Welcome to the Big Leagues
Live shot from the skyline cam at www.newsok.com at 7:40 p.m.
In big league cities parking challenges arise. And that may just be the case tonight. We have the arts festival. We have a ballgame at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. We have a lot of folks in town for tomorrow’s OKC National Memorial Marathon. And then there’s a Thunder game at Ford Center that might attract a small crowd…
So here’s my inside tips for parking:
- Go for the parking spaces that often go untaken. The Main Street lots have a new entrance by the Walnut Avenue Bridge leading into Bricktown. The Bricktown Parking Garage. The Sheridan-Walker Parking Garage.
- COTPA has been reporting the lots under I-40 are available. Give it a shot.
- Eat at the Iguana (if time still allows) and take their bus to Ford Center.
- Find a parking spot in the surface lots along Broadway between NW 4 and NW 7.
UPDATE: Broadway/Kerr Garage now open – $5
- Cruise for free curbside spots – yes, it may take 10-20 minutes and a few circles around downtown, but you’d be surprised how often spots open up.
Whatever you do, I can’t recommend the Oklahoma Spirit trolleys. Once upon a time I could. But all too often I hear they are unreliable and I’ve not seen any effort by MetroTransit to promote any additional service for tonight’s festivities. They do, however, operate some very scenic boat cruises along the Oklahoma River.
Fools with Bulldozers
Charles Hill at www.dustbury.com provides a recap on the SandRidge demolition plan, and then provides this quote from the legendary planner William Whyte:
It is significant that the cities doing best by their downtowns are the ones doing best at historic preservation. Fine old buildings are worthwhile in their own right, but there is a greater benefit involved. They provide discipline. Architects and planners like a blank slate. They usually do their best work, however, when they don’t have one. When they have to work with impossible lot lines and bits and pieces of space, beloved old eyesores, irrational street layouts, and other such constraints, they frequently produce the best of their new designs — and the most neighborly.
And to this Mr. Hill makes his own final comment:
Any fool can hire a bulldozer, and many do.
Ready for Some Free Banjo Performances?
Admission is free today and tomorrow at the American Banjo Museum as it prepares to celebrate its annual hall of fame ceremonies tonight. Bricktown will be in on the festivities from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday with free performances at Nonna’s, the Bourbon Street Cafe, Bricktown Brewery, and an open jam session at the Spaghetti Warehouse.
More on the SandRidge Demolition Debate
I spoke to Dr. Bob Blackburn today about the SandRidge demolition plan …
To be clear, to answer questions that have arisen in recent days, the Oklahoma Historical Society has not taken any money or sponsorships from SandRidge Energy.
He worked closely with Melvena Heisch, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, in determining that the buildings targeted are not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. All comments were based on legal criteria, and numerous conversations were held with city staff prior to the vote by the Downtown Design Review Committee.
He also doesn’t see, based on the criteria, how the India Temple and Kermac buildings could be eligible for the historic register, and that new surveys were conducted.
“Anything that could be done today would be a reconstruction, which would not make it eligible, because it’s new. These aren’t Bob Blackburn’s rules, these are the rules according to the national register.”
Downtown Alive
Banjo Museum Update
Bricktown Retail
Dallas' West End isn't what it used to be, but it still offers some gimmicky stuff for tourists.
I’ve been thinking more about the question posed in one this weekend’s comment threads – what is there to do beyond restaurants for younger visitors in Bricktown?
There’s a playground, granted, but I rarely see it used. Likely it’s not in the greatest spot. I wonder if it can’t eventually be moved to a better location in Bricktown. And yeah, there’s a movie theater and bowling – but not every visitor is going to want to spend their time bowling or seeing movies. We could also add to the list places like the Bricktown Candy Co. But what unique retail would be a plus for Bricktown – especially for younger visitors?
Would a magic shop work in this day and age? And with the Academy of Contemporary Music thriving along the canal, is there some opportunity for a music shop? How about comic book sales or collectibles? I’ve also wondered how a “nostalgia toys” shop might fare. It would appeal, I think, to youngsters, but probably even more so to the Baby Boom generation shopping for their grandkids.
Could any of these concepts make it on their own? Maybe not. But here’s my freebie idea of the day – combine it all into one store. Or maybe there can be a fun-themed marketplace for all of this where you add in nostalgia t-shirts, a photo booth and some other throw-back amusements (skeeball? air hockey?).
Going beyond the kid set, it seems as if there are a few other additions that would work well. A Native American jewelry and art shop did well in the Miller-Jackson Building, but it lured away to Stockyards City. Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Emporium is a big asset – the sort of gift shop I’m sure other downtown’s dream of having in their midst, carrying an array of quality gifts that showcase items that are either locally made or have Oklahoma ties (and yeah, you can even find my books there!).
It’s no surprise Firefly and LIT clothing shut down – I’m not sure they were offering anything that couldn’t be found elsewhere. And quite frankly, it’s going to take unique concepts to make it in Bricktown. Unique concepts, however, can’t always thrive in the early months without some sort of support to help them get established. Once again my thoughts go to a marketplace … wouldn’t it be great if such a place existed in Bricktown, where for just a few hundred dollars or less one could get their start at entrepreneural success without risking losing everything? Wouldn’t be great if such a marketplace existed to help Bricktown move on to the next step – and become the retail destination sought out by visitors and locals alike?
Yeah, I’m hinting at something here….
Helpful Information on Parking for the Arts Festival
Kudos to the folks at the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority for putting out this info:
2010 Festival of the Arts
Places to Park for Arts Festival Patrons
Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority Offers Park and Ride Options for Festival Attendees
Thousands of visitors will descend on downtown Oklahoma City for the popular Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts, April 20-25. The Central Oklahoma Parking and Transportation Authority (COPTA) offers suggestions for places to park for those who may not be familiar with the downtown area.
The Arts Festival takes place in the area between Sheridan and Reno at the Festival Plaza, Stage Center and the Myriad Gardens. Secured parking lots, only one and a half blocks from the Arts Festival grounds, are located under I-40, between Walker and Harvey along SW 3rd Street. The fee for parking is $5. Hours are 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Limited parking is available at the Sheridan/Walker parking facility during the week and the rate is $5. The address is 501 W. Sheridan. There is also limited parking available at the Cox Convention Center parking facility during the week for a rate of $6. Parking is not available for festival goers at this facility Thursday, April 22 or Saturday, April 24 due to the NBA playoff games. The facility is located at 1 Myriad Gardens.
Parking is available at the Century Center and Santa Fe parking facilities and the event rate is $5. The Century Center Parking Facility is at 100 W. Main, and the entrance is on Sheridan. The Santa Fe Parking Facility is located at 2 Santa Fe Plaza.
The Oklahoma Spirit Trolleys are part of the downtown experience for many new and returning visitors. “Our normal trolley routes provide festival-goers the convenience of parking in one of our parking facilities and riding the trolley to the area near the Arts Festival grounds,” said Debi Holtzclaw, parking manager for COPTA. “Parking customers can ride for free by showing their parking vouchers to the trolley operators.”
Information about trolley schedules and route maps is on the website at gometrok.org/trolley
Parlor Game: Making the Case for SandRidge Commons
What if the former Kerr-McGee Tower stayed dark?
What if, I was asked today, SandRidge Energy had chosen to build a new corporate campus as so many others have done, and left the Kerr-McGee campus a dark shadow over downtown?
Good question. Here’s another question I got hit with this past week: why are you demonizing anyone who disagrees with your outlook on downtown development?
Ouch. That second one hurt. But I won’t say it’s a bad question. It is one that gives me pause.
That’s not my intention here folks. In the battle over the SandRidge Commons project, I don’t see it as good guys and bad guys. I see it as “are all the right questions being asked? Is there a thoughtful deliberation going on before decisions are made?”
I have asked questions and posed challenges that I know have irritated people I like, admire and respect at SandRidge. This is unfortunate, but it also goes to show I’ll do this sort of thing regardless of the subject. Some of my closest friends will point out that I give them the hardest time and subject them to the worst scrutiny.
That’s my job. I’ve also caused some grief to the “underdogs” in this fight – the preservationists fighting the SandRidge demolition plans.
But I’m not trying to “demonize” any of these folks. Truth be told, we could have ended up with a situation where an entire block became blighted, where the north half of the central business district could have entered a slow death.
So let’s answer that first question.
First off, the block would be miserable. Efforts by Rick Dowell to revive the old Midland Mortgage Building would have been more likely to fail being next to an abandoned Kerr-McGee block. Dowell reports that interest is picking up in his long empty building – itself one of Kerr-McGee’s better contributions to the skyline in the 1960s – thanks to the SandRidge Commons plans.
I believe Rick. And for those of you who don’t know Rick, trust me when I say he has never shown an interest in insincerity. He says what he thinks, and doesn’t really care at all (sometimes to his detriment) about how the rich and powerful might be annoyed by his remarks.
If SandRidge had never come downtown, Rick Dowell’s building would likely remain empty for years to come. If it comes to life over the next couple of years, as he anticipates it will, then it’s not a big jump in logic to credit part of that revival to SandRidge.
One can not fully appreciate SandRidge’s renovation of the main tower itself. It was badly outdated. The decor was straight out of the 1970s with horrible retractable wall systems. It was an ominous place even when Kerr-McGee was still around.
Renovations aren’t complete, but what’s been done seems to impress all who see the tower. And the workforce is happy, vibrant and part of the downtown community. That can’t be said about Kerr-McGee for it’s final dozen years. It was a tomb, a depressing and oppressive environment for those who visited.
We also know that the SandRidge Commons plan isn’t all demolition. By all accounts the planned renovation of the Braniff Building is a stellar example of proper preservation (of course we won’t know everything until it’s done). And the company is planning no ordinary piece of architecture to replace the 120 N Robinson building (the combined parking and office structure that was once home to the Petroleum Club).
So what we may have here is a bit of inadequate public relations. Or maybe it’s to SandRidge Energy’s credit that nobody with the company has pulled the line of “just be grateful we came downtown.”
They could have.
Here’s another odd bit: when members of the Triangle Development group had the deal to renovate the older Kerr-McGee properties into housing, they had gotten so far as to get tax increment financing to tear down the former YMCA building and its connector structure to the old Kermac Building. The partners also were hinting, but not saying, that they had no intention to rush into renovating or preserving the old India Temple Building (privately they were saying the same things being said now by SandRidge).
So why was there no protest then? Essentially the Triangle Group was only proposing to save one more building (Kermac) than what’s being saved and renovated by SandRidge. But under that scenario we’d still have a dying Kerr-McGee tower that had fewer and fewer people inside and was adding less and less to the neighborhood.
Maybe I should have written this post sooner. But I was counting on SandRidge Energy making its own case and pointing out the obvious. It didn’t happen. So here it is – feel free to now debate and throw more tomatoes at the author.
Urgent News: Emerson School
Hi Steve! I know Jeff Bezdek has sent some Emerson School photos to you, and I hope you saw the “Point of View” article in today’s Oklahoman from Linda Terrell, the E.D. of my organization, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy.
We understand that the OKC School Board will vote on the two MAPS for Kids “options” for the Emerson School renovation at their regular board meeting this Monday, April 19 (5:30 p.m. at 900 N. Klein). The only viable course to pursue is Option 2 — removing the 25-year-old deteriorating (and rodent-infested) portable buildings and build a new wing that meets the needs of the program for pregnant and parenting students and the other alternative education program for students who, for various reasons, are not able to be in their regular school setting.
As you know from attending the January community meeting, the initial design for Option 2 was not created with any input from students, teachers, administrators, or the community. The designers said it was based on a “typical” high school, and it clearly did not reflect the “best practice” thinking re: the needs of alternative education or programs for pregnant/parenting students.
Bottom line for the school district: It has the funds and the opportunity to take the 100+ year-old school facility and create a learning center that will help some of the district’s most challenged young people (academically and in their person life situations) complete their education, graduate from high school, and get their lives back on a positive and hopeful path. Last spring, the Oklahoma state legislative leaders removed the funding for the on-site health clinic at Emerson that provided important pre and post-natal education and services for over 200 pregnant and parenting students and their babies — some of the youngest, poorest and neediest parents in the state. This spring, our community can start rebuilding the school to better meet the needs of those young people and their babies.
Bottom line for the city and downtown/midtown redevelopment: We have the opportunity to transform Emerson School — inside, through MAPS for Kids funding — and outside, as part of the overall plan for streetscape/landscape improvements.
Thanks so much! – Sharon Rodine
Youth Initiatives Director
Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy
STEVE’S COMMENTS: Remember how voters were promised in the MAPS for Kids campaign that all of these trailers would disappear from Oklahoma City Public Schools? It would be interesting to hear what former Mayor Kirk Humphreys and current Mayor Mick Cornett has to say about this.
Here is what I wrote in January:
Options seem limited for downtown school
By Steve Lackmeyer
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Edition: CITY, Section: BUSINESS, Page 8B
Angela Banks, 16, likely will never get to enjoy learning in an Emerson High School renovated by MAPS for Kids.
But that didn’t stop the student from participating in an hourlong public forum last week in which residents, educators and civic leaders discussed what should be done with one of the city’s oldest schools.
Some decisions already have been made — most notably that the former elementary will remain an alternative high school for teen moms and troubled students, even though it has no gymnasium or other accommodations found at other high schools. And educators would prefer to see the two programs separated, but plans that keep the two programs together are proceeding.
When the school was built in 1911 at 715 N Walker Ave., residents questioned why it was being built so far away from downtown and out in the country. Now, it’s truly the only school considered to be downtown.
Yet it is truly a step-child in the MAPS for Kids program. Remember the promises made that no “temporary” metal shack buildings will remain when MAPS for Kids is completed? Apparently that’s not quite the case for the kids at Emerson.
Banks told designers the outside buildings are cold, and are a poor place to learn with walls proving to be too thin to block outside noise. Yet, under design option 1, the outside buildings remain in place. But program manager Bob Myers with Architectural Design Group promised Banks and fellow students they are pushing for option 2, in which the outside buildings are eliminated for good.
For downtowners, these shacks are a simple annoyance — an eyesore that sticks out more and more as the surrounding area is redeveloped.
But the shacks represent that so many more needs exist for these kids — young moms and dads who are still trying to complete their education.
More space is needed for the attached day care, and the young expectant mothers would love to see the return of an on-site clinic.
Banks and fellow students also would love to see the same sort of physical education accommodations provided at other high schools. One must wonder whether more could be accomplished by building an all-new high school for these kids with special needs and let the building go back to being an elementary.
All of this, meanwhile, is of interest to nearby developers who would have preferred to see Emerson turned back into an elementary since one is promised as part of MAPS for Kids.
But if last week is any hint of where things are heading, that option has quietly been taken off the table (if it were ever there at all), and those who follow Banks still will attend a school that might have made a great elementary but still won’t be up to the standards set for other high schools.
