OU Regents To Consider Buying Property Near football Stadium
Tuesday September 12, 2006 10:24pm

Oklahoma City (AP) - University of Oklahoma regents on Wednesday will consider whether to buy a plot of land near the university's football stadium that contains a popular restaurant.

The 4-point-5 (m) million dollar purchase could affect several businesses, including O'Connell's Irish Pub and Grill.

The restaurant is located at the same intersection as Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and long has been a favorite of O-U football fans.

According to an agenda item for the regents meeting, the O-U Foundation recently entered into a property agreement with the owner of a 2-point-3-acre parcel on the southeast corner of Jenkins Avenue and Lindsey Street in Norman.

The stadium is on the northwest corner of that intersection.

The current owner of the property is John M. Traw of Norman, according to the Cleveland County Assessors' Web site.

O'Connell's has been located at its current site since 1968. Restaurant owner Jess Stewart says it's not yet known what will become of the businesses currently on the property.

If O'Connell's has to move, what will OU do with that land?

Well any development is like 10 years away. Since the school isn't the one buying the land initially, they will have the "opportunity" to buy in 7 years. Then who's to say that someone else won't snatch it up. A question though, why in the world would they want that land? They have all that empty field land in other parts of the campus, why take such a small area of land just because its across the street? It's not big enough to building a building on that's worth anything. It seems like a wasted effort to me.

It could be the opposite. Someone may want to put infill housing on the land, which would have to relatives small... and they may be wanting to keep O'Connell's there, seeing as it's a time-honored university landmark.