The Eyesore List
A couple of weeks ago I posted the following question at www.okctalk.com: what are the worst downtown eyesores?
Here’s the list they compiled:
———————————-
Stage Center
Old Downtown Library
DEQ Building
AT&T campus
Former Stewart Metal buildings
304 NE 3 (Deep Deuce)
City Detox
Former Fox Collission Building
Bob Howard Ford
Union Bus Station
First National Arcade
Trigen
Garage at Kerr and Harvey
Park Harvey Building
Former nightclub at Main and Walker
Goodyear Tire store
Browns bakery
Dowell Center
Bricktown Parking Garage
U-Haul building in Bricktown
Cotton Coop
Finley building
Bass Pro
Century Center
Harkins Theater
So, what’s next? I’ve got a camera, and I’m preparing to take some photos of these “eyesores.” Then I’ll provide details on some of these properties, followed by a poll here at www.okccentral.com. The more of you who vote in this poll, the more likely it is you might nudge someone to make some improvements. Now, quiz time friends… which one of these “eyesores” is the only Oklahoma City property to win one of the highest architectural honors possible? Which property was deemed one of the city’s most significant architectural landmarks by a panel of architects and preservationists? Which building is owned by dedicated urban pioneers who have led in their district’s revival? And which building is closest to becoming history?
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Regarding Stage Center, I love the quote of its architect, John Johansen, who said: “Some architects in the United States are searching for beauty, but I am not one of them.” (see: OKC Second Time Around, p. 34) That said, I like the building.
When you are trying to figure out how a certain building (like Stage Center) made the list of “eyesores”, you only have to look at the source of the list…okctalk. The people that post over there arern’t the most positive people.
There are some valid buildings on the list, but others are just some form of sour grapes( Harkins theater, Bass Pro).
Jason, Stage Center is correct. But you’re going to have to try again on the others. Remember, the answers are on the list above.
I second Jim’s comments. One of the reasons I don’t post a lot on message boards anymore, is I found out it’s a huge time waster arguing with a bunch of folks that have nothing better to do with their time. As a prominent OKC city leader told me, most of the people that post on message boards do so because they can’t get their voice heard under ordinary means.
I’ll get off my soap box now.
Addendum: If one really wants to make a difference in their community, get off the computer, and get to work. Most city leaders that truly make a difference do so by plain hard work, either building a business in the local business community, or serving their community through the political process or community service.
Well, stay on the computer long enough to visit http://www.newsok.com and http://www.okccentral.com to stay informed about what’s going on. 
[...] when he asked about "downtown’s five worst eyesores?" and then compiled the answers for a blog entry. He neither warned OKCTalk users nor asked permission of them. In another instance, Steve cherry [...]
My guess would be Stage Center in Re: to the question about architectural honors. I don’t see why it made the list. It’s one of the most unique looking structures downtown.