Downtown Edmond is thriving. Its gateway? Not so much. How can it be improved?

Published April 23, 2023 by Jack Money in The Oklahoman

EDMOND — Broadway through downtown is a bustling place.

Though it spans just a few blocks, the district is full of restaurants, bars, gift shops and other businesses that attract crowds both day and night, a farmers market, regular outdoor festivals and other types of events.

On Broadway south of Second Street, however, it's a different vibe. Between Second and the south edge of town, the road is wide and in poor shape, at times is congested, has some vacant lots and properties and doesn't present an encouraging atmosphere for future development.

In short, it's a pass-through for people on their way to somewhere else. Now city leaders want to explore if it's time for a change to bring more life to the area.

"This road has become a transportation corridor to get to other places, not a place to stay and enjoy the surrounding environment," said David Chapman, an outgoing member of the Edmond City Council. "There is no walkability or biking options on the entire corridor. Restaurants have a lot of options right now about where to locate, and my guess is many of those locations are more desirable than south Broadway."

Width, road conditions and speed define the corridor

Broadway south of Second is wide, has significantly higher posted speed limits and carries far more traffic than it does through Edmond's downtown.

During its busy periods — morning and evening rush hours and weekend mornings — vehicles waiting on lights often back up for blocks, making it difficult for drivers to get in and out of businesses or from one side of the street to the other.

The road itself, divided by medians broken up with turn lanes and intersections that start at Fourth Street and extend south to the south city limits, always seems to be getting worked on, isn't in great shape and won't get any better until later this year.

Because of those conditions, properties' uses have changed over time.

While there's still plenty of businesses up and down the road between downtown and Edmond's south edge, restaurants (fewer these days and often at locations where several owners and food genres have come and gone) and occasional office buildings are widely scattered.

So are vacant lots, empty store fronts and still-standing restaurants that have been closed for years.

Big lots along the road that once were homes of top-flight automobile sales and service dealerships are filled by sales and rental operations that openly display used for-sale cars, plus rentable trucks, trailers and other equipment.

Elsewhere, retailers as small as mom-and-pop operators up to chain-owned big box stores offer everything from automobile services and repairs and grave markers to hardware, mattresses, health and pet supplies, discount tobacco, medical marijuana and vapes.

Those businesses, which also include a few short- and longer-stay hotels, can be found along the avenue in stand-alone buildings converted from other uses, in strip mall spaces or as anchors for corner or set-back shopping centers.

Kay Bickham, 82, a longtime Edmond resident who has served twice on its council and fulfilled other volunteer roles while working as an executive director for three state chapters of national medical associations and FOI Oklahoma, recalls past efforts to keep the corridor presentable (limiting the size of new business signs and planting trees in some medians) and to better connect it with downtown Edmond as Broadway's traffic loads have climbed.

"Entering Edmond on Broadway does not give you a feeling of the special town that it really is," Bickham said.

Property owners share Broadway experiences

Some have owned properties along Broadway for decades.

Quintin Rudkin, whose family acquired and owned a building at 706 S Broadway from about 1980 until just recently, remembers the Broadway of his youth as a place where teens wanted to hang out as they cruised the roadway to see their friends and be seen.

When the Rudkins bought the building, they converted it from a full-service fuel station with a mechanic's shop on its south side into a game room with quarter games. Quintin worked in the operation's ticket and snacks booth.

Two years later, they converted the building into a restaurant, naming it The Burger Next Door — a nod to the nearby McDonald's — then changed its name to Fannies, in deference to one of the building's earliest owners, Fanny Filtch.

They operated Fannies and a gift shop for another 18 years until deciding to lease it to other operators.

A string of several successful restaurants have operated at the location since, including Zarate's, whose owners purchased the building from the family a couple of years ago.

Rudkin said Broadway today bears little resemblance to what he remembers growing up — the McDonald's, a Pizza Planet, Bevo's Restaurant, the Sirloin Stockade, the bowling alley and drive-ins like Sonic and the Broncho are gone, either reopening in other locations or closing all together.

These days, Rudkin doesn't travel Broadway unless there's something he needs that he can't find anywhere else.

"I grew up going up and down Broadway, and I remember hearing that Elvis Presley had died on the radio while we were sitting in McDonald's drive-thru one night. Today, it is nothing like it used to be. I hardly ever travel it because of all the lights and stuff."

Other property owners are recent arrivals.

Derrick Booker, who owns the Catfish Connection restaurant at 2000 S Broadway, opened his business about a year ago in a building that previously was a hot dog restaurant after it was a barbecue joint after it was a fast-food Mexican restaurant that had been there for years.

Back in the 1960s and early 1970s, it was the home of the Broncho Drive In on Edmond's south edge.

Booker said he was attracted to the spot because of the busy road at its front and said the only fault he could see with the tenant before him was that it failed to make itself visible enough to people as they passed by.

"You can't be the dimmest light at Christmas," Booker said. "So when I ended up in the same building, I made the biggest and best (sign) I could with what they would allow me to have."

Booker said his business performed as expected during its first year, and that he expects it to continue to improve as he and satisfied customers promote its food and atmosphere on social media and via word-of-mouth.

"We brought the right product to town at the right time," he said. "I am happy to be here, and glad Edmond was so receptive to us."

He said he loves it when the road is busy, because a red light at a nearby intersection routinely backs traffic up to his front door. His only wish is that the road would stay busier for longer periods of time.

"I tried to stay open the first couple of weeks until 10 p.m., but after 7:45 p.m., (this part of) Edmond is a ghost town."

Outgoing council member says Broadway corridor could use help

Chapman, the outgoing Edmond's city council member, describes Broadway between Second and 33rd as a community gateway that impresses first-time visitors in ways he would like to see changed.

Problems Chapman said the city faces include:

• Edmond is barred from maintaining the road because it technically is owned by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. "It is in terrible condition and has been for a long period of time," said Chapman, adding that he is glad it will be resurfaced this year so that it will "be safer and look better."

• Zoning for properties up and down the corridor allows for open displays of goods in front of businesses (cars and other types of equipment for sale, lease or rent, plus materials like sod, rock and landscaping), something that limits visibility preferred by other businesses, especially restaurants. Chapman said that while zoning could be changed, he said improvements would take years to accomplish. "If we want restaurants to be successful, we must start that transition from open display while recognizing property rights of existing business owners."

• Speeding motorists. "This gateway into our city comes off a major highway (Interstate 235). Speeds are generally pretty high and stay pretty high continuing down that corridor, making turning off and navigating the road less than desirable for customers," Chapman said.

Chapman describes Broadway south of Second as a poster-child for what can happen when a suburban community in an auto-dependent environment sprawls.

Edmond to examine Broadway issues during coming year

Planners with the city are hoping to engage a consultant and then landowners along the corridor, plus other community members, later this year as it begins evaluating how it might improve the corridor's appearance.

Ken Bryan, a long-range planner with the city, said the goal is to create a new land use plan along the road to encourage redevelopment improving its viability as a commercial corridor and supporting a mix of uses.

"We are strongly motivated to provide a catalyst" to bring the same type of development to Broadway south of Second that Edmond is experiencing in and around its downtown and Stevenson Park areas, he said.

"The Broadway corridor is one of the most valuable corridors in town and overdue for needed attention. It's a great place to move development to a next level of intensity," Bryan said.