Core to Shore: More on the Story
News hole: space available for a story.
Journalism fact No. 1: the news hole is never big enough.
That in mind, I’m pointing you to a story I really hope you read in the Sunday paper about Core to Shore and the park being promoted by Mayor Mick Cornett. Read it here.
Then read these items that got left on the cutting floor:
- Mayor Mick Cornett and City Manager Jim Couch say they are concerned about the planned width of the boulevard, but they were not aware that the city will need to appeal the design with the Federal Highway Administration since it was a part of the environmental report done as part of required mitigation more than a decade ago.
- Cornett is pressing ahead with a vote at the Oklahoma City Council meeting on Tuesday to name the boulevard “Oklahoma City Boulevard.” The boulevard hasn’t been designed yet, there has been no public discussion or any independent branding or marketing experts brought in to help on naming what he has declared to be the future gateway into downtown. Ward 1 Councilman Gary Marrs noted this past week he doubts the boulevard will be completed by 2014, and even questions whether it will truly be funded in light of road construction funding cuts that hit the Oklahoma Department of Transportation this past legislative session
Go to http://www.40forward.com/ to see the latest video of the I-40 relocation. The Core to Shore area is shown as the helicopter hovers over Robinson Avenue.
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Comments
This is just another straw in a long line of straws. How much longer will the camels back withstand??? The entire situation, Core to Shore, Project 180, OKC Boulevard is so fraught with smarmy politics and smoke filled back room deals they all have lost credibility. We have the opportunity to fix the situation at election time.
Steve, thanks for the enlightening reporting. It seems like you’re the only conduit between the powers that be and the common citizens.
Not my city, but it sure would be nice to learn that a lot of OKC folks show up to the meeting to voice disagreement with calling that oversized road OKC Blvd. I’m thinking the mayor is a taco short of a combo plate on that one.
The hubbub of naming an unborn baby can be a diversion from questioning if it should have been conceived in the first place.
Does anyone know WHY a boulevard is required? Have alternate uses for that land been considered? Should all of it be used for a roadway?
Oklahoma River, Oklahoma City Arena, Oklahoma City Blvd. That is extremely redundant and unnecessary. The city should be able to represent itself without having its name plastered on every amenity. That just seems cheap.
Mike N: “We have the opportunity to fix the situation at election time.”
Are going to have to wait a while, the Mayor was re-elected not that long ago and half of the Council (3 of the 4 seats were Chamber rubber stamped backed candidates). Think the other half of the Council isn’t up for election for another 2 years??
Cornett makes me nervous. I don’t understand his rationale for many of the things he seems very focused on doing; when he’s pressed, he doesn’t give very credible answers, either.