MAPS 3 Central Park and the Myriad Gardens
Proposed MAPS 3 Central Park
View of proposed MAPS 3 central park with Devon tower, Skydance bridge in background.
This rendering shows a completed Myriad Gardens and Devon headquarters.
Proposed Myriad Gardens ice rink
An ice skating rink, model boat rentals, an amphitheater and restaurant are among the amenities planned for a proposed downtown central park.
At a MAPS 3 presentation hosted Thursday by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, central park designer Mary Margaret Jones showed plans that call for a zigzagging lake surrounded by a great lawn, a large amphitheater for up to 15,000 people, a smaller amphitheater for 2,000 people, a large children’s play area, a dog park comparable to the one at Lake Hefner and a restaurant.
“This project is the kind of project we’re seeing in cities across the country and they are really transforming these communities,” said Jones, who is a senior principal at San Francisco-based Hargreaves Associates.
The 70-acre central park is expected to cost $130 million and is one of eight projects set to be funded by a one-cent MAPS 3 sales tax being submitted to voters on Dec. 8. It would be built one block south of the Myriad Gardens and is the centerpiece of the Core to Shore development led by Mayor Mick Cornett.
A restaurant and ice skating rink, small children’s play area, a small fenced area for dogs, amphitheater for 5,000 people and model boat rentals meanwhile are among $30 million of improvements set to begin next year at the Myriad Gardens. The improvements are funded through a tax increment financing district requested by Devon Energy in conjunction with construction of its $750 million, 50-story headquarters just north of the gardens.
“I’m happy to say we (design teams on both projects) are working together very well,” Jones said when asked about the similarities of the two projects. “We’re complimenting each other. Where the ice rink ends up downtown is still under discussion.”
Jones said only the gardens or park will likely be home to an ice rink and that the central park would be a better fit for accommodating a larger venue. She said multiple amphitheaters might be a plus for downtown.
“It’s good to have both,” Jones said. “You can have something small happening in the Myriad Gardens and something large going on in the central park, and it’s that vibrancy and going back and forth that will make both better.”
Cornett said the gardens’ ice rink, however, is on its way to becoming a reality with his blessing. Conceptual plans were approved last week and more advanced schematic designs are to be submitted to the city council for approval next month. Construction is set to start in May.
“The Myriad Gardens should go ahead, be planned, and be in accordance with the streetscape projects and Devon tower and go ahead as if it’s free standing,” Cornett said. “I think it’s interesting the gardens seem to be borrowing some elements typically thought of as being in parks. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
Cornett said a lot of the programming for the central park won’t be certain until after its fate is decided by voters. Cornett said in recent days he has decided to drop plans to pursue underground parking at the park, citing its excessive cost.
He said the public has the same challenges understanding the park as they did the Bricktown Canal when it was first proposed as part of the original 1993 Metropolitan Area Projects initiative.
“It’s just so different than anything they’ve seen in Oklahoma City before,” Cornett said. “It’s difficult to comprehend. People who have been exposed to urban parks in other cities are very excited.”
The deadline to register as a voter in Oklahoma City if you want to vote on the MAPS 3 initiative is Nov. 13. Voters can register at their county election board.
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Comments
Once again my question is – where will people park since there’s virtually no free or even low-cost parking around the Downtown and Bricktown areas?
It’s a rare occasion anything happens in those areas that I’ll attend due to hassle of finding and cost of parking.
Why would you say that Michael? Street level parking is pretty scarce around Discovery Park in Houston, yet people seemed to find their way there all summer- and in the middle of downtown. Keep in mind that a convention center will be around there somewhere if MAPS 3 passes, which certainly means a big parking garage nearby. Part of the “urban solution” for OKC is coming to a new understanding of what parking is like in bigger cities, which never means there’s a big field of parking spaces right next to your venure. THe urban solution is- be prepared to park in a garage 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile away from your destination or farther and walk or take the bus, or better yet, take the bus downtown.
There is plenty of FREE parking all over downtown and in Bricktown. It’s just that people don’t want to walk more than 1 block for it (which is rediculous because those same people will park the equivilent of 2 blocks away from Wal-Mart and then walk another 4 blocks while inside). Of course, if MAPS3 passes, you’ll be able to ride the streetcars from anywhere in downtown to the park for a nominal fee after you park your car for next to nothing in our awesome and inexpensive downtown!
All I can say is, if you can’t find cheap parking in downtown OKC, you aren’t looking. I work downtown. I also park, for free, every single day. I have for the past two and a half years. I walk no more than two blocks to the office.
Parking in OKC is not a problem.
Maybe on-street parking can make up for the lack of underground spaces. It may turn out to be better, providing that shield for pedestrians and making Robinson and Hudson more walkable surrounding the park.
Most people will confuse the park with any other park until you provide specifics on what makes it different. The ultra-interactive pieces of public art at Millenium Park (the video fountains and reflective navy bean) set it apart from other parks. Our park should have programming off the bat, and we need to communicate that user groups (chess clubs, intramural athletics, fitness classes, etc) are invited to make the park their own. There has to be some wow factor and sense of immediate utility.
We should also say that the park will evolve over time, and that what we have is the template for future generations to add their own touches. But in the end,it won’t be supported if people think it’s just a fancy patch of grass.
Marshall,
The streets in the area will be narrowed to allow for streetside parking all around the Myriad Botanical Gardens. There will actually be a net gain of spaces in the area.
Not only that, but there are still several large parking garages in the area adjacent to the Gardens; the Cox Convention Center, Sheraton Century, and the Walker/Sheridan parking garage.
Parking is NOT an issue in downtown OKC.
Marshall. They are correct, there is no parking problem downtown. More of a ignorance of the general populace if you will.
But back to what I was saying. If they plop down a giant surface lot for the parking for the new Central Park, I will be more than apalled.
Agred, there is definitely NOT a parking problem downtown, just an IGNORANCE problem from people who don’t like coming downtown that often. It’s called Downtown for a reason, not suburbia. OKC will have a net gain of hundreds if not thousands of parking spaces after all the new changes!
Yeah, Cornett, I can’t even comprehend an urban park, man. It’s like, such a radical concept. I’ve never even heard of such a thing. Cornett is blowing my mind. Just like in the early 1990s when I couldn’t comprehend the canal. I was all like, what, water where the street is? WTF?? And Cornett was like, you don’t even know man. And look, he was right. He’s so smart. And cool.
I love the list of amenities proposed for the park: ice rink, dog park, model boats, pumpkin patch, leprechauns, amusement park, cotton candy, lawn darts, hay rides, fireworks, unicorns, duck pond, roller coasters, Ferris wheel, haunted house, coffee shop, fishing pier, aquarium, barbershop quartet, smurfs, poppy fields, and snowcones.
Take the streetcar to the park. That’s what you’d do in NYC (well, subway or bus). One doesn’t drive to Central Park unless one is a masochist. If I were spending a sunny Saturday in downtown OKC a few years in the future, I’d drive to 2nd and Walnut, park my car for free and walk over the bridge to Bricktown and have lunch. Then I’d take that newfangled streetcar thang over to the park and hang out.
I’ll be the first to admit I couldn’t comprehend what the canal was going to look like or how it was going to function until it opened – and I had more exposure to plans, etc. than most.
Watched the recording of the video stream on the Chamber’s website (be EXTEREMLY patient with it, the 1st 30 min are watching people eat…LOL)
A question was asked about parking and as pointed out, the underground parking just cost too much. Neither seemed concerned about parking, said it would be looked at later. Said there was plenty of street parking surrounding the park.
While the images do look nice, the Presenter stressed at the beginning of her presentation, it was what MIGHT be. It was just to give people a visualization tool. What ends up being included/excluded is still up in the air (to be decided AFTER the vote. Said that there would be plenty of public input, (but where have we heard that before?).
The San Antonio Riverwalk was routinely referenced as the inspiration for the OKC Canal, so I’m a little confused as to why the canal was a difficult thing to imagine when the idea was taken from a city that is within driving distance.
As for the idea of an urban park, obviously Central Park in NYC, Boston Common in Boston, or Millennium Park in Chicago are the inspiration for this park. What OKC doesn’t have that those parks do is several million people within a few miles of the park. The density in other cities creates an inherent need for green space. OKC doesn’t have that density-driven need for space, that’s why Cornett is adding ducks and ponies to the OKC version of the park, in order to manufacture interest in the space. Of course there will also probably be a Charleston’s or a Louie’s Bar and Grill in the park to get people down there. So that’ll be awesome.
James, I agree to the extent that OKC hasn’t ever really had a centrally located park for it’s 100 years of existence (except for a few years when the Oklahoman donated land for that purpose but then took it back when they needed it for their own use). Because we are spread out like we are, OKC’s answer was to build several smaller, neighborhood parks all over the City. And some larger, regional ones with more amenities. Take the parks to where the people are rather than make the people come to where the park is.
I am not against the Park, but we have to remember we aren’t New York or Boston or Chicago. If it is a good idea, that’s fine but it definitely needs to be Oklahoman in feel. One of the best arguments for the Park is a need to create as attractive and inviting gateway into the downtown area from the relocated I-40 exits (not talking about the Boulevard as I think few will use that path). That area is far from being that currently.
Discovery Park in Houston is a better comparison than parks in NYC, Chicago, or Boston -Right smack in the middle of downtown, just next to the new convention center and C.C. Hotel. Houston is spread out, like OKC and really doesn’t have the downtown density of older cities, yet has become the meeting spot for group festivals, outdoor concerts, aerobics, etc. Groups bring kids from all over the city to play at their fantastic sprayground, which is unlike anything I’ve seen. During convention breaks, the park fills up with people wanting a little air after being in the C.C. all day. Filling up a Central Park in OKC would not be difficult to do. Take a look at the site about Discovery, and I think one can envision just what OKC is thinking. http://www.discoverygreen.com/
One has to realize that when NY’s Central Park was constructed few people lived above Houston street in Manhattan. Many people questioned the expense and effort put into a large public work in an area of NYC where few people lived. Whether you believe the park was an altruistic gift to the people of NY or a real estate development tool, it’s hard to deny that the park has not succeeded on both fronts.
This is exactly the kind of landscape development on post-industrial, inner-city land that we’ve needed to build density, and improve the environmental quality of our city.
In respect to the proposed ice rink…there should be two ice rinks with at least one of them having facilities for year-round skating. Perhaps an indoor/outdoor, smaller ice rink at the myriad gardens and a larger, outdoor rink at Central Park. Serious skaters would appreciate the smaller park with less traffic and year-round access to ice. The recreational crowds will appreciate the Central Park location/destination and size of a bigger rink during the winter season with several other “Central Park” attractions close by. Building only one rink will limit the rink to mostly recreational skaters only, while serious skaters will still have to travel to Edmond or Moore and pay expensive ice-time fees to the monopolized ice-rinks which currently leaves ice skating mostly out of reach of inner-city and lower-income children/families. No slight to the current ice rinks; they can’t help it if they do not have competition. Still, it’s very expensive and mostly for the privileged if a skaters wants to advance their skills to a level higher than recreational skating. A “major league” city needs choices and opportunity which includes the sport of ice skating. How awesome would it be to have an olympic skater from OKC? 
By the way James, Cornett was still a reporter for the local news when the canal was planned, constructed and opened so you’re giving credit where credit isn’t due. If you want, you can thank former mayor, Ron Norick and a small group of others with vision, power and money. :/ Cornett inherited the empire, he didn’t build it from the ground up.
So. Are we just gonna have a huge expanse of parking adjacent to the park? How progressive of us, in what is to be our premier urban district. They better had find an acceptable urban solution to that parking problem for the park.