New Views of the Skydance Pedestrian Bridge
We’ve seen lots of photos of the Skydance bridge as it’s gone up over the new Interstate 40. But have you seen it lit up? These photos were first posted at OKC Talk, and permission has been given to post them at OKC Central.
Let the Day Begin
New Views of OKC
Thanks to the NBA, an entirely new image of Oklahoma City is going out nationwide. We’ve enjoyed the Nike/Kevin Durant commercials. Now we’ve got some great new shots going out during tonight’s nationally televised NBA game on TNT thanks to the Thunder. This is a nighttime view of the new Devon Ice Rink at the Myriad Gardens I saw for the first time ever – on TNT.
Define “Major League City”
Here is one definition: when the downtown OKC skyline is prominently featured as the last image you see in a national campaign ad that is a montage of basketball being played in some of the nation’s greatest cities.
Merry Christmas!
Wow
(Thanks to Will Hider for bringing this clip to our attention!)
The Story Behind the Crown Heights Menorah
State Sen. Andrew Rice brought back a fond memory for me as he challenged me to answer a trivia question: where in OKC is a lighted public Menorah? I not only knew the answer, but I also knew the story behind it. Mark was a good friend, and I miss him dearly. Matt Dinger did the story shortly after Mark’s death at a time when I and others were still very much mourning his loss.
Mark’s legacy lives on … consider this warmest wish of a happy Hanukkah to all:
RABBI SAYS DISPLAY WAS ‘ONE OF THE WARMEST WELCOMES I HAD TO OKLAHOMA’
Legacy shines on in city community
HANUKKAH
FORMER CITY LEADER HONORED AT MENORAH-LIGHTING CEREMONY
By Matt Dinger
Staff Writer
mdinger@opubco.com
Monday, December 29, 2008
Mark Schwartz, Oklahoma City councilman and community leader, was honored in the ceremony at the Crown Heights Menorah in the median of Shartel Avenue at NW 40 on Sunday. Schwartz died Nov. 13 following an extended battle with prostate cancer. He was 58.
The Hanukkah prayer “Rock of Ages,” led by Dr. Ali Reshef, was sung while the servant candle, or shamas, and the eight peripheral candles were lighted following a brief address by Marcy Price, program director of the Jewish Federation in Oklahoma City.
Schwartz and neighbor Dan Schonwald constructed the menorah from steel pipe and electrical wiring in the late 80s, Price said, before working through the city council and neighborhood association to integrate the candelabrum into annual Hanukkah festivities. The menorah has been refurbished in bright colors by neighborhood artist, Robin Orbach, and rewired by the Krueger family.
Rabbi Ovadia Goldman said he was driving on an icy patch of Shartel Avenue a decade ago when he first saw the menorah shining on the grassy median. Goldman and his family moved to Oklahoma City from Brooklyn to help establish the Chabad Jewish Center in 1998.
“It was one of the warmest welcomes I had to Oklahoma. It was a very touching moment,” he said.
Schwartz and Price traveled with Gov. David Walters to Israel in 1992. He came back with plenty of stories and ideas to invigorate the community, Price said.
“He died too young. He had lots of vision. I miss his energy, love of life and inclusive attitude about community,” she said.
Schwartz served on the council between 1987 and 1998 in the city’s second ward. He is credited with helping pass a 1989 public safety sales tax used to hire additional police and firefighters and upgrade equipment.
Everybody, Sing Along!
Idea of the Day (My Gift to the Downtown Development Community)
Imagine a true draw for locals and tourists: start up a “Dad’s Slot Cars” shop just like the one in Chicago, only better. Because in an ideal world, this operation would merge with a new restaurant that recently opened up in Edmond, “The Fair.” Open this establishment along Automobile Alley, decorate the walls with photos of the area’s proud automotive history, and of course make sure you have the right entrepreneur/operator, and you may have a hit on your hands (this same mix, minus the Automobile Alley history, could easily be a hit as well in Bricktown).
Don’t say I never give you anything. Merry Christmas.
Project 180: What We’ll be Missing
It’s been a busy few weeks and I’m still trying to catch up on all that is happening downtown. We’ve seen a lot written about the cutbacks on Project 180. One early ambition that is apparently victim to all this is the desire to improve the intersection of NW 4, NW 3, E.K. Gaylord and Broadway.
A few years back Blair Humphreys, OKC’s own rising star on urban design and planning, suggested a change was long overdue for this intersection, a creation of the I.M. Pei Plan of the 1970s. Humphreys’ suggestion was rather simple: reconnect 3rd Street and Broadway, end E.K. Gaylord at 3rd where traffic either turns right or left instead of merging into one giant intersection with Broadway, 3rd and 4th Streets. Walkability Jeff Speck said a big “amen” to Blair’s concerns. Ironically, the project that prompted Blair to delve into the problems caused by this intersection, the construction of a new headquarters for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, appears to be in a deep freeze. But the issues for downtown commuters and pedestrians remain the same.
Here is what was proposed early on with Project 180:
Notice that when given a chance to pursue the fix proposed by Blair Humphreys and Jeff Speck, designers at the instruction of city staff went instead with a “dressing up” of the existing grid instead. Keep in mind, city staff was never enthused about the changes proposed by Humphreys and Speck.
So what’s next? Does this issue die all together?
