Editor’s note: This story is part of Oklahoma Voice’s “Whatever Happened To …” end-of-year series that provides updates to some stories that captured the interest of Oklahomans in 2023 and 2024.

State officials still aren’t certain what they plan to do with 240 acres of land in the middle of Norman that currently house one of the state’s in-patient mental hospitals. 

Officials plan to transition care from Griffin Memorial Hospital to a new facility being built in Oklahoma City, but a spokesperson from the state Mental Health Department said no official decisions have been made yet on what will be done with that land. The opening of the facility was originally slated for 2026, but could be pushed back to 2028. 

But Norman city officials said they remain interested in acquiring it, though disagreements continue over what to do with it. 

In July, Norman city officials said they were considering moving the emergency homeless shelter to land on the hospital’s campus but nearly five months later no agreement has been reached. 

Darrel Pyle, Norman’s city manager, said the city is “working diligently” with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to acquire the land in order to develop a permanent homeless shelter. 

He said the city is involved in weekly calls with the Oklahoma Management and Enterprise Services Department, or OMES, to discuss progress with the agency that has been tasked with selling the land.

“OMES indicated that they are waiting on appraisals and a land survey needed for the sale of the land,” Pyle said. “Since none of the land has ever been platted it will need to be sold by legal description, which requires the land survey. The plan remains the same. We are simply waiting on the survey and appraisals to move forward.”

Christa Helfrey, a spokesperson from OMES, said the agency has partnered with the Mental Health Department regarding the future land sale, but that the Mental Health Department has information on the appraisals and timeline. 

OMES will help sell the property once the requirements are complete, the spokesperson said. It’s still not clear what it will cost to purchase the land.

Mental health officials plan to use money from the sale of the Norman land to help pay for the new facility in Oklahoma City. 

If the current Norman shelter at James Garner Avenue and West Gray Street were to move to the hospital’s campus, the shelter’s capacity could double. 

Norman City Councilor Austin Ball for Ward 1 said he doesn’t support moving the shelter, but supports acquiring the land for other uses, like a sobering center, if Cleveland County were involved. A sobering center gives individuals dependent on alcohol or drugs a place to safely recover and be connected to recovery resources. 

“I think it should still be a county issue because it’s like our county jail … the city of Norman doesn’t need to pay for the whole county’s problems,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m all on board for a TIF district there. I think that area (has) a lot that can be done there. I just don’t want a low barrier shelter there. I don’t want a low barrier shelter anywhere in Norman.”

A TIF district, or Tax Increment Financing, uses newly generated tax dollars to support development in certain limited areas of a city, town, or county.

Ball said he thinks low barrier shelters are unsafe. A “low barrier shelter” refers to a shelter that has limited requirements for entry, such as no background checks or screening of guests. 

“There’s so many people involved with this, and I don’t know if any of them are on the same page,” Ball said. “… There’s a lot of pieces and a lot of people in the dark.”

Helen Grant, who uses they/them pronouns and is the city councilor for Ward 4, said they support moving the shelter to the hospital’s campus, but that they want to see the land used for more than that. 

“There is a thought that we could have a sobering center and urgent care recovery located in the same area, potentially a homeless shelter and maybe some permanent supportive housing,” Grant said. “Those are things that are envisioned, but not solidified.”

They said the city has been in talks with the Mental Health Department for over two years about what will happen to the hospital campus. 

“It’d be amazing if it wrapped up by the end of the year, but I think we could be looking at the beginning of next year to find out what the state would like for the land,” Grant said.

Jason Olsen, director of Norman Parks and Recreation, estimated in July that if the city acquired the land for the shelter, repairs could cost between $100,000 and $500,000 and last three to six months as the air conditioning and fire suppression systems need to be updated. 

The City of Norman has interest in the Griffin Soccer Park land, Sutton Wilderness Area and some small footprint south of Main Street for future Shelter Development, the Norman city manager said. 

The Governor’s Office did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.