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As part of a collaboration with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG), the Institute for Quality Communities (IQC), the City of El Reno, Michael Höffner, and Emily Fitzsimmons formed a team to research and provide recommendations concerning Sunset Drive, a stretch of Route 66 west of downtown El Reno, Oklahoma.
This project is part of ACOG’s Community Economic Resiliency Iniative (CERI), which was created to help Oklahoma communities develop after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more about CERI and the IQC’s involvement.
Michael Höffner is an affiliate faculty member in the Division of Architecture, a Community Engagement Fellow with the IQC, and principal at höffnerdesignstudio. Emily Fitzsimmons is a graduate student in the Division of Regional + City Planning and a Graduate Assistant with the IQC.
On Sunday December 5, the team hosted a public meeting for community members to share their perspective and hopes for key challenges and opportunities facing Sunset Drive. The meeting took place in the Red Barn of the Canadian County Historical Society Museum. Dozens of participants interacted with a large-format aerial photo of the corridor and held conversations or left notes about important topics.
Major themes from participants included walkability and safety, development and design focused on attracting tourism to El Reno, future projects and development types, and ways of honoring El Reno’s history in the corridor.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture professor and Institute for Quality Communities Director Dr. Amber N. Wiley’s book, Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital, has received two major honors from the Urban History Association.
Research initiated by Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumna Naila Hasan during her master’s studies at the University of Oklahoma has continued through faculty collaboration and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce Esther Thorp, Tyler Boydstun and Chukwuma Nwokoye as the winners of the 2026 Construction Innovation Translation Hub (CIThub) Student Ideas Competition.
