OU Architecture students redesign Muskogee mall

The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture students competed to produce a winning design for a diminishing Muskogee mall.

Throughout February, four student groups worked for more than 80 hours on proposals to ultimately present to professional jurors at the Muskogee Mall On Wednesday.

“The Arrowhead Mall was built in the late 1980’s and like a lot of shopping malls sort of struggling right now,” Urban Design Studio

Director Shawn Schaefer said. “So they are looking for ways to revitalize the mall. We hope some of the ideas might actually be useful to the mall and or the city of Muskogee.”

The winning team, “Arrowhead Commons,” received a cash award of $700.

“I know every team took into account the feedback we had gotten from Muskogee residents,” Rachel Ware Landscape said. “I think that we were able to embody the concepts that they had and use our design skills to visually represent that for them.”

One student working on the mall redesign was born and raised in Muskogee and said he has spent a lot of time in the Arrowhead Mall.

“I grew up in this mall… Seeing it die and seeing it not thrive anymore was really terrible,” Sammy Andrews said. “Being here now through this project has been super cool because it really gives me hope maybe something really could happen here.”