The question: To brick or not to brick in Bricktown
Journal Record
October 10, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY – The façades of all new buildings in Bricktown should be made of brick, and Avis Scaramucci will accept nothing less.

Scaramucci is the new chairwoman of the Bricktown Urban Design Committee, and a business owner in the district. She’s not willing to compromise on the signature component that defines Bricktown. Many of the buildings in the core of Bricktown were built around the first part of the 20th century when the area was a thriving industrial district before falling into decline.

But with a resurgence as an entertainment district over the past 20 years, not only have old buildings found new uses, developers have also come out of the woodwork to construct new buildings for retail stores, restaurants and hotels.

As businesses continue to move into Bricktown’s signature buildings, developers have also been eyeing the area on the east and south sides of Bricktown for new construction.

Many of those buildings on the east side of the district have first been presented to the urban design committee with varying amounts of brick on the façade. Much to the frustration of several developers, the committee has not budged on its brick requirements.

Scaramucci moved her restaurant and gift shop from south Oklahoma City to a brick building at 1 Mickey Mantle Dr. in Bricktown more than three years ago. She has served for the past few years on the urban design committee and remained dedicated to bricks.

“For the real Bricktown, and there is only one Bricktown, I think bricks are very important,” she said. But the amount of brick required on new construction is not clearly defined and is often left up to the personal preferences of committee members, even when high-profile developers come calling. “If you don’t make a strong stand people will take advantage,” Scaramucci said. “Everyone wants to be in Bricktown, but they just don’t want to go to the extra expense of building with bricks.”

Two of the most recent cases are a McDonald’s restaurant and a Holiday Inn Express that first came before the committee with plans that included some, but not all brick, on the buildings’ exteriors. Both eventually acquiesced after trying to minimize the amount of exterior brick.

Scaramucci said the brick requirements must apply to everyone, whether it be a national retailer or a local business owner.“We’re not trying to make it difficult for anyone, that would be the last thing we’d do,” she said. “We want new businesses and come in and thrive.”

John Calhoun, with the city planning department, oversees the committee’s actions on behalf of the city, and navigates the guidelines that apply to Bricktown.

The committee has been around since 1993 to oversee development in the district, but four years ago an area of east Bricktown came under its jurisdiction.

There are also two sets of guidelines for buildings on the east and west side of Joe Carter Avenue. Calhoun said buildings west of Joe Carter Avenue must have varying shades of red brick and renovated façades should complement this characteristic.

Buildings east of Joe Carter Avenue to Interstate 235 shall consist of primarily brick or stone, while glass, steel and concrete are also encouraged. There is no specific rule for how much brick a building must use on the exterior, but the consensus of the committee has been that it must have as much brick as possible. “It can’t just be the old-timers that buy into that,” Scaramucci said. “It has to be people coming in that realize the pride in being in this area.”

On some projects, most notably McDonald’s, there was much grumbling before the company built a restaurant with a brick façade that Scaramucci praised for its final design.

One of the latest projects to come before the committee is a proposal for a Candlewood Suites east of Lincoln Boulevard that has not passed muster with the committee. This week the project came before the committee for the third time and was shot down for its scarce use of brick.

Quinn & Associates Architects has been working on the project and will take the committee’s denial back to the hotel chain’s corporate office to consider a façade that will please the committee.“It’s part of my job serving on this committee to make sure these guidelines are followed,” Scaramucci said. The cost of brick, versus a synthetic product like EFIS, has not escaped Scaramucci. But she still does not want to see it in Bricktown.

Mike Atkinson, vice president of pre-construction with Flintco Inc., is not involved with the projects in question, but said the acrylic EIFS runs about $10 per square foot as opposed to brick, which costs about $20 per square foot on the façade of the building.

Scaramucci said to be a part of Bricktown, it is a cost developers will have to budget for. “Long after the price is forgotten the product remains,” she said. “I don’t know anyone that’s done a project that isn’t in some way over-budget.”

The area south of Reno Avenue in Bricktown is controlled by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority. In the past few years several projects have been approved there that incorporate brick and stucco or EFIS, much to the chagrin of some in the district.

Scaramucci said the area of Bricktown overseen by her committee must continue to strive for all new development to be clad in bricks. With the entry to the area of national brands, Scaramucci said everyone must be held to the same standards, even if that means setting the bar high and not budging, even in the face of high-profile companies eyeing the area with their own idea of how their buildings should look.“I am one of several that have insisted that the brick issue be not only considered but enforced,” she said. “If we budged it would be bad for people who did follow the rules and we would lose our integrity.”

http://www.journalrecord.com/_images/articles/t_labskc-bricktown_ms.jpg

Avis Scaramucci, chairwoman of the Bricktown Urban Design Committee, stands on the patio of her restaurant, Nonna’s, in Bricktown. As the district has grown, many have brought forward plans to clad the exteriors of new buidlings with products other than brick. Scaramucci has remained a strong advocate for buidlings in Bricktown having brick façades. (Photo by Maike Sabolich)

In my backyard, there is a small brick patio, where the bricks are labeled "Cleveland Vit. Brick Co. Oklahoma City"
http://www.rosebrickyard.com/oklahoma%20a-i/images/cleeveland%20vit.brick%20co%20oklahoma%20city.jpg
So, knowing that, and after reading this, I googled it.
One of the first things that came up was a company history of Acme Brick.
It looks like OKC has a history of making and using bricks.

So, my question is why? Is it because of our red clay soils? Is it because it is a sturdy material to withstand wind and storms?
If anyone can direct me to a source of information on why brick was the common material of construction in our cities infancy, I would love to know.

It was a common material for all cities to use at that time.

I enjoy looking at old pictures of cities (all the way back to the lithographs of NYC when it was New Amsterdam). I've seen a lot of these pictures, especially from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And I've never seen any glass buildings or stucco building or EIFS buildings from this time period.

Brick was a common material used at that time.

Glad to see Avis standing firm on this.

I think the most notable portion of the article is that the CANDLEWOOD SUITES has been denied a third time by the BUDC. I had thought it was approved.



Is it because of our red clay soils?

Yes. There is a huge quarry or pit for ACME near Memorial and Kelly.

If we would have made JDM Place out of all brick it would have been much cheaper than with the use of all the cast stone...but then I don;t think that is what she is getting at. I do agree that buildings in Bricktown should be predominantly brick and no EIFS except as a small accent or something like a soffit. I know very little EIFS is used here in Austin, most of what looks like EIFS here is actually a true "stucco" type of material (usually Portland Cement Plaster).

Brick is a much cheaper material in Oklahoma because of the amount of clay earth, that is why so much of it is used. Go to some other parts of the country and see what materials are used in most housing, if it is brick like many in OKC it is because the material is plentiful and cost effective. Go to places like Minneapolis-St. Paul and you see a large amount of siding because brick is much more expensive there. Here it is the Cut Texas Limestone that is the predominant material. If you want old, most of Boston is red brick because they had access to a lot of clay to make it from.

You only need to go as far as Wichita to see the majority of home construction with brick on only one side of the house, the front, with siding on the other 3.

In Idaho there were no new houses made of brick. I never got used to it. It's funny for me to see high end houses built with no brick. All I could think was that they were cheap houses for not using brick. But the people there did not think anything about it.

You only need to go as far as Wichita to see the majority of home construction with brick on only one side of the house, the front, with siding on the other 3.
What is the age of most of those homes? The brick/stone front with siding elsewhere is a relatively new thing and came about in the late 70's elsewhere to the early 80's in OKC for the most part. Our house here in Austin is all brick but it was one of the first built in our addition in the mid-70's (our next door neighbor was in the first house built, ours was the second) and the houses built later reflect that trend. It was a way for builders in markets where brick is a more expensive material to get some on a building to make it "look" more expensive. I think it was a trend that the large national builders started that has filtered down. In other parts of the country the siding only is a common practice but the more higher end have been going to the brick/stone front on them.

Yeah I meant all the new home construction up there is that way. I haven't seen that at all in OKC. Even the starter homes by the huge companies like Ideal Homes are all brick.

In Idaho there were no new houses made of brick.


lol, I never saw a brick house until I moved to OK!

nah, I saw a few but seriously, every house in CA is practically stucco or siding.. and these are ( were ) million dollar homes.

I thought brick was used to help withstand the elements and to insulate homes ..... since we have no real elements in CA, we never used brick.

Yeah I meant all the new home construction up there is that way. I haven't seen that at all in OKC. Even the starter homes by the huge companies like Ideal Homes are all brick.
Ideal is an OKC based company and pretty much builds only in the OKC area. They are a local builder and not a "big" builder like a Centex, Toll Brothers, D.R. Horton, etc. that are all over the country. I like the fact that OKC has more "local" builders, I think it makes for a much better overall housing stock. I have seen what poor quality that the big national builders build. They pretty much build the same level of "quality" into a $1,000,000+ home that they do in a $125,000 tract home because they use the same subs. The only difference is size and the finish materials and other extras.

Yeah I knew they were local, but from what I've seen, they appear have a more corporate, mass produced, no frills, cookie-cutter style.

But I agree, we seem to benefit from having many more local builders.

What is the age of most of those homes? The brick/stone front with siding elsewhere is a relatively new thing and came about in the late 70's elsewhere to the early 80's in OKC for the most part. Our house here in Austin is all brick but it was one of the first built in our addition in the mid-70's (our next door neighbor was in the first house built, ours was the second) and the houses built later reflect that trend. It was a way for builders in markets where brick is a more expensive material to get some on a building to make it "look" more expensive. I think it was a trend that the large national builders started that has filtered down. In other parts of the country the siding only is a common practice but the more higher end have been going to the brick/stone front on them.

I think that idea goes even further back. You will find home all over MWC built as far back as the lates 40's with only a brick facade.