area Realtors
Donna Cervantes City of OKC Sally Allen
Heidi Chavarria Student Cheryl Bush-Willard
Shannon Entz City of OKC - Strong Neighborhoods Initiative Glen Cosper
Mary Frantz Community Volunteer Veronica Galaviz
Maria Martinez Student Andrea Jalaff Jabson
Yostin Mendoza Student Gary Jones
Ana Hernandez Student Isabella Jones
Royce Liston Oklahoma City Community College Kristi Mansell Hutton
Alejandro Montelongo Student Jimmy Nguyen
Fernando Ochoa OKC Public Schools Sharyl Pickens
Alexia Osuna Student Kimberly Robbins
Yessenia Pacheco Student Carolyn Sims
Lluviaa Ramirez Student Jessica Thompson
Silvia Sandate Sandate Nutra Salud
Jennifer Sylvester City of OKC - Strong Neighborhoods Initiative
America Zuniga Student
University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities
Shane Hampton Director
Hope Mander Associate Director
Ron Frantz Environmental Design Coordinator
Sonia Ramirez Undergraduate Fellow
Alice Calmon Graduate Assistant
Taylor Huizinga Graduate Assistant
Matthew Kessler Graduate Assistant
Funding provided in part by the
Oklahoma Municipal League.
17Report prepared by: OU Institute for Quality Communities OU Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture 830 Van Vleet Oval Gould Hall 165 Norman, OK 73019
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