Hope is alive in neighborhood struggling to recover from legacy of two blighted schools

An Oklahoma City neighborhood saddled with two abandoned and blighted former schools is hoping for a better future with developers looking at converting both properties into housing.

For the past seven years, the Metro Park neighborhood dealt with the abandoned former Roosevelt school along its eastern boundary at 900 N Klein Ave., and the abandoned Whittier school along the northern boundary at 1900 NW 10.

Metro Park resident Joe Slack is accustomed to hearing the sirens of firefighters responding to blazes at both properties.

Both properties have been repeatedly vandalized and set on fire. The Whittier school, abandoned for the past dozen years, has caught fire 13 times since it was purchased in 2019 by an unidentified buyer who used a mailbox store for an address. Fire department records show 11 of those fires were in the last three months.

Even worse, the school was the scene of a fatal double shooting in January. The Oklahoman was unable to contact the owner, who owed $66,423 in back taxes, fines and penalties assessed by code inspectors.

“It’s not helped the morale of the neighborhood,” Slack said. “We get some headway and then something like that (the shootings) happens and it can be discouraging.”

What are the plans for the former Whittier and Roosevelt schools?

Some hope is in sight with both buildings.

The Oklahoma City Council recently declared the Whittier school abandoned and dilapidated and was preparing to tear it down when it was recently sold at auction to the former owner’s lender, Peak Asset Lending.

Broker Tripp Cunningham, who represented the lender, said the company is in talks with a developer who is interested in renovating the building into affordable housing. In the meantime, Cunningham said the lender is preparing to quickly secure the building.

The Oklahoma City Public Schools district last year teamed up with the Urban Renewal Authority to find possible developers for the Roosevelt school. Three groups submitted bids on March 7. All three groups propose converting it into housing.

More: Can another use for Capitol Hill High School building be found before new school is built?

Slack is cautiously optimistic about both of the former schools.

“I’m excited and very hopeful,” Slack said. “But I don’t want to get too excited when we’re not 100% down the road. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Slack’s hopes were dashed previously when the school district teamed up with the Urban Renewal Authority in 2019 to find a developer for the Roosevelt school. The school district pulled out of the deal without explaining why after Urban Renewal chose a group led by Tulsa restaurateur and developer Elliott Nelson.

Georgie Rasco, director of Neighborhood Alliance, shares Slack’s concerns about whether the school district might again pull out of a sale and development deal for Roosevelt.

“They (Urban Renewal) got great feedback, and the school district pulled it back,” Rasco said. “We would have already seen something happen or it already being in use if not for the school district. That's heartbreaking. It could have sent the neighborhood on a trajectory of progress if the schools administration hadn’t reneged on the deal.”

Rasco believes both former schools will pose additional costs and challenges after years of neglect. But preservationist Marva Ellard, who joined former Urban Renewal Director Cathy O’Connor in bidding to redevelop Roosevelt, said she believes both properties can still be saved and turned into neighborhood assets.

More: OKC council approves TIF committee focused on Classen Corridor revitalization

'Even Whittier can be saved'

Both Whittier, built in 1910, and Roosevelt, built in 1924, are widely considered historic landmarks and were designed by renowned architect Andrew Solomon Layton.

“I think we can save all of them though I haven’t been in all of them,” Ellard said. “But even Whittier can be saved. I know it’s not owned by the school district anymore. But I feel confident it can be repurposed.”

Ellard also submitted a redevelopment proposal for Roosevelt in 2019. The school district sat on the property for three years after pulling out of the first sale agreement and then in 2022 chose to spend $764,540 to tear down the landmark.

Metro Park neighborhood protests prompted the school district to put the demolition of Roosevelt on hold and ultimately team up again with Urban Renewal to seek new proposals with a caveat that any agreement would include a $2 million purchase price.

“I'm not worried about Roosevelt being intact,” Ellard said. “It's a mess. But I don’t think there is any reason for alarm. It’s a very significant building. It’s an Andrew Solomon Layton Building, and we have several in our school district.”

The school district pledged to change its approach to closed schools after an investigation by The Oklahoman in 2016 and agreed to work with the city to find developers committed to restoring closed schools. The 2019 reversal of the pending sale of Roosevelt was seen as a return to prioritizing money over neighborhood safety and appearance.

Meg McElhaney, whose school district includes Metro Park, declined to comment on the school’s real estate policies. The change in ownership at Whittier, meanwhile, may spare the city having to spend thousands on demolition.

The school district initially sold Whittier to Cross & Crown Mission in 2011, which then sold it to the most recent owner in 2019.

More: Can another use for Capitol Hill High School building be found before new school is built?

Chad Davidson, the city’s code enforcement superintendent, said the condition of Whittier and the danger it posed to Metro Park worsened over the past four years under the control of the unidentified former owner.

“Prior to that, if we got a note, if someone dumped something out there, or if the grass was high, they (Cross & Crown Mission) took care of it,” Davidson said.

The city was preparing to spend at least $100,000 on demolition, which exceeds the city’s annual budget for dealing with dilapidated buildings.

A resurgence in Metro Park

Despite the blighted schools, Metro Park is seeing a resurgence and is being assisted by the city as part of the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative.

The program, started in 2013, focuses city resources on struggling neighborhoods by focusing on quality of life, engaged neighbors, improved property values and market stabilization, reduction of vacant properties, greater connectivity to jobs, education and services, and increased homeownership and private investment.

Records from the Oklahoma County assessor show that in 2021 Metro Park was home to 699 residences, 44% owner-occupied and 56% non-owner occupied. The city’s planning department reports the median household income is $36,147.

Since being named an SNI neighborhood in 2020, the city has invested in public art, new sidewalks and signage, removal of 34 hazardous trees, the planting of 12 new trees and rehabilitation of six homes. The city is continuing to add sidewalks, signage and is responding to requests to clean up individual properties.

The program also provided residents with a mobile pet vaccination clinic, after school and summer programs, and an array of workshops on personal and neighborhood safety, estate planning, landscaping, housing and legal assistance.

Average home sales price were up from $61,210 in 2020 to $157,217 in 2023. Crime incidents were down to 377 in 2023 from 416 in 2020.

Rasco believes redevelopment of the schools is key to unlocking the full potential of Metro Park as a safe and affordable neighborhood.

“It should be a success story,” Rasco said. “It backs up to Pennsylvania Avenue and Classen Boulevard, and it’s located along public transit routes. It has great access to jobs at St. Anthony Hospital, and it has great housing for first-time homebuyers. It has all the amenities people look for.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Redevelopment may be in sight for two blighted former OKC schools