Automobile Alley

Programs: Quality redevelopment efforts remain a focus of automobile alley volunteers and businesses as we continue to work to redefine the "front door to downtown". Automobile alley hosted the 20th annual "chocolate decadence 2017", our annual fundraising event. Funds from the event are utilized to continue redevelopment efforts and the enhancement of our historic district. The automobile alley business alliance is seeing great participation from the district's businesses. The alliance, with the help of downtown okc inc. , planned the first "lights on broadway" event which was held november 19, 2016. This event showcased the lighting of the automobile alley holiday light curtains in the district and kicked off the holiday retail season with special events at each of the businesses along the neighborhood's streets. It was a very successful event. The district has safer pedestrian crossings along the intersections of broadway avenue due to our advocacy efforts that led to new signage and we have formed a special task force to address pedestrian safety issues in the district. We participated again in the downtown-wide "downtown in december" campaign by adding several more buildings in the led "curtain of lights" display along broadway avenue for the holidays. We were home to the martin luther king jr. Day parade, the pro-am bicycle race, amp fest & the memorial marathon finish line and many other exciting events. We also continue our support of the neon sign incentive program for automobile alley by offering to help fund neon signs for businesses in our historic district. The construction & completion of a "quiet zone" for the railroad that runs parallel to broadway avenue through our district is well under way. This will quiet the trains' whistle from north of automobile alley to the train station. This will be a significant improvement to the "sound" environment of automobile alley. A quiet zone would make automobile alley an even better environment for new businesses and residential developments. Automobile alley made the fourth of seven annual payments in the amount of $14,285. 00 toward funding this initiative. The business community continues to pay attention to our urban neighborhood's vitality and progress. Recently opened restaurants such as cultivar mexican restaurant and yuzo sushi are flourishing. New businesses including twisted spike brewery opened and tulsa based prairie artisan ales will be opening in automobile alley very soon. The okc street car construction process has begun and the district with some preliminary utility work and the project should be completed sometime during 2018. The street car route will go north on broadway ave and will impact the district in many ways. We continue to contract with first maintenance company to provide additional "clean team" services on a quarterly basis to provide vacuuming trash along curbs and sidewalks, large debris collection with a utility vehicle and weed control in the sidewalks and curb areas fore the areas in automobile alley which were not already covered by clean team contracts (4th street to 11th stree, east of broadway avenue).