Garden Planned At Stillwater Eminent Domain Site

Thursday, March 1st 2007, 5:56 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- More than two dozen Oklahoma State University students and Stillwater residents want to plant a community garden in the yard of the last piece of property the school needs to build the first phase of a $316 million athletic village.

It's part protest against OSU's use of eminent domain, the taking of private property for a public use, to acquire the 66-year-old ranch house and turn its land into outdoor practice fields.

Group members say that it also demonstrates the strained, four-year relationship between outgoing OSU President David Schmidly and some faculty and students, who say OSU has put too much of a priority on athletics instead of academics.

The eminent domain move sparked a legal fight last year between the university and property owners Kevin and Joel McCloskey, who continue to battle in court over the parcel.