Dec. 20—Team Norman, a coalition of community business owners and organizations, wants to know if residents want a new entertainment district and how much they might use it.

The coalition, formed through the Norman Economic Development Coalition (NEDC) hopes to learn if residents will use a new multipurpose arena, which could bring sporting events, trade shows, concerts and performing arts, according to the survey questions.

The survey also asks residents how many of these events they attend, how often and where they attend. It asks why respondents attend events outside Norman.

An entertainment district would be anchored to the arena and include hotels, office space, restaurants, gaming and retail stores, according to the survey.

The survey is available on the city of Norman's website through Friday.

Lawrence McKinney, the coalition's executive director, said the survey is just one part of the organization's efforts to help Norman develop a vision for its future. NEDC has commissioned a "Visioning Process" to determine what the future of the city could hold.

The coalition just completed a lengthy survey of 130 community stakeholders, who noted the city lacked a central vision for its future, McKinney said.

In the next eight months, he said NEDC hopes to learn what its residents want.

"We're going to bring the whole community together, people that are for things and against things, and see if we can't come up with a unifying vision," he told The Transcript. "That's one, but number two directly behind that was analyze building an entertainment venue for Norman."

The Team Norman survey intends to gauge public support for an arena and entertainment district ahead of the University of Oklahoma's union with the Southern Athletic Conference (SEC).

A Team Norman SEC Readiness Committee estimated in October that enrollment could increase by 20% to 30% after the university joins the SEC, an estimate based on other universities that have joined the conference in recent years.

OU announced plans to expand its stadium seating earlier this year.

"It's a world class conference, it's a world class university," McKinney said. "Well what are we doing about our city to elevate Norman to create a better experience, to make sure we're at least on par with other SEC teams?"

The survey

The survey noted the trend in other cities where arenas and mixed-use entertainment venues are found such as The Star in Frisco Texas where the Dallas Cowboys Football Team is headquartered, The Battery, where the Atlanta Braves' Trust Park is located, and Texas Live where the Texas Rangers' Global Life Field is anchored.

The survey then puts forward statements for respondents to affirm or disagree such a project would invite more private investment in Norman, and will benefit all local residents by "increasing sales tax revenue," and "enhance the quality of life."

It also asked whether those surveyed agreed or disagreed the district would increase tourism and increase exposure to the public that the "city is an ideal place to work, live and play."

Some statements in the survey are offered as fact and then ask the surveyed to agree or disagree.

"It is possible that a new arena in the city of Norman could also serve as a catalyst to the larger mixed-use development with restaurants, parks, walking trails, green spaces and other entertainment offerings that patrons can experience year-round."

The immediate question following the statement of such an alleged possibility gauges the "attitude" of the surveyed.

"How would you characterize your attitude towards the construction of a new multi-purpose arena in the City of Norman that could host a variety of events, such as concerts, comedy acts and OU Athletics events, among others?"

The survey also asks which specific University of Oklahoma sporting events would be preferred from basketball to gymnastics.

In addition to sporting events, trade shows and concerts at an arena, a question indicated it might also host a private club "365 days of the year." A proposed "Community Club" could include a 5-star restaurant "offering unparalleled, upscale dining."

Such a club could offer "exclusive networking opportunities with local business owners and leaders," complimentary parking and valet services, exclusive access to various events," among other perks.

It asked how likely it would be if the surveyor would pay a one time $10,000 "initiation fee" and $400 a month for the club. It also asked how likely that purchase would be if the fee were $5,000 and $400 a month and other price points.

It also probed demographic information such as gender, income, zip code and the city ward in which the surveyed lives.

The coalition sent out 100,000 links to the survey starting last week, but the "individual survey data" is "proprietary and confidential," according to the teamnorman.us website.

"The public will be informed through the Visioning Process and by the actions taken, or not taken, by OU and elected officials."

However, McKinney said there will be a presentation following the results.

"There's no doubt it's going to come out," he said. "Certainly collectively we're going to do a presentation on what we find out — is it positive or is it negative? Are the price points good? Could we build a significant venue?"

A contentious history

Nowhere on the Team Norman website does there appear a feasibility study for an arena and corresponding entertainment district. It also does not appear on the survey.

McKinney said he is awaiting the results of a study commissioned by the Cleveland County Commission.

An arena and entertainment district feasibility study was completed in 2015 and updated in 2018 which was done at the request of the Cleveland County Commission.

The county hired consultant, Community Sports & Leisure (CS&L), which said in 2018 that an arena and entertainment district together could generate as much as $2.1 billion in total spending over a 30-year period and $275 million in total taxes, of which only $90 million would account for the arena alone.

The OU Foundation sought tax incentives through the University North Park tax increment district in 2018 to build a basketball sports and mixed-use arena. At one point, it sought as much as $90.75 million in "public incentive investment," The Transcript reported in 2017.

The foundation withdrew its request to use tax dollars in July 2018, and did not submit the project for final council approve which protected it for future council consideration, The Transcript reported at the time.

Then-spokesman for the foundation Chip Carter said the foundation agreed not to pursue tax incentives.

More recently, commissioners hired two consultants and rehired CS&L to again update that feasibility study a second time in January 2022.

According to the consultants, the update would be released publicly to the county's Industrial Authority, county spokeswoman Joy Hampton said in July.

According to County Court Clerk Tammy Belinson, no final report on the study has been submitted to the county. Contract terms state the term began Feb. 1, 2022 and ends Jan. 31, 2023 with an optional extension to July 31, 2023.

McKinney said Team Norman's survey tests the fan base and what local resident would support as another way to gather data. The county's survey will be important, he said.

"Hopefully at the end of the day between those two and visioning, we'll kind of triangulate what Norman wants."