Questions Have Been Asked, and Names Have Been Named
Are Bricktown property owners doing their best to give visitors a good impression of Oklahoma City?
After today’s column appeared about responses to my questions about broken and boarded up windows, empty space and other eyesores in Bricktown, especially along the canal, one person in Bricktown suggested I’m “obsessed” with the topic.
I don’t know about that. I do know that plenty of readers were interested in seeing last week’s questions answered. And it was interesting to hear Mayor Mick Cornett, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and First Lady Kim Henry talk about how Bricktown was changing regional and national perceptions of Oklahoma City. So let’s take that at face value – then how does the city feel about the following glimpses of the canal, which include wads of used chewing gum on the Hunzicker building owned by Brett and Brent Brewer, broken windows on 19 E California and decade-old sandbags along the canal level of the Oklahoma Hardware building (both owned by French Hickman).
The Brewer’s building:
Hickman’s buildings:
Final note: A decade ago then Mayor Kirk Humphreys called on Bricktown property owners to pave dirt and gravel parking lots saying the days of it being the wild west were over.
When I asked Mayor Mick Cornett last week if a similar call should made to get Bricktown property owners to take better care of their buildings, he declined and said he has faith that the market will eventually take care of such conditions.
Watch his response below:
The gum has been been on the Brewers’ building since before the canal opened. The sandbags have been outside Hickman’s building since the canal opened.
The mayor’s email is mayor@okc.gov.
The Brewers can be contacted here.
I do not have an email for French Hickman.
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Comments
Steve, I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog but I always come to this site hoping that you will actually give some of your own opinions. I want to hear Steve Lackmeyer’s opinions. You are really good at calling people out when do/don’t share their thoughts or opinions…but where are yours? For someone (and I mean this respectfully) who knows a whole lot about OKC I’m not hearing any suggestions…just complaints without solutions offered up in a discussion format.
Casey, that is an interesting thought…it sounds like you think someone is in Steve’s ear with an agenda?
These properties need to be taken care of and I’m sure they will be, BUT, this is not how the whole Canal looks. Where are the pictures of the JDM Building, the Kingman building, etc. (I guess if they look good, it takes away from the story)
Steve did his job of asking the questions, they have been addressed and it’s time to get to work on making the area better.
Hey Blair, what “Carrots”?
Steve, I think you really like the “blog” form of journalism…
Jim
I think Steve’s selection of topics along with the specific questions posed give us a window into Steven’s opinion of things. But I do appreciate his commitment to eliciting discussion without hammering his own agenda on everyone…that doesn’t sound like good journalism to me.
Casey, I think it’s more important to give voice to readers and others whose opinions don’t always get heard. I don’t want to make this all about my opinion. But obviously I think this is an issue that deserves attention.
Here is my “opinion”: I would not want to live next to a house with wads of used chewing gum on the outside brick or with broken or boarded up windows. If Bricktown is our community’s showcase, if it really is that important for our city’s image, then should our standards be any less? I understand that Phil Scaramucci has spent a lot of money saving the Rock Island Plow building and did an admirable job keeping it standing – so it’s easier to understand why it’s boarded up. But I’m perplexed as to why the Brewers and Hickman, who have both seen big jumps in their property values due to the city’s investment, can’t make their buildings more presentable.
I’ve seen property owners in struggling small Main Street communities do far more with far less resources. The mayors in Poteau, Cordell, Miami and elsewhere have been much more forceful in seeking a higher standard for property maintenance than what I have heard here in OKC.
Jim, we talked about whether I should include more favorable photos of Bricktown. I ultimately decided against that because the readership of this blog tends to be one that is very familiar with downtown – they are not folks who live in Edmond and haven’t visited Bricktown in five years. And I have repeatedly shown Bricktown in a very favorable light.
As for people “talking in my ear.” I have a lot of people talking in my ear – that’s part of a journalist’s job. But there is no one person guiding me on this topic or a person pulling my strings.
Final thought: If Devon Energy, which doesn’t own any property in Bricktown, thought well enough to give $100,000 toward the mosaic mural at the end of the canal to improve its appearance, then why can’t the Brewers, who have made a lot of money over the years in Bricktown, replace the two boarded up entries with shaded glass store fronts and remove the used gum wads? Why can’t French Hickman remove the sandbags and replace them with a simple landscaping arrangement that would hold in the run-off?
Something needs to be done in Bricktown. Many of the buildings have been eyesores for years. People in my neighborhood would never put up with trashy sandbags and broken windows. Heck, people in middle class old neighborhoods like Mesta Park wouldn’t either. In a residential neighborhood, you can call the city and complain when such eyesores exist, and the city will do something about it. So, why shouldn’t the city do something about the same type things in the state’s premier entertainment district and a major tourist destination?
I’m a true conservative, but I am glad some things aren’t left to market forces. I’m glad my neighbors can’t just let their houses go for years without any visible work and get away with it like property owners in Bricktown can.
The reason why the Brewers and the other landlords don’t do more to make their buildings more presentable is most likely they just don’t care enough. It is a simple but unfortunate truth.
Steve, just when you get me frustrated, you do a post about Abuelos and the remodel they are doing…
Spag. Warehouse is also replacing the trees in front of their building and their Awnings. There are numerous buildings all over Bricktown that are getting developed or updated. There is progress being made on every street in Bricktown.
We do still have some buildings that need to be improved, no arguement here.
We will keep working on it, this district will remain a work in progress for many years to come.
Jim
Thanks for the response, Steve. I don’t think you have an agenda and I don’t think it’s wrong to lead the discussion. I do know that I enjoy reading your columns in the Oklahoman but those columns call for reporting a story where blogs usually call for opinions, I just wanted to get your side of it. Thank you.
Here’s the question, Casey and Jim: If Mayor Humphreys was able to use his voice and standing to get Bricktown property owners to pave their parking lots, why can’t Mayor Cornett do the same to get them to take better care of their buildings?
Steve,
Yes. Some people care more about their properties than others care about their own. Just look at houses. Some people keep the mowed lawn, etc., while others leave junk out in the yard. It’s no different with commercial real estate
Steve, now this is the kind of journalism I’ve been waiting for! This is what I’d pay for to pick up a copy of the Oklahoman! Thanks so much for doing this story. I know plenty of people downtown that feel the same way.
Sounds to me Cornett, Askins and others were doing more political grandstanding and posturing than anything, after all next year is election year.
It’s beyond ridiculous that the gum, sandbags, broken glass, and boarded up windows have been allowed to go on for over a decade. Why is Mayor Mick so against enforcing existing city codes? He says “market forces” will control. He’s our head cheerleader, why can’t he enforce our cities codes and laws? As others said above, in neighborhoods people aren’t allowed to neglect their properties for a decade, why are Bricktown property owners allowed a free pass? Could it be because many of them are big supporters? I’m all Pro-OKC as much or more than anyone, and want to see downtown progress, but we have to be a little more ballsy and take riskier stances on issues and not be afraid of political repercussions. Keep the light shining on this issue Steve. Code Enforcement is a big problem downtown!
Steve, don’t shy away from this issue until change happens. I know a lot of us on here will back you up. You’re not standing alone!
“Hey Blair, what ‘Carrots’?”
I didn’t think the metaphor was really a stretch…
CARROTS = the public money spent to make Bricktown what it is today.
The City has plowed a substantial amount of money into Bricktown and continues to do so. It has worked out well, producing an entertainment district that has brought much needed energy to downtown and is a highlight for residents and tourists alike. Still, if the City is going to handout money to improve the district, then they should be able enforce whatever regulations are necessary to ensure that their “investment” is protected.
Re: Parking Lots
The OKC Planning Department is looking into the possibility of increased property taxes on parking lot properties. The tax will increase every year until such property is developed. Currently, parking lots have nearly zero overhead making the revenues of $5 or $10 per car throughout the week fairly profitable without the risk associated with constructing a spec building.
Steven,
If “codes” are not being followed, than any citizen can petition the enforcement agency to enforce the code. Maybe this is what has to happen? Just put pressure on the city govenrment to start issuing fines to these companies that let their buildings go into disrepair.
PLANSIT – that sounds like a brilliant plan. Do you know of any cities that are currently employing a similar system?
Blair – Check out “Land Value Tax” in wiki.
Here are some examples:
http://www.marylandlandtax.org/
http://www.indianalandvaluetax.org/
Pennsylvania seems to be the pioneer of LVT, as Harrisburg has utilized it since 1976.
As an occasional visitor from Dallas, I was struck (negatively) by some of the same things that caught Steve’s eye. If I recall correctly, those sandbags have been there for years– at the time I remember thinking that it not only looked ugly, but was somewhat unwise (hiding place for vagrants, animals, rodents, etc.). The cost of sealing that area up in an attractive manner would be pretty modest.
I know you don’t like the gum. We will get it off for
you this week. This gum does have some significant historical value though. Those pieces of gum where placed there while customers waited in line to enter the
Bricktown Haunted Warehouse when it began over 20 years
ago. Basically, the business that put the name “Bricktown” on the map. We had to have portable lighting brought in because there were no operable street lights at the time. We also had to advertise 3 blocks east of the Myriad because no one new where “Bricktown” was located. We have already removed more than half already. This is what is left over.
On the boarded up parts of the building you are talking
about, all you had to do is call us about our plans for those. I think you will be happy. We had to board those up
for now because transients where residing in those spaces and creating hazards.
I actually rather like the wads of gum. At least they show that people have passed been there and provide a lasting monument…of sorts.
Still, on the whole I agree with you. I think there are two ways to steer market forces in Bricktown – carrots and sticks. If we aren’t willing to use the stick, then we should quit giving them the carrots.