Longtime Norman nightlife staple O'Connell's Irish Pub & Grille will be closing its Lindsey Street location in January next year, leaving the local business' Campus Corner O'Connell's its sole location.
According to owner Jeff Stewart, the popular bar and restaurant received notice at the beginning of December from OU, which owns the property known as "the Corner" of Jenkins and Lindsey streets.
"[There were] several ideas that they were going to put here, I understand, and dormitories met the best use for the property," said Stewart, who has been renting the property from OU since it acquired the area in 2008 after the state Board of Regents' approval. OU also bought property behind O'Connell's off of Lindsey on Lincoln Avenue in summer 2009.
This closing notice, which neighboring businesses like Subway, Pad Thai and Campus Market received as well, came after the Board approved the $75-million project this fall.
"It's of my understanding that by mid-February they'll bulldoze all of it," Stewart said.
OU plans to construct new, mid-rise Sooner Center Student Housing facilities starting sometime next year that will include more than 380 beds, central dining, computer labs, study rooms and a Faculty-in-Residence apartment. Parking will include approximately 65 spots.
Minutes detailing the project design, which was to be presented to the board for approval this fall, hadn't been posted at the time this story was posted.
The project will be completed by fall 2013.
Norman residents and O'Connell's regulars Gordon Mercer, Greg McDougal, Robert Killian and OU alumna Cassie Carson have been coming together for five years to watch Monday Night Football games while drinking from beer taps at their table.
Mercer, who has been coming since 1970 to O'Connell's, said its atmosphere is what has kept bringing him back, and isn't happy to see his favorite Monday-night locale shut down.
"I think it's wrong," he said. "[O'Connell's] has been here a long time, it's a place where kids can go and release some steam from all the work that's required from education."
Mercer and his friends said they don't know where they will go for hang-outs instead.
"We'll meet somewhere, we've been doing it for a long time," he said, joking as the others sitting next to him laughed too. "Probably at the top of the parking garage."
Runtime: 1:40
Video by: Alex Ewald and Chelsey Kraft
Excellent job Alex and Chelsey. For your next video story, get to into the story quicker. You can still use all those shots from the outside, but lets start to hear the soundbite over those shots (i.e., two or three seconds of nats from outside, we still see outside as we start to hear her - it is a laid back place - and then transition into the inside, a bit of nats, next bite - i have been here since 1970s). You can use all your great shots you went fishing for and still speed up the beginning.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the story you got the rhythm and started to show your sequencing. Overall, great story and excellent lead in. Good work guys,
julie