The New Devon Tower Gets a Place Marker on Google
Devon Tower makes Google maps. But where is everything else?
That means it’s got to be a done deal, right? Of course Google maps is still missing several new hotels, housing developments, two garages in its aerial photos. And when this photo was taken the Colcord was still Class C office space.
MAPS 3: The Renderings
Conceptual rendering of the new convention center.
Conceptual MAPS 3 rendering of streetcar.
Conceptual MAPS 3 rendering of proposed central park.
Conceptual rendering of MAPS 3 Oklahoma River improvements.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has launched its campaign site for MAPS 3 and it looks like the city council will vote 8-1 next week to send the ballot to voters. It’s always interesting to see the campaign renderings, though one must realize these renderings are just that – campaign renderings – and the project designs will likely change quite a bit before everything is said and done (assuming MAPS 3 passes).
These renderings show what’s being proposed for downtown. Despite assurances by the mayor and others that no site is chosen yet for the convention center, it’s interesting to note nobody is budging from the Core to Shore site. The folks in Bricktown are quite afraid city leaders won’t reconsider the site and will continue to put all their emphasis on Core to Shore at the expense of Bricktown restaurants and merchants. That said, the Bricktown Association is listed as endorsing the ballot on the www.yesformaps.com website by the chamber.
So what are your thoughts?
Coffee Talk: Transit
I’ve been battling a bad cold this week and I’m struggling to keep up with everything. Today I’m going to rely on you the readers to keep this site interesting. So, here goes… do you approve or disapprove of how MetroTransit has operated the Oklahoma Spirit rubber tire trolleys. If you disapprove, why, and then explain why or why not MetroTransit should be trusted to operate a streetcar system as is being proposed as part of the MAPS 3 ballot.
Ed Kelley on MAPS 3
Red Dirt Tonight at IAO
RED DIRT IMPROV – TONIGHT AT IAO
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Red Dirt Improv gives their first public shows since hosting Improv Festival Oklahoma this summer. The two shows are this Saturday, September 19th at the new IAO Gallery in Downtown Oklahoma City, 706 W Sheridan. Show times are 7:00 and 9:00pm. Other show dates in this location are September 26th, October 10th, and November 7th.
At 7pm, two teams of players compete for the most laughter in a series of fast, funny improvised games based on audience suggestions. The 9pm show takes a more theatrical turn as players perform long-form scenes that explore audience-suggested topics more deeply.
Red Dirt Improv was formed in 2008 by members of the University of Oklahoma college troupe, Obviously Unrehearsed Improv! Troupe members have performed in New York, Chicago, Austin, and a variety of other locations around the country and have been performing in the Oklahoma City area for over seven years.
Red Dirt Improv is also available for private parties, workshops, and corporate events. For more information or to see clips from previous shows, visit www.reddirtimprov.com. For group rates or to make reservations for an upcoming show, call (405) 701-8938 or email info@reddirtimprov.com.
Individual Artists of Oklahoma
706 W Sheridan
Doug Loudenback Discusses MAPS 3
Frankly, I’m not presently inclined to think that your and my input particularly mattered — I’m more inclined to think that MAPS III decisions were based almost solely on political considerations which would lend themselves to MAPS III passage and that and that city leadership statements about the value of our input was window-dressing for the ultimate MAPS III proposal announced by Mayor Cornett on September 17, 2 days ago. I do not apologize for being a tempered cynic — I’m very fond of our mayor and of city council members that I know — but the inclusion of certain elements in MAPS III most certainly was based upon political considerations, in my opinion.
To read Doug’s entire post, go here.
More On How Downtown Is About to Change
Today I had a story on a $141.5 million downtown streets and parks improvements package set to start next year. I promised to provide the planners’ presentations online. Now, as promised…
The Devon tif timeline presentation on streetscapes and park improvements, go here.
What are we looking at doing downtown? This presentation goes into depth on what planners are thinking. Go here.
No Longer Acting Out of Desperation….
Wow. A happy coincidence hits the paper Friday. For the past week I’ve been working on a pretty big write up on the Devon TIF and the now $141.5 million makeover of downtown. To date I’ve tried without much success to explain on this blog why this is such a big deal. Now you can see it for yourselves tomorrow (I may try to post some additional power point presentation material on this site by mid-afternoon). Of course, I’m sure you’ll be reading the story about MAPS 3 first.
How can I explain where everything is tilting? How ambitious is all of this?
Let’s start with the one theme that may or may not in any of the news coverage (I’ve not seen it on TV, but I’ve not seen Bryan Dean’s story yet). That theme is desperation. In 1993 we were desperate. The 20-somethings and the offspring of the city’s elite were ditching their hometown in search of greater opportunities elsewhere. This was a city stuck in mediocrity and was moving backwards.
We couldn’t pay companies (Micron, United Airlines, American Airlines) enough to come here. We couldn’t pay the government enough to come here (the Defense department accounting centers). We had a dead river flowing the middle of our city, students learning in decrepid metal buildings, a convention center with meeting space consisting of rooms harkening back to the ’70s with rain water leaking through the roof, a downtown that desolate after 5 p.m. and increasingly lonely during the day, and an aging ballpark that was about to lose its team. Only one downtown hotel was left open, and its future was in doubt. Hardly anyone lived downtown, hardly anyone wanted to play downtown, and it appeared as if no one really even cared anymore about downtown.
To quote Mayor Mick Cornett, when the original MAPS was passed by voters, the city was acting out of desperation to turn things around.
That’s not the situation today. I’m not suggesting Oklahoma City is perfect and we face no further problems. But this is a different city. MAPS for Kids launched a transformation of public schools that is well underway. Hotels, housing and attractions that didn’t exist previously can be found throughout downtown. The river is a river with groups beginning to fight over who gets to use it the most. People are proud of their city and the younger generation is no longer wanting to flee to other states.
The mayor points out OKC has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and we’re about to see a new skyscraper built downtown. Mayor Mick argues we’re not acting out of desparation with the proposed MAPS 3 ballot.
And that, my friends, clearly made assembling this ballot a bit more difficult.
So what we have is the biggest gamble yet. The $777 million proposal calls for an ambitious central park and development of Core to Shore. It calls for a convention center, and also a convention hotel. A five-mile street car system would link all the major urban core districts (MidTown, Deep Deuce, the CBD, Bricktown, the Oklahoma Health Center, etc). More river improvements are slated, including a white water rafting venue.
To quote the late Billy Mays, “But wait, there’s more!”
Remember how Mayor Mick said this ballot wasn’t about acting out of desparation? Well, some politicking has taken place this summer, most of it behind closed doors (don’t say I didn’t warn you). The results are quite intriguing. Instead of completing an extensive trails master plan in 20 years, the ballot provides funding for completing it this next decade. Money is allocated for adding sidewalks to major corridors (will the thousands of apartment dwellers living around Quail Springs Mall finally be able to safely walk along Memorial Road to their jobs and area attractions)? Senior citizens who complain they don’t get anything out of these ballots will discover they’re getting acqautics/actvity centers.
The only unhappy crowd, it appears, is to be found in Bricktown, where they see a convention center being built further away from the restaurants and merchants who depend on convention business to keep them alive. No canal extension for them. And the model and renderings released Thursday all show the new convention center in the spot least liked by Bricktown.
So is that it?
Nope. So we have the Devon TIF detailed, though not really. What’s being planned for the Myriad Gardens is beyond what many might expect. And there’s also some efforts going on behind the scenes to turn the McAlpine/Allied Arts area into a real arts campus. Film Row is developing. And some intriguing potential development is in the works east of Automobile Alley between NW 14 and NW 9.
So what challenges remain if MAPS 3 is passed?
First National needs help. It’s a historic landmark. The California owners may finally realize they paid too much when they bought it for $21 million a few years back.
Uncertainty still surrounds the old Braniff buildings now owned by SandRidge Energy. Urbanists say demolition of the buildings will create too much open space and destroy the area’s urban fabric. Some respected, accomplished developers want to convert the buildings into housing.
Rick Dowell’s tower across from Leadership Square remains empty, even though it stands at over 20 stories high. With city assistance, he has removed asbestos from all but a few of the floors. Dowell isn’t a slum lord – he’s managed to renovate and lease out buildings abandoned by far more powerful, wealthier individuals.
We do have other significant buildings that have fallen into the hands of people who are widely considered slum lords. For some reason the city’s non-profit community has decided it’s ok to sell landmark or prime real estate to slum lords. When time allows, I’ll be naming names and asking questions in this matter.
With all this going on, one must wonder if some of the city’s key organizations – the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., the Bricktown Association – are properly funded and staffed to ensure we’re able to get best ride we can out of this future luxury car of a downtown.
A few months back, with the banking crisis killing downtown housing development and other deals, I wondered whether this beat was about to slow down. I’m not so sure that’s something I’ve got worry about now.
MAPS 3 – The Final Cut?
Today, Mayor Mick Cornett unveiled the proposed MAPS 3 ballot with four council people at his side. He mentioned two other council members, Pat Ryan and Larry McAtee, who would have joined the press conference but were unable due to sickness and travel. The only council member I didn’t hear mentioned was Brian Walters, who has in the past questioned whether the original MAPS was beneficial to the city.
That having been said, it would appear as if a majority of the council have agreed to the following ballot, and unless there is an uprising against the following projects, what follows will be presented to voters on Dec. 8:
- A new, approximately 70-acre central park linking the core of downtown with the Oklahoma River
Central park and Core to Shore.
- A new rail-based streetcar system, plus potential funding for other rail transit initiatives, such as commuter lines and a transit hub
Streetcar system for downtown.
- A new downtown convention center
- Sidewalks to be placed on major streets and near facilities used by the public throughout the City
- 57 miles of new public bicycling and walking trails throughout the City
- Improvements to the Oklahoma River, including a public whitewater kayaking facility and upgrades intended to achieve the finest rowing racecourse in the world
- State-of-the-art health and wellness aquatic centers throughout the City designed for senior citizens
- Improvements to the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds
MAPS 3 Press Conference 11 a.m. Today at City Hall
Mayor Mick Cornett apparently has decided to unveil what he hopes will be on the MAPS 3 ballot at 11 a.m. today at City Hall, 200 N Walker.
