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OK, coffee talk time: should Oklahoma City approach Core to Shore as it did downtown in the 1960s - acquire the entire area, clear it and start again? Or is a more nuianced approach called for? Or should it leave the area’s fate to private developers and land owners?

You win some, you lose some. Sadly, I was unable to get all the images into the paper that I wish I could have - so here they are without any further delay. Above, Stan Carroll and Hans Butzer, lead designers of the proposed “SkyDance Bridge” being considered today by the city council.

The SkyDance Bridge will connect two proposed parks in Core to Shore.

At night.

I’m having some pretty interesting conversations with people in the know today. They’re saying yesterday’s Devon tower unveiling makes it more and more likely we will see more high-rises announced nearby.

But where? Who? When?

I’m back at my old stomping grounds - City Hall - awaiting to hear presentation of the Bricktown parking study.

ODOT engineer John Bowman is at the podium right now giving an update on the relocation of the Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway. He says the project is on track for completion in 2012. He also warned significant traffic disruptions are about to begin with closures along Western Avenue and Agnew Avenue. He said the worst of it will hit in about a year.

Sounds like almost all of the construction phases are either underway or very close to starting.

And wouldn’t it be great to have one next to a Ferris Wheel and a Merry-Go-Round like the park at Fort Smith I featured a couple weeks back? Yes, Grant, I’m throwing another idea at you.

Of course, the question is, how would one go about even finding and buying one of these remnants of Americana?

Well, I’m here to help. Go here.

It was at one of the very first mayors roundtables, several years ago, that I first got a glimpse of what we’re now seeing as the transformation of the Flat Iron and Deep Deuce areas into a real downtown neighborhood.

And yes, again, it was at another roundtable that it became clear the city was going to aggressively seek development of the area we now know as Core to Shore.

So what’s next?

Here’s the advance for next week’s Mayors Roundtable from the city:

Developers, contractors, design professionals and government leaders interested in learning about future housing demand and the development of a Central Park-like space in downtown Oklahoma City can register now through May 12 for the seventh annual Mayor’s Development Roundtable.  The Roundtable will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 14 at the Cox Business Services Convention Center. Real estate market expert Laurie Volk will kick off the event with a session called “Changing Markets and the New Housing Paradigm.” 

Volk is co-director of Zimmerman/Volk Associates, a New Jersey-based market research firm specializing in urban development and redevelopment.

The second session will feature Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence for the Trust for Public Land in Washington, D.C.  Harnik, who is the author of Inside City Parks, a book about the park system in the 25 largest cities in the U.S. and The Excellent City Park System:  What Makes it Great and How to Get There, will discuss development opportunities related to a proposed park in downtown Oklahoma City. Mayor Cornett will facilitate roundtable discussion with speakers, attendees and local experts after each session. 

The Mayor will close the conference by presenting an Award for Outstanding Development in Oklahoma City. Registration is $65 and includes breakfast and lunch.

 Register online by May 12 at www.okc.gov/planning/roundtable.

Doing something better than iconic.  That’s the vision of architectural students I met with earlier this week at the studio of Hans Butzer along Film Row.  The story is here.

The top three sketches are by OU architectural student Brent Gathright, who is also known as BG918 at www.okctalk.com

OU architectural student Kimberly Monroe envisions a convention center that would collect rainwater from the roof and circulate it in an interior courtyard, as shown below.

Kyung Namgoong drew her inspiration from the city’s terrain:

Grant Humphreys submitted the winning bid for the Ferris Wheel at the legendary Santa Monica Pier. I’ve got what no other television station or newspaper has - an interview with Grant. Full story in tomorrow’s paper and at www.newsok.com.

Check in with www.newsok.com later today for more details. You might even find some other very interesting stories posted later in the day.

I’m off chasing news today, so this might be my last post for a while.

-Steve

I’m moving this from being a comment to a post because it deserves a good discussion here and elsewhere. Let’s start with what was said by Grant Humphreys (developer of Block 42, the Flatiron and the former Downtown Airpark site): 

Been wanting to share an opinion with you regarding a possible (probable?) MAPS III project. I have read several times (including in your articles) the prospect of MAPS III including construction of a new convention center.

My feeling is the City should approach this with great caution. I believe many resident will respond as I do - which is, we spent a bunch of money renovating the Myriad to Cox, it looks great. If more convention space is needed for continued economic growth downtown I think the City will need to make a very quantified, data-driven case for that.

My thought is, why would developing / filling in the “bowl” of Cox not generate sufficient additional convention space for much less than building an entirely new one? Wouldn’t a new convention center in addition to Cox create a glut of convention space at least relative to the downtown hotel space? I think it would be better to designate a piece of real-estate in Core to Shore for a potential new convention center but NOT make it part of MAPS III.

On one other MAPS III note, I think it would be a VERY good idea to include an outdoor amphitheater as part of the Core to Shore space. Look at downtown Chicago and their Millenneum Park. That’s a great venue and OKC could be just as good as that!

Good question. The old Myriad Arena is yet another unresolved issue from the original MAPS projects - one that a lot of people never fully understood. At one time city leaders were hoping to convert part or all of the arena “bowl” into additional convention space, but the project ran into two obstacles. The first, and primary obstacle, was money. MAPS was ballpark guess at funding needs when the items were placed on the ballot. The costs for the convention center were already way over budget and the idea of converting the arena bowl was quickly shelved. All along, the All Sports Association and other sporting groups contended the city could benefit from keeping the old arena open - and operating across the street from the new Ford Center arena.

At first that contention wasn’t given much consideration. But then came along the Big 12 Basketball championships, and the idea of having men at Ford Center and women at the Cox Arena was a huge hit that put OKC into regular contention for future championships.

So now, the question is, if the old arena bowl were to be converted into more convention space, what would happen to the city’s chances of luring back the Big 12? Would they be happy with the women’s teams playing at State Fair Arena? Or would the magic be lost? Mayor Mick Cornett himself commented that really, if one were to build a convention center right now, the current spot would likely still be the very best choice.

Choices, choices, choices…..