Comments on: Grand Openings and Slights http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/ The Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer covers downtown OKC brick by brick. Thu, 16 May 2013 02:42:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 By: slackmeyer http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/comment-page-1/#comment-225 slackmeyer Fri, 23 May 2008 03:47:09 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/#comment-225 Once again, point taken.
And Old Downtown Guy, thanks for all you’ve done.
-Steve

]]> By: The Old Downtown Guy http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/comment-page-1/#comment-224 The Old Downtown Guy Fri, 23 May 2008 02:50:45 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/#comment-224 Not mentioned in your post Steve, was John Hefner and the Heritage Hills Neighborhood. Between them, they put up several thousand dollars to help pay legal fees to fight Mark Moore’s plan to demolish the YMCA building and create a surface parking lot. Unfortunately for our city, that was the outcome.

Although the building only received cosmetic damage from the Murrah bombing, and a workable adaptive reuse plan to convert the building into rental housing was developed by architects from Rand Elliott’s firm, the Board of Adjustment voted 3 to 2 to grant the demolition permit. There is a lot more to the story . . . a lot more . . . perhaps another time.

That was then, this is now. Losing the YMCA building may have provided the fule that made the effort to prevent the thoughtless demolition of the Gold Dome Bank Building possible. You win some and you loose some.

The losses like the YMCA and Bel Isle Power Station building are terribly painful, but the victories are oh so sweet.

]]> By: slackmeyer http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/comment-page-1/#comment-223 slackmeyer Thu, 22 May 2008 01:46:44 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/#comment-223 Point taken. Stay tuned….

]]> By: Paul http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/comment-page-1/#comment-222 Paul Wed, 21 May 2008 22:48:12 +0000 http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2008/05/21/grand-openings-and-slights/#comment-222 As a relative newcomer to the area, I, and other younger citizens like me, may need to be made aware of the history of any future buildings in jeopardy. Purely from roaming around town, it’s hard to determine which buildings truly deserve preservation due to their history or which buildings merely look historical…

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