The Oklahoma City Redevelopment Authority (OCRA) was awarded a $1 million grant by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) that will help fund improvements to infrastructure in the Oklahoma Health Center area.
The grant will support improvements to the access points and streetscape of the western gateway into the Oklahoma Health Center along N.E. 10th Street, and will also enhance access and upgrade public utilities for existing and proposed uses along Stiles Avenue, including the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, the State Chamber of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the proposed General Electric Global Research Oil and Gas Technology Center (OGTC).
The OGTC will be one of only eight GE Global Research Centers in the world and is the only one to focus on a specific industry, oil and gas technology. The project will create over 130 permanent jobs and will add more than $50 million in private investment to Oklahoma City.
"We are honored to be awarded the grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and are very excited about the projects that this grant will go towards," said Cathy O'Connor, Executive Director of the Oklahoma City Redevelopment Authority.
The project was originally identified in the region's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) in April 2013. The CEDS is a regional plan that is managed by the Association of Central Oklahoma Government's (ACOG) Economic Development District (EDD) program. The funding announcement makes this the first Public Works grant generated in the metro since the ACOG EDD was designated a regional district by the EDA.
The Oklahoma Health Center is home to over 21 organizations that offer health services and bioscience research and employ approximately 13,000 people.
