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Future of Griffin Memorial Hospital campus still unclear • Oklahoma Voice

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Future of Griffin Memorial Hospital campus still unclear • Oklahoma Voice


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. 

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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. 

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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Three Big 12 Transfers Oklahoma State Is Reportedly Interested In

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Three Big 12 Transfers Oklahoma State Is Reportedly Interested In


PORTAL TRACKER 

Oklahoma State’s newly constructed staff got on the board Saturday, picking up portal commitments on offense and special special teams, so how about some defense?

Three Big 12 defenders have been linked with Oklahoma State via the transfer portal over the past few days, including a pair of former OK Preps standouts. Here’s a look.

Kanijal Thomas, CB, Kansas State

Thomas is an Oklahoman, playing his high school ball at Del City. He visited Stillwater on Saturday, according to On3.

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He was a redshirt sophomore for the Wildcats in 2025, playing in seven games as a true freshman in 2023 before an injury saw his sophomore season end two games in.

Thomas played in eight games at K-State in 2025, finishing the year with five tackles, a PBU and a forced fumble. According to PFF, he gave up four catches for 21 yards this season on seven targets.

Now listed at 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, Thomas was a three-star prospect coming out of Del City in the 2023 class. He picked K-State over offers from OSU, Texas Tech, Iowa State and others.

Maurion Horn, CB, Texas Tech

Another Oklahoma kid, Maurion Horn has spent the past four seasons in Lubbock, where he has played in 30 games during that time. According to 247Sports, Horn will visit Stillwater on Monday.

He started all of Tech’s games in 2024, finishing that season with 56 tackles, three tackles for loss and five pass breakups. He played in seven games and dealt with some sort of injury, appearing on Tech’s availability report in Weeks 4, 14 and 15.

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Horn has been targeted 88 times in his career, per PFF, where he has allowed just 47 catches.

He was a four-star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of Broken Arrow. He ended up picking Tech over offers from OSU, OU, Texas, Baylor, Arkansas and others.

Braylon Rigsby, Edge, Texas Tech

Listed at 6-foot-2, 275 pounds, Braylon Rigsby will join his Texas Tech teammate in Stillwater on Monday, according to 247Sports.

He’s played in 26 games across the past two seasons in Lubbock, accumulating 25 tackles and three tackles for loss during that time.

Per PFF, Rigsby has 21 QB pressures in his career to go with two QB hits.

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He hails from Woodsville, Texas, which is near the Louisiana border. Rigsby was a three-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, coming in as the No. 861 player in the 247Sports Composite ranking.



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Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma

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Capture of Nicolas Maduro: What it could mean for Oklahoma


Elite Delta Force captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife about 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

It happened in the Caracas, the capitol of Venezuela.

Social media posts how strikes ordered by President Trump into Venezuela and its military bases.

News 9 political analyst Scott Mitchell said the relationship between the U.S. and Latin America has not always been smooth and adds so many dominos will fall as a result.

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“Venezuela is the beachhead for our adversaries that’s Cuba and Russia and China and Iran and it looks as if this latest situation where that they were assembling Iran swift attack boats that was sort of the last straw,” said Mitchell.

Retired war correspondent Mike Boettcher said the planning on capturing Maduro began in mid-December.

He adds Venezuela is a massive oil supplier whose oil has been taken off the market for years because of sanctions.

He has concerns about what comes next.

“That disrupts a lot of things.It even has an effect on the war in Ukraine, as Russia, you know, has used higher oil revenue because Venezuela’s oil was off the market.Oil prices went up.It helps fund the war in Ukraine,” said Boettcher.

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The ramifications could even reach Oklahoma.

“China gets a 30 percent discount on the oil.If Venezuela goes for a more legitimate government and the sanctions are lifting, then they’re flooding the oil markets and that means bad news for the Oklahoma economy,” added Mitchell.

Following the capture of Maduro, President Trump said the U.S. will take control of the oil reserves in Venezuela.

Sources also say there are plans from the current administration to recruit American companies to invest billions of dollars in their oil industry.

A verified video shows the current state of Venezuela after the military operation.

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Oklahoma State expected to lose talented EDGE to transfer portal

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Oklahoma State expected to lose talented EDGE to transfer portal


Oklahoma State EDGE Kyran Duhon plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. Duhon was a member of the 2024 recruiting class.

Duhon spent one year at Oklahoma State, logged 16 total tackles (eight solo) across nine games. He began his career at UTEP, where he had a productive true freshman season, Duhon finished 2024 with 43 total tackles, including seven sacks and two PBUs.

At UTEP, his one season there resulted in second team All-Conference USA honors. He was also named to the On3 True Freshman All-America Team as well as the the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

However, Duhon’s stay in Stillwater didn’t go as expected. Oklahoma State finished the season with a 1-11 record, which included the Cowboys firing longtime head coach Mike Gundy after a 1-2 start. Doug Meacham was named interim head coach but ended the year 0-9.

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Eric Morris has since been named as the program’s next head coach. He comes from North Texas, which finished with an 11-2 record and a trip to the American Conference championship game this past season. However, it doesn’t appear that Duhon will be sticking around during the changing of the guard at Oklahoma State this offseason.

Before college, Duhon was the No. 1,706 overall player in the class, and was recruited as the the No. 165 linebacker during the cycle, per the Rivals Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was ranked as the No. 242 overall player out of Texas.

Once the NCAA transfer portal opens on Jan. 2, players can officially enter their names in the NCAA transfer portal and go on to initiate contact with their preferred schools. The portal will be open for 15 days and close on Jan. 16.

Notably, players who are on teams competing in the national championship game are allowed five extra days to make their portal decision. The College Football Playoff championship game will be played on Jan. 19, so the players on those teams will be allowed until Jan. 24 to enter the portal and choose their next school.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

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