The Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer covers downtown OKC brick by brick.

Before We Dismiss What Buildings Remain Standing in Core to Shore…

Candidates for Demolition? Not under Urban Renewal.

The same buildings today - home to the Deep Deuce apartments clubhouse.

The Littlepage Building - boarded up and ugly, right? Once again, the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority chose a new course of direction and required developers to build around the blight.

The Littlepage Building today - home to Sage Cafe and Gourmet Market, a corporate furnishings store and apartments upstairs.

Another building that needed a savior and could have been torn down in the name of progress.

All of these buildings could have been declared dead and targeted for the wrecking ball under the very same logic that apparently is being applied to Core to Shore. Now that we’ve seen what happened with the infusion of new development and a decision not to tear down old structures, let’s take another look at what’s left in Core to Shore.

Maybe it's easy to write this building off - the north facade's windows are broken and covered with graffiti as city officials have turned their backs on building maintenance in the area.

The same building in its heyday - once home to the Oklahoma City branch of International Harvester.

Another building that doesn't appear in any Core to Shore plans.

Yet another building not shown in Core to Shore plans.

Definitely not shown in Core to Shore plans. Once the original Film Exchange building.

For a city that claims to have learned from the demolition spree of the 1970s, it amazes me that there appears to be no discussion of this area bounded by I-40 and Shields Boulevard. These buildings could remain standing – if the city were to decide to build a convention center south of Lower Bricktown as proposed by former Mayor Kirk Humphreys.

To date the only explanation I’ve heard for building a new convention center south of Ford Center, and thus eliminating most or all of these buildings, is that the site south of Lower Bricktown might be too expensive and that “something must be done” as one City Hall source told me, with all the land that will be opened up by replacement of the elevated highway with an at-grade boulevard.

We also now know, thanks to a regular reader of this site, that the planning report on Core to Shore had this to say about the above buildings:

While no other buildings have the architectural significance of Little Flower Church and Union Station, several notable older buildings, such as the Latino Community Development Agency building, contribute to the character of the area and could be incorporated into development projects if economically feasible.”

Ah yes, so the experts have spoken. Of course, their forefathers also deemed the Criterion Theater, the Baum Building, Hales Building and many more not to be significant either. My hero, the late Mary Jo Nelson, wrote many a story challenging those experts. I think I’ll just let the photos and the history speak for themselves.

But let’s pretend city leaders were pursuing a different path for redevelopment of Core to Shore – one that left these buildings standing. Here’s the question folks – do you believe placing a boulevard through this area and sandwiching it between Bricktown, a new convention center and a central park will or will not spur the sort of private redevelopment and restoration work that took place with the addition of apartments in Deep Deuce?

(This post is dedicated to the memory of Mary Jo Nelson)

Good Times at Sage

Kevin and Charifa Smith hosted a grand opening party tonight at Sage in Deep Deuce and had a good showing that included a lot of familiar downtown residents. Yes, a community really is emerging here.

Deep Deuce History

After reading today’s story about Sage (with excellent photos by Bryan Terry), you might be interested in learning more about Deep Deuce. Doug Loudenback has an incredible web site, and he has what I agree is the definitive online history of the area.

Sage Arriving

This bar was bought from Architectural Antiques and it reportedly was removed from a downtown hotel before it was razed in the 1970s.

A closer look: the only identifying marks on the bar is this old ad for Camel cigarettes.

Here are more glimpses of Sage’s market and kitchen:

The Sage kitchen will be visible to both people shopping in the adjoining market and to passersby outside.

The Sage organic market will include vintage-style and antique display cases offering fruits, vegetables and other organic offerings.

Sometimes it's True

Ok, it’s time for me to fess up; when I first met Kevin and Charifa Smith, their effort to open a cafe and market in Deep Deuce seemed to good to be true. After all, they are among the nicest people I’ve met over these many years covering downtown (and I’ve met a lot of nice people). Their vision of a combined organic market and upscale cafe in the heart of Deep Deuce, is the sort of thing downtown residents have been clamoring for. Their story is both sad and yet a perfect display of taking a tragedy (the death of their first child) and finding a way to turn that grief into something good.

Like any significant downtown venture, delays were to be expected, and they did occur. And yet construction is well underway, and now the couple are giving a full view of what’s to come at their new website, www.sageokc.com.

With the Wedge and the Deep Deuce Grill already drawing in customers and a furnishings store for corporate relocations already operating in the district, Deep Deuce is rapidly transforming into what can truly be considered downtown’s first truly mixed-use neighborhood.

The Leslie

Forgive me for the delay in posting this information on The Leslie – the next housing project planned by Ron and Jason Bradshaw. Jason noticed questions at OKC Talk about the Leslie renderings and pricing information and he asked if I could help them by posting all of this at OKC Central.

So, without further delay…

Leslie South
Unit # Number of Bedrooms Levels Square Footage (MOL) Sales Price

BUILDING A

101-A 1 1 560 $99,900
102-A 1 1 560 $99,900
201-A 2 1 1153 $230,000
202-A 2 1 1153 $230,000
301-A 2 1 1153 $232,000
302-A 2/1 2 1330 $266,000

BUILDING B

101-B 1 1 560 $99,900
102-B 1 1 560 $99,900
201-B 2 1 1153 $230,000
202-B 2 1 1153 $230,000
301-B 2 1 1153 $232,000
302-B 2/1 2 1330 $266,000

BUILDING C

101-C 1 1 560 $99,900
102-C 1 1 560 $99,900
201-C 2 1 1153 $230,000
202-C 2 1 1153 $230,000
301-C 2 1 1153 $232,000
302-C 2/1 2 1330 $266,000

BUILDING D

101-D SOLD 1 1 560 SOLD
102-D SOLD 1 1 560 SOLD
201-D 2 1 1153 $230,000
202-D 2 1 1153 $230,000
301-D 2 1 1153 $232,000
302-D 2/1 2 1330 $266,000

I Don't Do Party Pics … But …

I guess it’s no big deal to share some shots I took last night during the debut party for Oklahoma Today’s all OKC issue at the new Iguana Mexican Grill at NW 9 and Broadway. 

Have fun and spot the downtown players … my spottings included Greg Banta visiting with Mickey Clagg (now that’s a discussion I’d like to listen in on), Bert Belanger, who was accompanied by a Houston apartment developer (just visiting, I’m sure), Chris and Meg Salyer, who I’ll bet are simply bewildered by the idea that Steve Mason has taken properties on the verge of collapse and spent millions to bring them back to life (this inside joke is a test on how much you know about the history of Automobile Alley), architect Rand Elliott and his wife Jeanette (still waiting to see what Kerr Park will look like), MidTown’s Arturo Chavez (quit following me!), the usual gang from Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., Skirvin Hilton General Manager John Williams, that crazy river guy Pat Downes, and many more.

Final note: Ah… free food and drink. Sure fire way to get a reporter in the room. This issue of Oklahoma Today is really impressive – it’s a nice recap of what’s going on downtown and throughout the city.

Grand Openings and Slights

Tom Elmore picks up on an old thread at www.okctalk.com today about the old railway depots downtown, and also recalls how railroad buffs who helped fight for preservation of the Walnut Avenue bridge weren’t invited to the grand opening of the rebuilt structure that links Bricktown and Deep Deuce.

I remember that day very well. City officials also chose to ignore the efforts of preservationists like Randy Floyd, who put in tremendous amounts of time fighting an effort by then City Engineer Paul Brum to raze the bridge and replace it with an at-grade crossing.

The city instead chose that day to honor Dr. G.E. Finley, who was a leader in nearby Deep Deuce but had nothing to do with the bridge’s history or preservation.

It was said that Paul Brum was more powerful than than the mayor or city manager. And while not naming names, I heard two mayors say just that. During my stint covering City Hall, it was always interesting to see projects like the new roads and intersections serving the Belle Isle shopping center completed rather quickly, while other projects – like the bridge and the conversion of downtown streets to two ways (now getting done eight years after they scheduled) drag on and on.

Were folks like Tom and Randy left off the guest list on purpose? It’s history now, but I wonder if it would be any different today?

And one last thought: over the years we’ve seen a small group of people fight to preserve landmark properties that weren’t always popular with the masses. While it seems everyone loves the Skirvin, attitudes were mixed on the Gold Dome (saved), the Walnut Avenue Bridge (saved), and the old YMCA (lost forever).

The names of the “building huggers” include Randy Floyd, Michael Smith, Marva Ellard, Todd Scott (he has since moved away), and Lisa Chronister (whom I also believe has moved away).

They’ve been quiet lately, and Randy Floyd, Michael Smith and Marva Ellard have all transitioned from protesting demolitions to redeveloping old properties.

Will a new generation rise up to take their place? Expect some properties with significant histories to be targeted for demolition soon. The question is, will anyone speak out?

More From Opening of Block 42

I had to work late Thursday, covering the grand opening of Block 42. Below, soon-to-be resident Dick Rodine shows off the view to former Mayor Kirk Humphreys.

More views of the Rodine residence:

All smiles for developer Grant Humphreys. His next project: the Flatiron.

“Oscar” greets visitors and residents as they enter into the main lobby of Block 42.

Get the Inside Scoop

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.

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