Nearly two years ago, as part of the “Core to Shore” redevelopment framework, the City of Oklahoma City broke ground on a new convention center. Scheduled to open later this year, the Oklahoma City Convention Center will serve as the premier convention and meeting destination in south central U.S. with a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 45,000 square feet of meeting space, and a 30,000-square-foot ballroom. The site is adjacent to Scissortail Park, a 40-acre urban park, the Chesapeake Energy Arena, home to the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel that will open in 2021.
To serve these new “Core to Shore” uses, a new six-level parking garage is being constructed. Kimley-Horn was selected by the lead architect, TAP, to provide design and construction phase services for the garage that will include ground-level office space and an extensive public art program. The garage will serve a variety of downtown parking needs, including the adjacent destinations and future developments. Kimley-Horn’s services include parking consulting, parking technologies, civil engineering, utility engineering, traffic analysis, structural engineering, landscape design, and construction administration services.
The Oklahoma City Convention Center parking garage will consist of approximately 1,200 spaces with a three bay design and up to eight reversible entrance/exit lanes to handle peak vehicle flows. The garage also includes an enclosed skybridge that will connect the garage to the Convention Center and could eventually be expanded by 300 spaces, providing the ability to increase parking as the area grows.
“I am thrilled to partner with the City of Oklahoma City and the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority (COTPA) on this important downtown redevelopment,” said Kimley-Horn Principal-in-Charge Blake Hodge, P.E. (Frisco, TX). “The new garage will offer safe and secure parking to area visitors and employees. Like many, I am excited for what this project means for the continued revitalization of downtown Oklahoma City.”