The Islamic Society of Norman filed an application to expand the Masjid An-nur Mosque, according to city documents.
The society was founded in 1976 by members of OU’s Muslim Student Association, according to a fundraising page. The project’s estimated budget is $1.5 million.
The mosque, located at 420 E. Lindsey St., opened in February 2012 as a replacement for a house that originally held the congregation.
The society is seeking to rezone to expand the property to build a youth center and additional parking, according to the documents. The youth center would be south of the building and include an indoor basketball court, coffee bar, study areas and classrooms.
The fundraising website states that the current building does not have enough space for the community.
“We have men praying in the shoe area every Friday because there is no longer room in the masjid,” the website reads.
Nayyar Kibria, a junior electrical engineering major, confirmed the congregation’s growth to OU Daily Monday.
“The number of people (at OU) is increasing every year, and I’ve also noticed the number of people at the mosque is also increasing, …” Kibria said. “It’ll be overflowing into the main lobby.”
Kibria believes an expansion would be beneficial to the community.
“Expanding the mosque will definitely be a good idea, …” Kibria said. “They’ve opened up a parking lot already next to the mosque. It used to be a house right next to it, but they made it into a gravel parking lot. That’s honestly already helped.”
Norman’s Department of Planning and Community Development will host a discussion on the proposal for residents who live near the mosque at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
This story was edited by Ana Barboza, Natalie Armour and Thomas Pablo. Kennedy Johnson and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
