Summary

The Town of Afton seeks to create a Farmer’s Market at the Park through upgrades to an existing building. The proposed building, located at 121 South Main Street adjacent to a city park, is the former Afton City Hall and is owned by the Town of Afton. Afton is a community of just over 1,000 people along historic Route 66. With the nearest food source that accepts SNAP benefits located 3 miles from Afton, the town is recognized as a food desert by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Upgrading this historic building to serve as a Farmer’s Market, and more, offers an opportunity for advancing health and economic development for residents of Afton.

Afton leaders applied for assistance from the University of Oklahoma Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) in Spring 2020. IQC is an outreach program from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture. IQC collaborated with the Division of Interior Design. Interior Design faculty integrated the project in Afton into a studio course.

The Oklahoma Municipal League provided a Quality Communities Grant to Afton to offset costs of OU assistance.

5 teams of OU Interior Design students developed design concepts for the existing structure in Afton. Each team explored interior design options, programming suggestions, and connections with the adjacent park. The presentation of 5 different design concepts allowed community members to compare choices and discover opportunities for the future of the farmer’s market.

This book presents a summary of key findings, along with summaries of each of the 5 student proposals. The complete, detailed student proposals are available as appendices in report format and as slideshows.

Timeline

May Afton leaders submitted application July IQC develops partnership with Interior Design faculty August Interior Design faculty makes on-site visit to Afton October Students meet with clients remotely via Zoom November Students present preliminary design proposals via Zoom December Students present final design proposals via Zoom January ID faculty hosts project wrap-up meeting