Another MAPS 4 mental health and addiction project is being planned for Northeast OKC

Staff at Edmond-based design firm SA.Studio studied the property at 1200 NE 13 and recommended the site this month as the location for the next crisis center under the MAPS 4 Mental Health Project and addiction

The site would put the new crisis center on the east side of the OU Health Sciences Campus and at the corner of the Innovation District, east of Interstate 235. The new building would also be directly on the west of the current location of Lottie House, the local pub. drop-in center run by the Oklahoma Mental Health Association that provides services to people with homelessness and mental health issues.

Right now, 1200 NE 13 is home to an Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center, owned and operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which were also selected in January to operate the next MAPS facility 4. During discussions with the operator, MAPS planners discovered that the department intended to vacate the NE 13th site, but were unsure what to do with the property afterward.

AJ Kirkpatrick, director of urban planning at design firm ADG Blatt, said the Department of Mental Health is in talks to potentially donate the land to the city, which would help save significant costs on the total budget of 12, $27 million from the MAPS project. He also said the Arnall Family Foundation, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to criminal justice reform and social welfare issues, offered to help with the demolition and rehabilitation of the current building of the place

“They have generously offered to assist the Department of Mental Health with up to $350,000 to demolish the existing building and to mitigate any additional environmental issues, because it’s an older building,” Kirkpatrick said. “That’s, again, helping us save money that could have come out of our construction and (furniture, fixtures and equipment) to use at this location.”

What will OKC’s new crisis center include?

As part of the ambitious $1.1 billion MAPS 4 program, residents voted in 2019 for Oklahoma City to use nearly $45 million to build mental health facilities and substance abuse and transitional housing. The new MAPS 4 Mental Health Crisis Center is expected to include space for patient assessment, detoxification, crisis de-escalation, counseling, respite and adequate sleep.

SA.Studio architectural designer Crystal Denker said that while plans were subject to change, a model showed the building would fit on property NE 13. The facility, which could have an estimated floor area of of 29,121 square feet, it would include an urgent recovery center large enough for 25 acute patients and two crisis stabilization units with 16 beds each.

Among other considerations for site selection, designers took into account the needs of residents, accessibility for first responders, proximity to major health centers, existing public services, and access to transportation and data local zip code suicide and drug overdose rates.

The site’s zoning falls within the state-regulated Capitol-Medical Center Improvement and Zoning District. But because the property is already zoned for a wide range of medical uses, Denker said the site would not need to be rezoned or require a special use permit with the city.

He also said the parking requirements would mean 67 spaces, with one parking space for every two beds and one space per staff member for a fully staffed shift. Architects are planning new parking spaces to replace the current parking lot that is already located on the north side of the lot along 13th Street. Two existing curb cuts should be maintained so as not to disrupt traffic patterns on the street.

Denker said that as architects looked at the property, they became concerned about the potential need to relocate four major utilities that ran through an alley easement on the site, so they decided to plan construction west of the easement.

Related: MAPS 4 Mental Health and Addiction Facility Could Be Built Near OKC’s New Recreation Center

The concept plan for the site shows law enforcement would have their own gated and fenced area to the west of the building, with visitor parking spaces at the front of the entrance. An existing sidewalk, bus stop, and bike path to the north of the site could also connect people to the entrance. A new service unit could be located on the south side of the site at 12th Street, while the east side could be used for detention areas and landscaping as a buffer along Lottie Avenue.

The architects have also hired Kimberly McMurray with Behavior Health Facility Consulting to help refine programming for the new facility. The consultant was approved after project staff visited other crisis centers in similar cities across the state earlier this summer and believed a specific design consultant could benefit construction.

Will the selection of OKC’s crisis center affect Lottie House?

Kori Hall, a member of the MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Council community subcommittee, wondered what construction on the site could mean for the adjacent Lottie House, which has provided critical services to the area for more than a decade. Kirkpatrick said talks with the new CEO of the Oklahoma Mental Health Association, Carrie Blumert, a former Oklahoma County commissioner, were ongoing, but suggested Lottie House operators might decide to relocate .

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s definitely going to stay, because (Blumert) can finally look at all of this and decide this is a good time for them to leave,” Kirkpatrick said. “I think that’s all being debated right now.”

More: OKC council approved operators for the MAPS 4 Mental Health and Addiction Project. who are they

Blumert’s advocacy for mental health resources helped secure funding for the MAPS 4 program of emergency housing and treatment facilities. She told The Oklahoman she was excited about plans to build the new MAPS 4 crisis center on the site, but also confirmed that Lottie House’s future address, either at its current location or somewhere else in the area , was still an ongoing discussion.

“The Oklahoma Mental Health Association is committed to keeping Lottie House in Oklahoma City,” Blumert said. “Whether it’s next to the next crisis center or a nearby location, we’re committed to providing a center of care in Oklahoma City.”

Hall also said neighborhood associations had been proactive about the need for mental health facilities nearby, so he believed none of those groups would be opposed to having the new crisis center in the area .

“This location for the crisis center seems really appropriate, and I don’t think we have a location like this anywhere else that has all the factors that this has, being close to medical facilities and down to the corridors.” , Hall said.

Both the MAPS 4 Community Subcommittee and Citizens Advisory Council approved recommendations for this month’s site plan and selection. Pending final approval from the Oklahoma City Council, site design services can begin.

This article originally appeared in the Oklahoman: New MAPS 4 Mental Health Crisis Center Planned for Northeast OKC