Sunday Flashback: Mary Jo Takes on Downtown Architecture
Flashback doesn’t get any better than when it features a story by the late great Mary Jo Nelson. If you like what I do, credit her. If you don’t like what I do, then blame me, because no matter what I still fall short of the standard she set over 40 some-odd years.
I was lucky to have known her, to have learned just a fraction of not just what she knew, but how she went about telling stories and also creating the sort of community discussion that made this a better place to live. She was all about urbanism when urbanism wasn’t cool. She was all about old buildings and architecture when they weren’t cool either.
I miss the anxiety I felt whenever my phone rang and it was Mary Jo saying “Steve, this is Mary Jo. About that Century Center Mall story you just wrote …” And then I’d wait. Did I screw something up? If I had, she’d nail me on it. She knew EVERYTHING. And when she was happy with my work, well, that was just great.
The downtown skyline as Mary Jo Nelson saw it during her days covering downtown after the end of the I.M. Pei era.
Bricktown Project Is Applauded, But-Noted Architect Critical of City’s Downtown Buildings
By Mary Jo Nelson
Sunday, November 21, 1982Oklahoma City’s latest downtown buildings are “just terrible,” in the eyes of one world-renowned architectural critic.
Hiroshi Watanabe, author of several books and critic for leading art and design journals, candidly describes much of the downtown urban renewal area as “awful.”
But he did praise its plazas, parks and restorations.Given a special tour during a visit here, Watanabe found it “quite informative,” but was not favorably impressed by most new construction. He did find Bricktown, being restored by local developer Neal Horton “very exciting” and called Myriad Gardens and Kerr Park “tremendous.”
Generally, though, he found little to praise in the building architecture.
“Not too much, I’m afraid,” was the designer/planner/critic’s description of how he liked office buildings and other replacements for scores of destroyed structures.
He saw “nothing particularly striking” in the Liberty Tower and Fidelity Bank buildings. But he praised their setbacks, plazas and use of sculpture and flagpoles.
The Kerr-McGee Tower was a building high point. “It’s all right,” he said, giving a solid positive ring to the “all right”. He said it was “very nicely done” and fit into the general scheme of good design. He especially liked its plaza and the tie to Kerr Park.
His harshest criticism was reserved for the three newest downtown structures Mid-America Building, American First and First Oklahoma Towers particularly the 32-story First Oklahoma.
“The office buildings all sort of merge. They are really awful,” he said. Why would the designers, some famous for other works, turn out such creations? Could it have been that the out-of-state architects assigned lesser importance to an Oklahoma project?
“I don’t think they were that cynical. I think they have done very good buildings elsewhere,” said the U.S.-educated native of Japan.
Then he defended the architects in part: “They don’t have a scale to work with. I suppose they weren’t responsible for tearing down what you once had.” Reminded that I.M. Pei, who fashioned the American First Tower, also authored the Pei Plan that destroyed scores of downtown buildings and replaced them with new ones, Watanabe had no answer.
Mostly concrete and glass, the new buildings were seen as an extension of the international/modern movement, which Watanabe acknowledged has fallen into disfavor with much of the worldwide architectural community.
“They are isolated towers, criss-crossed by service roads. They are isolated from the people they are supposed to be for. There is no place for pedestrians. They’re just islands.”
In some instances, he said, the new buildings “turn their backs” on people.
Vincent Carrozza, Dallas developer of the office towers, declined to respond. “I don’t thing I can comment. That is for architects to comment to each other about,” he said.
Response was sought but was not forthcoming immediately from I.M. Pei & Partners in New York and Morris/Aubrey Architects in Houston, designers of First Oklahoma and American First buildings.
Watanabe admired styling and siting of the county courthouse and city hall, but particularly disapproved of placing so many parking garages in the heart of the city. He suggested a better solution would have been to build them on the fringe of downtown and run shuttle buses to the core.
The critic also found the lack of shops and stores deplorable, a deficiency Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority officials recognize and have been attempting to remedy for years.
“What really excited me downtown was Bricktown,” he said. “That is going to be very impressive.” He said some other major North American cities have done restorations similar to the old brick-street warehouse district where developer Horton is restoring several blocks of early statehood buildings.
“The fact that the brickwork is part of the city’s history makes it unique,” the critic said. An apparent lack of concern for history is a flaw in the Oklahoma City urban renewal plan, he believes.
“I think more of a concern for the city’s history might have been shown. I can’t say what quality or historical value the (torn-down) buildings had, but I understand that now there is a continuing effort to save what is left. This should be strengthened and encouraged.”
Watanabe sees the future Myriad Gardens, now under construction, as a “tremendous asset” to downtown. He snapped many pictures of the Gardens and Kerr Park, to be shown to Japanese audiences.
He praised the interior of Sheraton Century Center, but made no comment on its exterior. Restorations of the Skirvin Plaza Hotel, the old Black Hotel, the Montgomery Ward and Harbour Longmire buildings on Main Street were seen as “excellent” and “outstanding.” But he said it was a “negative” to close Main Street at Robinson. That shuts out people, he said.
Although Watanabe didn’t like all of the new downtown, he found other parts of the metropolitan area “very exciting.” Among these was another urban renewal project, the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The capitol complex also was highly approved, and he was especially delighted with the oil wells on the capitol grounds. He called the Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Center an outstanding design.
“This is the type of building that will be of great importance in the future,” he said.
For another, he thrilled to see several Bruce Goff-designed houses, if only from the outside and, in the case of the Ledbetter House in Norman, in the rain.
“I could only see the top of the Bavinger House (in Norman) from the road, but it was exciting anyway.” He also considered the Goff “seven gables” house near Penn Square a high point.
Some of Watanabe’s most enthusiastic praise came in Heritage Hills, a preservation neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The author of several books, Watanabe has been widely published in Asia, North America and Europe. He is a critic for the American Institute of Architects Journal, Asian Wall Street Journal, Japan Times, ARTnews, the Encyclopedia of Japan, and, until recently, Progressive Architecture, a the leading U.S. architectural design magazine.
New Bricktown Fire Station Designs
Something looks familiar here - I wonder if the architects at the Small Group can provide us some guidence.
When we last heard from the Oklahoma City Fire Department, they swore changes were on their way for a station to be built in Bricktown. Say goodbye to the design by Norman-based LWPB that resembled a station recently opened in Mustang. Fire Chief Keith Bryant promised the new Bricktown fire station would be designed to fit into the district as well as the much praised Bricktown Police Substation.
It’s always interesting to then see how designers try to carry out such a promise. Here, in case you’re interested, is the Bricktown Police Substation:
Bricktown Police Substation Designed by The Small Group.
The Bricktown Urban Design Committee is being asked to approve these designs at it’s meeting Wednesday. The group meets at 9 a.m. in the Glass/Confectionary building at 116 E Sheridan in the second floor board room.
The planning department report advises approval even though it acknowledges the setback is suburban.
The New OMRF Tower
Nice, very nice. One can’t underestimate the role that the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has played on downtown’s resurgence. Plans are being unveiled today for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s new tower.
Read about here, and watch the following video:
Urban Renewal: The Blooming of the Myriad Gardens
Dennis Wells, you are the man. Just when I start to spiral into that dreaded blogger burnout, you provide me with exactly what I need to get going again.
So let’s get this discussion started. First, those of you who have attended presentations by Jack Money and I on our book, “OKC Second Time Around,” might recall that one of our favorite lines is that the 1993 MAPS initiative was a trick – that it was very much a revival of the much hated Urban Renewal program. Further, it has always seemed as if the Myriad Gardens, and the 1989 relocation of the Spring Arts Festival, might have provided the opening for this “trick” to be played.
So imagine my amusement when Dennis today emailed an article from the latest issue of Architect magazine. I think I’ll let do the story do the rest of the talking here and then we’ll pick up the discussion in the comments that follow:
Past Progressives: Greening the City
1973 P/A Award: Myriad Botanical Gardens, Conklin & Rossant
Source: ARCHITECT Magazine
Publication date: March 1, 2009
When the 1973 P/A Awards jury met, the era of federally funded urban renewal was ending, but the dream of transforming urban downtowns remained compelling. The Myriad Gardens plan for Oklahoma City received a rarely bestowed First Award.
The scheme departed radically from renewal precedents by proposing a downtown botanical garden. Its architects, Conklin & Rossant of New York, hadn’t been asked to design a garden, but rather to propose uses for a 17-acre renewal tract. They won the commission with their concept of exposing an underground watercourse as a pond, then bridging it with a conservatory.
Then
|
Joseph Mills
Now
|
Architect William Conklin reports that the P/A Award gave crucial encouragement to civic leaders and donors hoping to expand on the design prestige generated by juror John Johansen’s 1970 Mummers Theater on an adjoining block. Fundraising for the gardens suffered from the vagaries of Oklahoma’s oil-based economy. Construction of the conservatory took place from 1981 to 1985, but its tropical plantings weren’t ready for public view until 1988.
Many planned ancillary facilities such as restaurants, galleries, and cinemas were eliminated—and aren’t missed. One surviving feature is a pond-side amphitheater, site of a popular annual Shakespeare series. Ongoing renovations to the complex will soon include overdue replacement of the conservatory’s acrylic glazing.
The urban revival now apparent in Oklahoma City gathered momentum only in the 1990s, after the gardens were completed. Clearly, this unique amenity has helped to attract further investment and activity to this once-forlorn downtown.
1973 P/A Awards Jury: Arthur Erickson, Hugh Hardy, John Johansen, William LeMessurier, and Donald Stull
An Update on the Mayo
Yes, yes, I know it’s in downtown Tulsa, not in downtown Oklahoma City. And yes, I realize there are those of you who might take this post as a sign that OKC Central is being taken over by the Tulsa World. Now, relax, and take this as it’s intended – an interesting glimpse at the renovations underway at the Mayo Hotel in Tulsa. It’s a cool project, and the Mayo is to Tulsa what the Skirvin is to Oklahoma City. Both hotels share glorious pasts through the 1960s, only to be sadly neglected in the 1980s and 1990s. We all know about the Skirvin’s rebirth; it’s interesting to compare it to what’s underway at the Mayo.
The player, by the way, is a bit weird. Just hit the first button on the left bottom row that says “Mayo.”
Redefining/Defining a Neighborhood
Oh my, oh my. I would not have wanted to be John Yoeckel today.
For those of you who don’t know John, he’s a well respected civic leader and a member of the city’s Board of Adjustment.
It’s his job to make someone very, very happy or very, very unhappy. Sometimes his vote, along with three other board members, can end up with both results.
Today was one of those days. And oh, how difficult it was to face disappointing either side.
On both sides you had top notch attorneys and well-known architects and urban pioneers.
Both sides represent residents of a MidTown neighborhood who clearly love their community, are doing everything to bring it back to life, and yet can’t even agree what to call it or what it should be.
Yeah, this was a fun case – and the stakes were nothing less than the redefinition of a neighborhood.
The neighborhood in question is defined as follows by the MidTown Association:
Located in the west central portion of MidTown, the Cottage District is characterized by older single family cottages and bungalows. This area contains Red Andrews Park and Municipal Gym, Emerson
School, and considerable amounts of vacant land.
So, let’s meet the two sides:
SoSA (South of Saint Anthony) Neighborhood: Architect Dennis Wells coined the proposed renaming of “the Cottage District,” noting its eclectic mix does not match its name. And indeed, long before this battle began I wrote a story noting the diversity of this neighborhood. Wells allies include architect Bryan Fitzsimmons, who like Wells has recently built a modern home in area that certainly isn’t your standard Dallas style suburban home in Deer Creek.
Cottage District: Randy Floyd and Michael Smith were pioneers in this neighborhood long before Wells and Fitzsimmons. They took a chance on a row of territorial era homes, and their renovations showed that the neighborhood once overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes was ready for a revival. And now for some history:If you go to Bricktown, there is enough urban fabric (brick warehouses) that one can say “this is the area’s character, here’s how it should guide designs for new construction and renovations.” Same can be said for Automobile Alley and the Asian District. But how does one judge the Cottage District/SoSA?Do we judge the area and set design guidelines based on the neighborhood’s original housing stock? That’s a problem for some because so many of the homes were torn down and left as either empty lots, or rebuilt as …
Modern Design Homes.
Yep, the neighborhood has plenty of it. The Classen Glen condominiums set the tone a quarter century ago and Fitzsimmons put an exclamation point on it with his own new home a few years back.
Then came Wells, and now comes yet another proposed modern home.The home, designed for Bill Lovallo by Fitzsimmons, is a two-story, 1,730-square-foot house that would sit atop a sloped lot at 825 NW 7. And while the home lines up with others on the street, a second level fronted with glass panels would face out closer to the street than most of the other homes.
Smith and Floyd argued at a November meeting of the Urban Design Commission that the project violated the neighborhood’s setback requirements. But Lovallo and Fitzsimmons responded that it was in line with at least one other home at NW 7 and Shartel.
That home, an older structure that went through a renovation deemed substandard by many in the neighborhood, was promptly declared an anomaly by Smith and Floyd as they sought to overturn the design committee’s ruling to the Board of Adjustment on Thursday.Smith and Floyd were represented by attorney Leslie Batchelor, who is also a well known innercity advocate and civic leader.
Lovallo and Fitzsimmons, meanwhile, were represented by high-powered and respected attorney Michael Laird, who is also no stranger to urban issues.
Watching the proceedings, I knew that John Yoeckel would end up being the first guy to show his hand. He spoke of his admiration for both sides, and then he announced his vote – he would uphold Randy Floyd’s challenge. He cited the city’s original zoning intent and setbacks as being more important than the anomaly at 829 NW 7.
Next up, board member Stephen Dobbs, who noted there is no allowance for exclusions of “anomalies.”The vote is 1-1. And the deciding vote is left up to Rod Baker, who was absent, and David Wanzer, who had to recuse himself due to ties to Fitzsimmons.
And so we wait for yet another day on this matter to be decided. And one can only imagine the fun John will have at the next downtown social.
Learning About Film Row and the Film Exchange
For those who follow this blog and my column, you know I’ve written qutie a bit about the potential of a School of Rock making the old Fred Jones Ford factory its long-term future home. But like many people, I got tripped up on whether to refer to the area as Film Row or the Film Exchange. Developer Chip Fudge recently wrote and offered the following bit of education on the area:
Dear Steve:
Thank you for all of the recent press regarding the Film Exchange District and Historic Film Row.We love the idea of UCO’s collaboration for the “School of Rock”.
I believe Roger Webb and Scott Booker have a very forward thinking vision for this type of public/private partnership and it will be great for our community.
It dawned on me that we have done a poor job of explaining the difference between “The Film Exchange District” and “Historic Film Row”. The District is shaped like a piano (see attachment in orange) and borders Classen on the West, Hudson and Walker on the East, the Arts District on the North and the new I-40/Boulevard on the South. It encompasses a much larger area than Film Row.
“Historic Film Row” refers to the two block area on the 600 and 700 blocks of Sheridan extending North and South from California to Main. “Historic Film Row” is the specific area that was placed on the National Historic Register last year with a great deal of help from the State Historic Preservation office and the documented historical significance by local designer David Wanzer. Historic Film Row was the home of various movie houses: 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, M-G-M Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Republic Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, United Artists, Universal Pictures, and Warner Brothers. They used these properties to screen the new films and exchange or distribute them to regional theaters.
Besides the great historic buildings in our District, the area comes with a variety of tax incentives for owners and developers, new market tax credits, state and federal rehabilitation tax credits for historically significant properties, and many employee related tax incentives for companies that relocate to our District.
I am sending this email to Fred and Kirk Hall, along with your article from December 2nd, so that they are in the loop. Feel free to use any or all of this information in any future articles as you wish.
Finally, this project would not have progressed to this point without all of the help from the City of Oklahoma City, specifically Robbie Kienzle, Brent Bryant, Cathy O’Connor, Ann Simank, and many others. As we have discussed in the past, I do not consider myself much of a developer. I have a day job that keeps me busy.
I like to put back together older properties for fun and sometimes for profit. One added benefit has been the education I have received about our homeless issue. I had the opportunity to serve on the Mayor’s “Homeless Task Force” committee and we have great communication with Tom Jones of City Rescue, Dan Straughan of the Homeless Alliance, and now Tim Ulrich of the Refuge Oklahoma City Mission. The Hart building and parking lots will be the anchor of the West end of our District, directly across the street from City Rescue. The bottom line, we are comfortable with our office next to the homeless shelters.
Thanks again for your support. I know we both have a love of the rich history of the great historic buildings in our community. I will keep you posted on all future progress.
Sincerely, John M. “Chip” Fudge
Businessman, Part-time Developer
Watch the Bricktown Fire Station Discussion
Watch the council discussion of the Bricktown fire station by going to this link and fast forwarding to 11:30 on the time bar.
What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
“That picture we have, we’re not happy with it. It’s not what we want to build.”
That’s a quote from my conversation today with Deputy Fire Chief Cecil Clay concerning renderings of the proposed Bricktown fire station – drawings that were submitted to the Oklahoma City Council for approval of preliminary design and an ok to move forward with bringing them to final design.
The conversation was like he was speaking Greek and I was speaking Chinese. Both Clay and Fire Chief Keith Bryant said today they want a station that will fit into Bricktown. He kept insisting that I needed to see the drawings of what the interior set-up will be. I kept trying to explain the interiors are of no concern to Bricktown Urban Design or my readers and that they were concerned with the exterior. He kept saying that the exteriors at this stage don’t matter – that they weren’t important to what was being submitted to the city council. I got no impression that they truly understand what it might mean to design a building that is an appropriate fit for a historic urban design district.
Here’s an email I sent to Clay after the conversation:
Cecil, thanks for visiting with me today about the Bricktown fire station design. The following is what I took out of our conversation:
1. The Oklahoma City Fire Department will submit the fire station design to Bricktown Urban Design when the design meets with fire administration approval.
2. The Oklahoma City Fire Department realizes it might have to make substantial changes to the station design if it is rejected by Bricktown Urban Design.
3. You’re not sure how the drawings I posted on the blog were included in the request for approval of preliminary design submitted today to the Oklahoma City Council. You said the council could have approved preliminary design without any exterior renderings.
4. You said the designs I posted are not acceptable to fire administration (something repeated to me earlier today by Chief Keith Bryant).
5. You said changes might include globes and a tower similar to features on the Bricktown police substation.
6. You said the existing station at NE 8 and Lincoln is outdated and can’t be rebuilt at the current site because that land is being requested by the OU Medical Center/Oklahoma Health Center.
7. You said no other locations could be found around Bricktown and no land could be bought along the industrial corridor along nearby E Reno.
8. You said the fire adminstration’s focus has been on interior function. You said that like many houses being built today, you can place any exterior around an interior once the interior is set.
9. You said the pitched metal roof shown on the station design is in keeping with the historic Bricktown warehouse look and that it would be more cost effective on long-term maintenance.
10. You said that to service the people who visit Bricktown, the station needs to be in Bricktown.
11. You said that cost restraints are an issue with this project.
12. You said Bricktown is an appropriate location for a fire station.
13. You said the cost and time needed to redesign won’t be cited as a reason to refuse any changes that might be cited by the Bricktown Urban Design Committee.
14. You said the architects, LWPB, were selected for their experience designing fire stations, and acknowledged you had no awareness of any experience they might have designing structures within historic districts.
Here is Deputy Clay’s response:
Steve,I would once again bring up the fact that the Brick Town Station was voted on in the 2000 bond.
The bond issue stated the station was for the Brick Town area and the bond was listed funds.
I would again let you know I’m available to go over everything I have done on this project.
Deputy Chief
Cecil W. Clay
Oklahoma City Fire Department
405/297-3314 Office
Respond Quickly, Safely, Courteously– Meet the Need!
Why Am I Not Surprised?
So here’s the latest on the Bricktown fire station designs. Avis Scaramucci, chair of the Bricktown Association and a member of the Bricktown Design Review Committee, spoke late this afternoon with City Manager Jim Couch.
Now, before I tell you what Couch had to say, consider the following:
- I was told by Assistant City Planner Susan Miller the project should have been submitted to the Bricktown Design Review Committee and was uncertain why it hadn’t been.
- Fire Chief Keith Bryant told me he’s not ready for this preliminary design to be submitted to the Bricktown Design Review Committee. He said he wanted to make sure the designs were complete before sending them to the committee. So, the council is being asked Tuesday to approve preliminary designs without the benefit of knowing whether Bricktown might hate them or whether they’re any good. And Bryant is to have us believe that the city is prepared to scrap the “final” designs and start from scratch if they are rejected by the urban design committee. History tells me that if the design committee were to balk, they’d be told it’s too late and too much time and money has been spent to start over.
- Public Works Director Dennis Clowers pretty much said the same as Bryant, adding the project went significantly over budget already. Does that indicate to you the city would have the resources to start over again once the designs are complete?
So now let’s move onto Avis Scaramucci’s conversation with Jim Couch. He told her it’s city policy to have council approve project designs first, and then have them go to design review committees. If this is policy, it must be fairly new because I’m not so certain I’ve seen it in practiced previously. And come to think of it, I’d be curious as to whether the Walnut Avenue bridge, or the Bricktown police substation ever went through design review.
What I do know is that city staff isn’t perfect. They make mistakes. I make mistakes. I do know the city hasn’t always played by the rules its imposed on the private side. I’ve seen privately sponsored public art projects grind to a virtual halt going through the tedius oversight of the Oklahoma City Arts Commission. No such delays were encountered with the Land Run Monument – city staff simply skipped the commission altogether.
I’m not sure if the city intended to skip Bricktown Urban Design or not. But I do question the logic of having the city council approve preliminary designs and allow them to be finalized without knowing that they are being critized within Bricktown. I’ll be at City Hall in the morning – maybe someone will educate me then.
