300 feet. An ABC-3 (full mixed beverage, no food requirement) must be 300 feet from a school.

So, that would have to put it either north on like 32nd street or south around 21st or so. There is a bar on the northwest corner of 31st and May that may be outside the distance. Not sure if it is still open or not, but it was a few years ago. 51st Speakeasy might remain the bar and then people just drive over.

There is that tiny bar on May at 31st.. years ago was teh copper penny.. it has changed names frequently over the years and currently I believe it is vacant.
I also live at 21st and May and there really aren't bars within walking distance of Taft.

The tiny bar was most recently Pugsley's Pub. It's vacant now. I'd love for that site to be leveled, and a Skinny Slims North to put in.

It was also a gay bar called the Patio for a while. I loved going there because it was just me and my friends and we had total control of the juke box. LOL

If 51st St Speakeasy is the "official" bar for the Energy, I don't see why they can't have a bus driving tipsy fans to and from the stadium, like Iguana does for Thunder games.

If 51st St Speakeasy is the "official" bar for the Energy, I don't see why they can't have a bus driving tipsy fans to and from the stadium, like Iguana does for Thunder games.

Uh, because that solution doesn't involve building a nice new bar within walking distance of my house, obviously.

Uh, because that solution doesn't involve building a nice new bar within walking distance of my house, obviously.

I agree! We crestwood folks want a nice stumbling I mean walking distance bar.

I'm on 19th in Crestwood.

I'm thinking the building on the SW/C of 21st and May. It has been a tire store and is currently a thrift store. Would make for a great pub.

I'm thinking the building on the SW/C of 21st and May. It has been a tire store and is currently a thrift store. Would make for a great pub.

I would be down for that.. and it has an upstairs that is rarely occupied. it could be a two story Pub and a great home bar for the energy.
and super close to the house.

I would be down for that.. and it has an upstairs that is rarely occupied. it could be a two story Pub and a great home bar for the energy.
and super close to the house.

I could throw a football and hit that place from my front porch.

I could throw a football and hit that place from my front porch.

LOL then we must be very close neighbors

I could throw a football and hit that place from my front porch.

Don'tcha mean a futball.:D

Don'tcha mean a futball.:D

Ha!

I'll miss the sight lines the old concrete stands had, although my butt won't miss them. Neither will my pants after someone spills their drink behind me. :)

Here is a video from two weeks ago that shows some of the construction progress.
The turf is already down. I think they made the right call by choosing not to use permanent lines.
They can stripe the field as needed for the sport being played that day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkwray1137o

So they're going to paint the turf specifically to soccer standards but won't the field also be home to several local high school football programs as it was before the renovations started?

So they're going to paint the turf specifically to soccer standards but won't the field also be home to several local high school football programs as it was before the renovations started?

There is paint designed for turf which can be removed almost as fast as laying down new lines, as long as you are making the money for it to be worthwhile, then you could change the configuration every day.

Those lines are one thing that actually bug me. It's first job is to be a football/track stadium for OCPS. The few games a year that the Energy will play there may them secondary, regardless of their perceived status. What's OCPS going to do years from now when Energy moves out and leaves them to pay for maintaining the stripes? If they're removable, it means they'll deteriorate so they'll have to continually be re-laid to keep them in a good condition. Once Energy is gone, the revenue stream will be lower and OCPS won't be able to afford it. Compare that to every single one of the other high school stadiums in town that have both football and soccer lines and don't have problems with either one. It just feels like someone moved in and bullied the district into a bad decision right at the end of a project that had taken so long to get moving and funded, only to be hijacked. If Energy had been around at Pribble before Taft started the renovation planning, would they have been as interested?

I'd be curious to know what kind of money Energy is putting into the place too.

Those lines are one thing that actually bug me. It's first job is to be a football/track stadium for OCPS. The few games a year that the Energy will play there may them secondary, regardless of their perceived status. What's OCPS going to do years from now when Energy moves out and leaves them to pay for maintaining the stripes? If they're removable, it means they'll deteriorate so they'll have to continually be re-laid to keep them in a good condition. Once Energy is gone, the revenue stream will be lower and OCPS won't be able to afford it. Compare that to every single one of the other high school stadiums in town that have both football and soccer lines and don't have problems with either one. It just feels like someone moved in and bullied the district into a bad decision right at the end of a project that had taken so long to get moving and funded, only to be hijacked. If Energy had been around at Pribble before Taft started the renovation planning, would they have been as interested?

I'd be curious to know what kind of money Energy is putting into the place too.

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

That was easy...

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?



The Sky is falling the sky is falling.. oh wait we could just do this?.. seems reasonable

Wow, first time I have heard someone whining about paint on a football/soccer field. Yes, let us let a field get used only 12 Friday nights a year.

Here's a photo showing the buttresses that will support the historic eastern wall.

Also, I should have more detailed renderings to share later today:


http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/8463d1404406674-taft-stadium-taft070314a.jpg

That new building screams cheap.

^

It's for concessions.

Here are the hi-res renderings for Taft:


http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/8486d1404573700-taft-stadium-taftaerial.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/8487d1404573701-taft-stadium-taftgoal.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/8488d1404573702-taft-stadium-taftwall1.jpg

This actually is going to turn out cooler than I thought it would. I was skeptical of how it would look when they announced that they were lowing the height of the stands. Looks like they are going to pull it off and make it look pretty good.

Very glad they did something with that stadium. In high school almost this was by far the worst stadium we played in out of all of 6A (NW Classen was 6A) and that was almost ten years ago. We all recognized that it was a really cool old building but locker rooms were atrocious, stands were terrible, and the grass wasn't even well kept. This will address all of those and make it a quality facility.


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What kind of dorky name is Oklahoma City Energy, and are they getting free use of the stadium?

What kind of dorky name is Oklahoma City Energy, and are they getting free use of the stadium?

They will be paying OKC public schools a lot of rent for using Taft.

Money that is badly needed. Total win/win for everyone involved.

What kind of dorky name is Oklahoma City Energy, and are they getting free use of the stadium?

Given it is what supports our state's economy, I think it's pretty good. Also it's a soccer team...of course it has a dorky name... Check the mls teams: Houston dynamo, New York red bulls, Sporting Kansas City


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Agree! Perhaps in the future, this will lead to a MLS team for OKC. I think OKC is on the cusp of this becoming a reality.

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

Painting lines on fake turf isn't as easy as laying down chalk on grass. And my confidence in the "removable" lines isn't just stellar. My concern is the availability of the funds to put down permanent lines later after the energy leaves. Remember, if we think we're going to get to MLS one day, they don't like multipurpose stadiums...they want soccer-specific.

And it's not fair to complain about the # of football games here either. There will be FAR FEWER soccer games here than football. There are middle school and high school games played at Taft. Not to mention the track and field events. The stadium has hosted DCI events in the last decade when the stadium was at its worst and could now host them properly. And I believe the women's football team played there. Just a few example of the stream of groups that make use of the facility as a FOOTBALL field. The place is going to have football lines on it waaaaay more often than soccer.

I'm happy the Energy are here, it's great. I just don't want OCPS students to get the short end of the stick on this. Now that they finally have a renovated stadium (or soon will), I want the STUDENTS to be the primary benefactors of it. Not a semi-pro sports team. If you dont' remember, this is also not the first OKC semi-pro soccer team to play at Taft. What were they, the Tornados or something. I used to have a shirt for them.

Just out of curiosity, where does the Energy practice?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImRlzXZQJM8

It was also a gay bar called the Patio for a while. I loved going there because it was just me and my friends and we had total control of the juke box. LOL

Same here they also had decently priced beer.

From the video, it sounds like the Energy put some money into the stadium along with the other renovations.

They put in 1 million compared to the 11 million OCPS put in. That's another reason I'm a little annoyed that they get to "Claim" it so much as their own when they contributed less than 10% to the project....and most of their money is in all the branding gear than actual structure.

The field lines still piss me off.

Just released a new video on Taft; says Energy will have pregame festivities at NW Classen:

eEOh1OJf7gA#t=61

So... I thought this was supposed to be done in time for this school year/football season? My daughter, who attends NW Classen and is on the pom squad, just told me their home games are at Douglass again this year. What?!?

Also, she said "we're not even sure if we're going to be allowed to use Taft when it's done". Grrr... this is looking similar to the performing arts hall situation. The school itself is not allowed to use it except at certain times because the alumni association paid for it to be redone and they don't want it getting messed up.

Some time ago they revised the schedule to finish the stadium in early 2015. It was originally supposed to be completed before this school year.

But, NWC and other schools will certainly have access as it's the Energy is only paying a small percentage of the improvements.

Curious about the pregame activities at NWC. I'm still holding out hope that someone will put in a nice pub within walking distance of Taft.

Thanks for the clarification.

Curious about the pregame activities at NWC. I'm still holding out hope that someone will put in a nice pub within walking distance of Taft.

Wouldn't proximity to the schools be a problem?

Wouldn't proximity to the schools be a problem?

I think the regulations are it only has too be like 300 feet from the closest door of the school, due to how large the parking lots are it theoretically could probably go across the street from the stadium.

Again, if it is ABC-2 (more than 50% of revenue derived from food sales) it can literally be located next door to a school. Only ABC-3 (all sales from liquor) is restricted like that.

Yes. And I want a good burger with my beer, thank you very much.

Yes. And I want a good burger with my beer, thank you very much.

Does the Old Fashioned Burger place north of Eley's sell beer? Two birds, one stone?

I don't think they do, and Barry's gives me a grease headache. Patty Wagon is a great burger, but no beer, and it's not exactly the kind of place to spend any time in.

So... I thought this was supposed to be done in time for this school year/football season? My daughter, who attends NW Classen and is on the pom squad, just told me their home games are at Douglass again this year. What?!?

Also, she said "we're not even sure if we're going to be allowed to use Taft when it's done". Grrr... this is looking similar to the performing arts hall situation. The school itself is not allowed to use it except at certain times because the alumni association paid for it to be redone and they don't want it getting messed up.

The media that Energy posted has always said it would be ready in time for THEIR season. I don't know that I've ever seen anything that posted that it would be ready for the OCPS football season. Yet again, we actually get more information out of Energy than from OCPS. And I'm getting more pissy about the Energy being involved every day. The Energy is going to eventually go either from being upgraded to the next class (which will require a new stadium of their own) or they won't make it and the team will fold. After as long and hard as it was to get the place re-habbed, OCPS better be the PRIMARY tenant. And for the small piece Energy is putting in, they better not be calling any shots. You don't get to put in < 10% (quite a bit of which goes into their branding of the place) and then claim primary rights.

As for NWC's auditorium, I can only say this. The auditorium (like much of the school) was not treated as it should have been by either the district or the students. If I were an alumni and forked over enough money to bring the place up to where it is now (since obviously the district wasn't willing to), then I'm going to want some protection over it. It's not a problem unique to NWC, rather most high school auditoriums that aren't run by a staff member (non-teaching) tend to be abused and damaged because of students not knowing what they're doing, or just flat out mistreating it. As a closer-to-home example for myself, Midwest City's had similar occurances and has had to have 2 complete AV re-builds over the last 15 years. Drama teachers now being technical theater experts, they tend to just screw up the equipment. And with the students not being trained properly, they screw it up even more. Pair that with district maintenance that can't even use the correct gauge wiring (which cause sound problems for oh 10 years) and things get worse. It's one downward spiral that would just get fixed if they had someone in Mid-Del that ran all 3 high school auditoriums and could properly train everyone. It would actually be a cost savings in the end if they paid any attention since they wouldn't spend so much time cleaning up after their short-sighted decision processes. So with NWC, I can actually understand the trepidation of the alumni (who funded the project) because the district/school isn't doing their part to protect the facility. Too often for band events, id walk in MCHS' and the drama kids would be running amuck.

There is that gas station a few blocks north of the stadium that has not gas any longer just a conv store but still has the awnings where the pumps where. I have thought several times that something like "Pump Bar" would be cool there with great burgers and bar food and outdoor seating under the awnings. could be a good pub area for pregaming for sure..

Sounds like you've got the start of a business plan...

West side bleachers are going up!

9134

Some time ago they revised the schedule to finish the stadium in early 2015. It was originally supposed to be completed before this school year.

But, NWC and other schools will certainly have access as it's the Energy is only paying a small percentage of the improvements.

March 2015 is what I heard from a subcontractor today. Subject to change, as usual.

I think the regulations are it only has too be like 300 feet from the closest door of the school, due to how large the parking lots are it theoretically could probably go across the street from the stadium.

Actually, you have that backwards, it has to be more than 300 feet from the nearest property line of the school so that's not correct.

http://www.ok.gov/able/*****ABLE_____N_E_W_S_******__Date:_27_MARCH_2012_ ____________________________________/index.html


Applicants seeking a package store license or bar license are reminded that no package store or bar may be located within 300’ of a church or school. 37 O.S. §518.3. The distance is measured from the nearest perimeter wall of the proposed location to the nearest property line of the church or school.

Good progress:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bx6qVxEIgAAB814.jpg:large

That's a great pic to show how they are doing this structurally. I'm really happy that they went the extra mile to keep the WPA facade.

Need a "Nuttin But Burgers" food truck for game nights. Have veggie and soy burgers also. Are food trucks allowed to have a beer license?

More progress.

9188

The media that Energy posted has always said it would be ready in time for THEIR season. I don't know that I've ever seen anything that posted that it would be ready for the OCPS football season. Yet again, we actually get more information out of Energy than from OCPS. And I'm getting more pissy about the Energy being involved every day. The Energy is going to eventually go either from being upgraded to the next class (which will require a new stadium of their own) or they won't make it and the team will fold. After as long and hard as it was to get the place re-habbed, OCPS better be the PRIMARY tenant. And for the small piece Energy is putting in, they better not be calling any shots. You don't get to put in < 10% (quite a bit of which goes into their branding of the place) and then claim primary rights. .

Someone may have to correct me on this, but I would be that despite the Energy not being "directly" invovled, is McLaughlin's "Fields and Futures" charity putting money in to Taft? If so, there is your connection.

Take it for what it is, but the numbers OCPS reports is that Energy put in around 1 million, while the district put in about 11 million. They didn't discuss how the 1 million contribution was divided up...donations or direct funding.

That small of the overall percentage given the amount of "soccer specific" work being done is what bugs me. And out of that 1 million, how much of it is for stuff the district wouldn't use because it's 100% Energy...like the endzone seating, hell of a lot of decorations, etc. And did Energy influence which turf was purchased because of the "removable" lines....which I'd still like to see in action. There is so little discussion out of OCPS on how the district will be able to use the place, it just really bothers me.

Anyone know how the other stadium renovation is going? Was it Speagle? It was going to require far less capital since they could just doze and rebuild without any historic pieces...I think it was like 6 million or something for that whole project.