# Civic Matters > Ask Anything About OKC >  Classen Boulevard - Did they ever connect?

## Lindsay Architect

Looking at old maps, I've always wondered more about the history of Classen Blvd.  Did the lower portion ever connect to the median divided alignment at Chesapeake and did it end at Britton or go north to Edmond?  Google Earth makes me think it possibly connected into where Broadway Extention presently enters Edmond but I can't find any maps or many picutures.  It just seems barron north of 63rd, like an unfinished thought.  And I know it obviously connects at the Classen Curve Area but it appears that it once went through deep fork grill.  This road and Grand Boulevard have always been an interest, too bad most of this was ripped out for Interstates.

----------


## Lindsay Architect

Thanks, I've looked for this map before but forgot where I saw it.  I'm not sure what year this is but it looks like the north half started at Grand.

----------


## Jim Kyle

Note from the map that Classen Blvd. originally began at the Plaza Court intersection of Walker and NW 10, and joined the present route at NW 16. What we know today as Classen in the downtown area was originally Olie, from Main up to NW 13, where it joined Western for three blocks. The extension from Main on to the south didn't exist until after Urban Renewal changed downtown. The routes were re-named in the mid-1950s, with the original Classen route from NW 16 to Plaza Court changed to "Classen Drive" and the end at NW 16 blocked off.

So far as I've been able to determine, Classen never extended north of Wilshire. In those days, Britton was a separate town and that might have had something to do with it...

----------


## Pete

This is an aerial from 1954 that shows upper Classen.

You can see that at this point, Classen didn't even go north of Belle Isle -- that curved area north of there is RR tracks and where they crossed Western was the only Graffiti Bridge.  When that bridge was torn down and the tracks removed, only did Classen curve around and connect with the portion that was east of Western.  You can see that section of road was built sometime after 1954.

----------


## Lindsay Architect

Nice picture, where is this from?  Are there any showing Classen Circle?

----------


## Pete

This is from 1969; I think they took it out in the late 70's:

----------


## Lindsay Architect

Too bad, I like all of this better than the highway bridge and walmart parking lot.

----------


## Pete

Belle Isle Lake is one of the biggest tragedies in all of OKC and that's saying something.

Back in the 70's there was a proposal to save the power station and build a big mixed-used complex all around the scenic lake, but in the end they filled in most the lake, tore down the power station and built a Walmart.

Can you imagine how cool that area would be now if we would have just held onto it?  It was one the prettiest areas in town, unique and with lots of history (amusement park, etc.).

----------


## Lindsay Architect

An outdoor shopping center around the lake would have been great, the neigbhors to the north are probably turning over in their graves!

----------


## Lindsay Architect

Do any of your Arials show Penn Square Mall as an outdoor mall?

----------


## Pete

Penn Square area from 1969:

----------


## poe

To think what could have been. So sad.

----------


## Pete

Here's an interesting article from Feb 2, 1982 where they talk about connecting the two sections:

----------


## Pete

There is a bunch more about Belle Isle starting with this post:

http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.ph...579#post282579

----------


## jn1780

> Belle Isle Lake is one of the biggest tragedies in all of OKC and that's saying something.
> 
> Back in the 70's there was a proposal to save the power station and build a big mixed-used complex all around the scenic lake, but in the end they filled in most the lake, tore down the power station and built a Walmart.
> 
> Can you imagine how cool that area would be now if we would have just held onto it?  It was one the prettiest areas in town, unique and with lots of history (amusement park, etc.).


Wan't the lake pretty much a "swamp" for several years before the Walmart came around and power plant was demolished? Maybe it would have been easier to the turn the power plant into something if an effort was made to actually restore the lake.

----------


## MikeOKC

> Wan't the lake pretty much a "swamp" for several years before the Walmart came around and power plant was demolished? Maybe it would have been easier to the turn the power plant into something if an effort was made to actually restore the lake.


Yes, it degraded (with the help of modern construction) into a much smaller swamp. That's a good way to describe it. The pressure was on to get the power station down due to liability issues (one, at least, was killed there), it was deemed a threat to curious kids and not always good kids as it was attracting the wrong element and became a big safety issue.

Definitely a "what might have been" that we can only fantasize about now.

----------


## Lindsay Architect

> Penn Square area from 1969:


Pete, where do you get the clear arials?  Is there a website you can direct me to?

----------


## BG918

> Yes, it degraded (with the help of modern construction) into a much smaller swamp. That's a good way to describe it. The pressure was on to get the power station down due to liability issues (one, at least, was killed there), it was deemed a threat to curious kids and not always good kids as it was attracting the wrong element and became a big safety issue.


How did someone die in there?  I remember hearing stories about satanic worship going on in the old power station but never believed it.

----------


## ljbab728

> How did someone die in there?  I remember hearing stories about satanic worship going on in the old power station but never believed it.


A 12 year old girl died from a fall there in 1995.

----------


## OKCTalker

I recall that it was closed down and secured, but determined kids kept breaking in (similar to what has happened in Detroit recently). It was a public nuisance and was razed.

----------


## OKCTalker

Pete & Doug - those are killer aerials & maps. Are they publicly available, either online or for purchase?

----------


## UncleCyrus

> How did someone die in there?  I remember hearing stories about satanic worship going on in the old power station but never believed it.


I never wanted to go, but some friends of mine in high school said they used to sneak in and try to climb the smoke stack.  I believe there were also lots of missing floors and walkway sections, or that's what I used to hear.

----------


## OKCretro

Nine inch nails played in the power station before they made it big.  It was a very popular place for teens in the mid to late 1980's.  I remember seeing kids skateboarding in the water canal's under the highway there as well right next to Penn square mall

----------


## OKCisOK4me

The interurban ran in the middle of Classen and north of Britton you can still see a trace of the system between NW 97th & 99th Streets.

----------


## MagzOK

Here is a fantastic resource for Oklahoma City history filled with pictures:  http://www.retrometrookc.org/

I spent all night going through pictures the first time I found this website.

----------


## bornhere

As some of you probably know, Lon Chaney, Jr. was born in what was not much more than a shack near the lake. This was before his father had become a famous actor.

----------


## Steve

> Here is a fantastic resource for Oklahoma City history filled with pictures:  http://www.retrometrookc.org/
> 
> I spent all night going through pictures the first time I found this website.


MagzOK, I'm with Retro Metro OKC. So glad to see it getting "discovered"! We meet monthly with interesting speakers. Our next meeting is tomorrow, 6 p.m. Monday, at Coit's Drive-In, NW 50 and Portland, where we will hear the history of one of OKC's last old time drive-ins from it's co-founder, Jesse Coit.

----------


## rondvu

> This is from 1969; I think they took it out in the late 70's:


I am gnawing at the bit to find the aerials
  that Pete is going to post in the near future.

----------


## Pete

I'm getting close!

You can't imagine the amount of work I've put into this...  Months and months.

----------

