Founders Tower, 5900 Mosteller Drive. PROVIDED BY AIA CENTRAL OKLAHOMA CHAPTER

Built from 1962 to 1964, the 275-foot tower displays unique architectural elements, such as the revolving-platform restaurant at the top, and helped catalyze the development of northwest Oklahoma City, according to a staff report. Recently it has undergone significant renovations with the addition of luxury condominiums.

The revolving restaurant, which I remember as the Eagle’s Nest, is empty but from county property records it appears the condos are starting to fill.

According to city staff, which is preparing the application, the tower is unique for it’s architecture. As written in the yet submitted application the tower “is a highly individual mid-twentieth century high-rise building that showcases a limited timeframe in which recent technological developments and the freedom to experiment in architecture gave rise to rare building forms and details, as exemplified in the folded plate roof system and unusual slender decagonal form of this tower, plus its cantilevered balconies.”

Another way of saying “it looks neat,” at least from my uneducated perspective.

The tower is one of two circular tall buildings in Oklahoma, according to the application. The other being the University Club Tower in Tulsa.

At its last meeting, the city council delayed voting on whether to submit the tower until May 17 so that staff could review a bit more of the application.

Below is the application and some other documents, including a letter from Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Bob Blackburn in support of placing the tower on the registry. Reading through the documents were an interesting glimpse into Oklahoma City’s history. I hope you find them as fascinating as I did.

Or, maybe it’s just that I’ve loved tall buildings since I was a small child.

I wrote a story on the proposed timing of the projects. Colleague Steve Lackmeyer wrote a story on $30 million set aside for moving an OG&E power station, the controversy surrounding who set the money aside and if it could be better spent on the actual convention center.

But the main reason for this blog is to give readers a chance to look at the presentation given by consultant Mike Mize during the meeting. Check it out below. I’ve added a few notes from my observations but I’m interested in yours.

Returning council members Meg Salyer, who represents Ward 6, and Patrick Ryan, who represents Ward 8, were sworn in afterwards.

Shadid’s first action was to ask for a two-week continuance to an item that would have given a new nonprofit organization to be led by current Assistant City Manager Cathy O’Connor $424,000 in public funding to start a “one-stop shop” for economic development. The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City would be paid for by tax increment funding overseen by the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust, the MAPS 3 use tax and the city’s general fund. More appropriations would be sought annually under the proposed five-year contract.

Reporter Steve Lackmeyer wrote a comprehensive story in Friday’s Oklahoman about how the nonprofit would be organized and work.

In the maps below, for the March 1 primary and Tuesday’s runoff, the dark shaded areas are those won by Shadid. The lighter orange are areas won by Swinton. The yellow areas were either ties or no votes.

Another note, in many cases voting precinct boundaries and the Ward 2 boundaries don’t match up (You’ll notice the yellow around Lake Hefner. Only a very small portion of that precinct is actually in Ward 2, so it’s counted here but there were no votes).

Here’s the March 1 primary map:

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And here’s the Tuesday’s runoff:

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The maps make it easy to see where Shadid picked up votes between March 1 and Tuesday. Again, thanks to The Oklahoman’s Database Editor Paul Monies for putting these together.

Paul also suggested I add this link to the precinct by precinct breakdown.

Ed Shadid speaks to his watch party crowd after learning of his victory on Tuesday. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

With all 39 precincts reporting, Shadid won 3,134 votes (62.41%) to Swinton’s 1,888 votes (37.59%). That’s a difference of 1,246 votes in Shadid’s favor.

That’s a pretty impressive turn-around victory for someone who trailed Swinton by about 8 percentage points, or 342 votes, in the March 1 primary Ward 2 election with six candidates.

Comparing the numbers, here’s a few other things I noticed:

• In the March 1 primary, 4,215  Ward 2 residents voted, about 11 percent of those registered, compared to 5,022 , about 13 percent of those registered, on Tuesday.
• In the primary, 951 people voted for for a candidate other than Shadid or Swinton.
• On Tuesday, Swinton only received 85 more votes than he did in the primary: 1,803 (March 1) to 1,888 (Tuesday).
• Shadid more than doubled his vote total from March 1 to Tuesday night: 1,461 (March 1) to 3,134 (Tuesday).

Just looking at the numbers I would guess of the people that voted for someone other than Shadid or Swinton on March 1 or didn’t vote in the primary most voted for Shadid on Tuesday.

It’s important.

However you vote, just vote!

For a primer, check out my previous blogs on the fundraising and money spent. There’s been more than $1 million raised and spend on four city council races.

Here are some other articles to use a primer:

Oklahoma City Council Ward 2 fundraising documents display candidates’ differences

Special interest groups top Oklahoma City election spending

Expensive Oklahoma City Council elections to come to an end Tuesday

Oklahoma City Council Ward 2 candidates discuss views

Oklahoma City Ward 2 candidates answer questions

This firehouse at NW 10 and Quapah Avenue is set for demolition.

The city parks and recreation department recommended the action to improve the appearance of Meadowbrook Park, where the building now stands.

New playground equipment is planned for the park, along with a walking paths and new parking, Parks Director Wendel Whisenhunt said.

Neighborhood groups, who have planted several new trees at the park, also are planning to build a pavilion, he said, adding the park will quickly change and be upgraded.

“It will be a brand new entrance for the neighborhood,” Whisenhunt said.

It’s all needed. All that is there now are two metal swing sets, with a total of six swings — two for very young children and four more for others.

These two swing sets are the only playground equipment at Meadowbrook Park.

The fire station was decommissioned in 1980, when it was replaced by a new facility at 7929 SW 29. The fire and police departments had used the building for storage until this year. It would cost more to bring the building back up to code and make repairs than the building is worth, according to the report.

The Friends of NW 10th Street and the Classic Corbin Park Neighborhood Association requested the demolition.

Councilman Sam Bowman, who has served on the council for eight years, is voluntarily stepping down. Councilman Brian Walters, who served one four-year term, leaves office after losing a tightly contested Ward 5 election on March 1.

Bowman spoke for about 10 minutes about his time on the council, thanking those that worked for him and with him. Council members and staff praised Bowman for his diplomatic manner.

Walters spoke just about three minutes about the honor of serving on the council. Council members and staff thanked Walters for having the courage of his convictions and voting his conscience even when he knew he would be on the losing side. Walters was the only council member to vote against MAPS 3.

Both Bowman and Walters received standing ovations after their comments.

Walters will be replaced by accountant David Greenwell, who defeated Walters by about 450 votes during the March 1 primary.

Bowman stepped down without knowing who will take his Ward 2 seat. He will be replaced by either Ed Shadid or Charlie Swinton, who are opposing each other in today’s runoff.

In an election that has seen an unprecedented $1 million plus spent campaigning, special interest groups have accounted for more than half of that, or about $610,000, according to campaign reports filed last week with the city clerk. Such an amount is unheard of for a local race, according to political consultants and past candidates.

Most the money has come from two main groups, Committee for Oklahoma City Momentum ($410,000) and the Better Local Government PAC ($135,000).

Momentum supported the victorious incumbents, Meg Salyer and Pat Ryan, as well as accountant David Greenwell, who defeated incumbent Brian Walters. Momentum also continues to back Charlie Swinton, a senior banking officer, who will be in an April 5 runoff against physician Ed Shadid, who has promised not to accept donations from special interest groups.

Better Local Government campaigned for Walters and tea party backed candidates Adrain Van Manen and Clifford Hearron.

The two groups used independent expenditures. The groups have not given money directly to candidates, which would limit donations to $5,000. There is no limit on the independent expenditures, which can be used to purchase ads advocating for or against a candidate.

Momentum has a webpage that list some of its supporters. There are some heavy hitters, including former Gov. Brad Henry and state Sen. David Holt. Although, none of those named have given money directly to Momentum but just support the ideals of the group, Momentum Chairman Bill Whitehill told me.

And indeed the only donor listed on Momentum’s campaign filing is nonprofit A Better Oklahoma City, which does not disclose individual donors. The Oklahoman was able to confirm that an economic development group founded by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Forward Oklahoma City IV, contributed to A Better Oklahoma City.

Better Local Government’s lone donor is the nonprofit A Voice for Responsible Government, which local firefighter union chief Phil Sipe said was funded entirely with firefighter money.

There are likely more things to discover by looking at the documents and doing more background searching. Below I’ve posted all the fundraising documents, as well as incorporation paperwork and IRS filings for the two groups. I’ve also include some filings from other PACs. The majority of the PACs giving to candidates did so by giving directly to candidates.

So give these a look and let me know what you think.

On March 1, Swinton, a bank officer, received 43 percent of the vote and Shadid, a physician, received 35 percent. Oklahoma City Planning Commissioner Janis Powers received 16 percent of the vote but did not qualify for the runoff. None of the other three candidates received more than 3 percent of the votes.

Below are the fundraising documents for the race through March 20. Not included are a second filing for John Milner or any filings for Sam Tichenor. Both missed the 5 p.m. Friday deadline. I’ll update this information if it’s filed.

A quick note before I post the documents. This will be the last of the candidate specific reports I post this round. I’m hoping that early next week I can post the documents related to the independent expenditures of the two biggest spending groups, Committee for Oklahoma City Momentum and the Better Local Government PAC. Momentum has spent more than $400,000 on the elections as of March 20. BLG has spent about $135,000. It’s a lot of money, so be checking back for those documents and check The Oklahoman next week for a story based on them.

Now, without further delay, here are the Ward 2 documents: