I wouldn't miss it either! It's so horrid.

+1

Why can't they just pull the facade off the India Temple Building and see what's underneath before they demolish it and find out later that their suspicions that the ornate detail had been sawed off weren't in fact true?

I've long wondered the same. Kind of enforces the idea that their "give a sh$%" factor is near 0. At this point a citizen with chisel and ladder might as well give it a whirl since total destruction is inevitable anyway. Gotta figure they don't want anyone to see what's under there.

I wish they would accidentally demolish the AT&T behemoth that has few, if any, windows. I can't speak for everyone, but I wouldn't miss it.

I agree with this. It makes perfect sense that the good has to go, the bad has to stay.

SandRidge sucks. So has anyone else seen their commercials that air during Thunder game broadcasts? (Bragging about planting new trees in downtown OKC's "ecosystem")

Here is a recent photo:

http://www.tnttri.com/OKCTalk/sandridge1-15-11.jpg

This would have been a very impressive shot while the KerMac was still standing. From the Chase Tower, right?

This would have been a very impressive shot while the KerMac was still standing. From the Chase Tower, right?

Just wait until the plaza is done and then compare photos. Two more buildings in that picture are coming down.

So has anyone else seen their commercials that air during Thunder game broadcasts? (Bragging about planting new trees in downtown OKC's "ecosystem")

Yes, I gag every time I see that, Thunder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PErUiAyVoGc&feature=related

This song will make you fill better.

A demolition permit was issued two days ago for the India Temple building.

Has anyone noticed if they started yet?

I wish they would accidentally demolish the AT&T behemoth that has few, if any, windows. I can't speak for everyone, but I wouldn't miss it.

Yes please demolish this building, this is the ugliest building in downtown OKC by far! AT&T should demolish and rebuild the building from the ground up!

I agree the AT&T buildings are not much to look at. They were designed to have practicality and the number one reason is to keep the telephone switching equipment safe from tornadoes, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. These building are built like brick @&!*houses.

^^Agreed with the technology we have now, they should just build a new service center out in the country somewhere, with all this land we have around here, and demolish the big cube, and build another office tower there...

A demolition permit was issued two days ago for the India Temple building.

Has anyone noticed if they started yet?

We knew it was coming, but still sad to hear.

That's the one I hated to hear about. I can't even bring myself to walk by there.

I agree the AT&T buildings are not much to look at. They were designed to have practicality and the number one reason is to keep the telephone switching equipment safe from tornadoes, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. These building are built like brick @&!*houses.

Exactly. Anybody been to the telephone museum in that building?

The AT&T buildings and microwave stations (like the one right next door to the building you are talking about) were made to withstand nuclear war. They are the most harden buildings in America that are not underground. They can also withstand EMP because encased in the concrete is a Faraday cage. They probably couldn't bring that building down if they wanted to. In 1,000,000 years there will be 2 things left in Oklahoma City - the Indian Cultural Center spirit mound and that AT&T building.

Maybe the future site of the Chesapeake Tower.

Sid, that's a different building.

Here is the one we are talking about (on the NW corner of RS Kerr & Broadway, with photo credit to Doug Loudenback):

http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/vintage/indiatemple2.jpg

Did someone say that Chesapeake was building a tower? How tall is that one going to be? Instead of that large campus they should have and prob. could have built 2 downtown towers for the money they have spent. Double towers connected with sky bridges would be nice.

No, Chesapeake isn't building a tower... They are busy adding onto their campus at 63rd & Western.

It is possible SandRidge could build another tower downtown, but they would have to grow substantially before that would even be considered.

A demolition permit was issued two days ago for the India Temple building.

Has anyone noticed if they started yet?

The windows are all covered with plastic. I assume to keep the glass from shattering as they demolish?

Thanks for the info, OSUMom.

The plastic is probably to get the glass to fall more inward during demolition rather than falling down onto the street.

I bet there will be a wrecking ball out there this week if not already.

OKC needs two new ordinances.

1. No building can be razed unless it is replaced by a building with at least 50% of the origial floor space.
2. A fine will be instituted for un-occupied buildings.

The message to property owners would be fix up what you have, sell it, or build something else; but no more dilapidated structures sitting vacant for 20 years.

If indeed all of the ornate details on the India Temple building were sawed off, I can see demolishing it. It's worthless. But, the problem is, no one can prove that one way or the other.

They have started removing the windows and false front.

And, if they've started removing the facade on the India Temple Building, has anyone noticed what's underneath? so are they going to remove the facade before they demolish the building? I sure hope so. Maybe we can see what's really under there. If the ornate detail is all "sawed off" then demolish it, but otherwise, if it's still present, let's change course and preserve it.

If you want to see what is under the facade you are going to have to dig through the rubble yourself. No way Sandridge would risk showing anyone what is behind it.

I moved a ton of posts to the "General Urban Development" thread.

Please keep this thread on the subject on the SandRidge properites.

I just wanted to say this thread is extremely depressing to me. That is all.

If the building looked like it did in the left photo of post #2178, I'd have an issue with it being razed but it's been so altered to extreme ugliness that I just hope its gone soon enough. So horrible looking...

But it has been said that the old building is underneath (was reclad with the current ugliness). Strip away the facade and find out if it is there or not. Recall seeing a courthouse demo (think it was in Oklahoma) a couple of years ago and when they started demo, they discovered elaborate columns (full figure statue type) and the like. they took some pictures and continued the demo. Sad.

If the building looked like it did in the left photo of post #2178, I'd have an issue with it being razed but it's been so altered to extreme ugliness that I just hope its gone soon enough. So horrible looking...

With all due respect though, people who are a lot more knowledgeable about said alterations, disagree..

There have been far worse facade changes. This one might have been boring, but it was far from awful...at least you can see SOME deatail still. I think we're all on the same side when we say, if it was structurally sound, then it should have stayed. Thing is, we lost that battle long ago.

I found this photo on the 'net...

Yes, this is looking NE from Robinson & Robert S Kerr. Very strange to see all those buildings gone.

http://www.tnttri.com/OKCTalk/sandridgefeb11.jpg

Kerry,

Listen to what you are saying. "The message to property owners". No one should be able to tell another person what to do with their own property unless it affects the rights and freedoms of others. What is this...Moscow? I think most of us would rather have a beautiful city but I think freedom trumps everything. Anyone that would advocate imposing their will on another citizen for beauty sake is questionable to me. This is one of the reasons that I believe home owners associations (HOA) should be illegal. People have too long touted their "right" to maintain property values at the expense of their neighbor's freedoms. I don't care if a person wishes to line their front lawn with refrigerators or park recreational vehicles side ways with no wheels in their front yard, it is their property. Property value is a risk that a person takes when they purchase a property. A property owner has the right to invest as much money as they wish to raise their property value but they do not have the right to take away the rights of others. There is no innate right to maintain property values at the expense of other's freedoms.

Sorry... I just had to voice my opinion on this because I just got out of an HOA power struggle. I would NEVER own a piece of property if a compulsory covenant agreement were part of the deal.

Kerry,

Listen to what you are saying. "The message to property owners". No one should be able to tell another person what to do with their own property unless it affects the rights and freedoms of others. What is this...Moscow? I think most of us would rather have a beautiful city but I think freedom trumps everything. Anyone that would advocate imposing their will on another citizen for beauty sake is questionable to me. This is one of the reasons that I believe home owners associations (HOA) should be illegal. People have too long touted their "right" to maintain property values at the expense of their neighbor's freedoms. I don't care if a person wishes to line their front lawn with refrigerators or park recreational vehicles side ways with no wheels in their front yard, it is their property. Property value is a risk that a person takes when they purchase a property. A property owner has the right to invest as much money as they wish to raise their property value but they do not have the right to take away the rights of others. There is no innate right to maintain property values at the expense of other's freedoms.

Sorry... I just had to voice my opinion on this because I just got out of an HOA power struggle. I would NEVER own a piece of property if a compulsory covenant agreement were part of the deal.

If you have property within a municiple district you are in compulsory covenant agreement. Don't know what to tell you. While the 'freedom comes first' mantra sounds great, it isn't practical. Can I buy the house next to you and open up a half way house for sex-offenders?

I don't care if a person wishes to line their front lawn with refrigerators or park recreational vehicles side ways with no wheels in their front yard, it is their property. Property value is a risk that a person takes when they purchase a property. A property owner has the right to invest as much money as they wish to raise their property value but they do not have the right to take away the rights of others. There is no innate right to maintain property values at the expense of other's freedoms.

Clearly, you lost your HOA dispute, so you should know, a property owner has no such right.

HOA agreements are one of the ways property owners manage risk in property values.

And you think it's okay to line your lawn with old refrigerators? Move to southern Logan County and knock yourself out.

I found this photo on the 'net...

Yes, this is looking NE from Robinson & Robert S Kerr. Very strange to see all those buildings gone.

http://www.tnttri.com/OKCTalk/sandridgefeb11.jpg

Looks like the BOK Center in Tulsa. Yay.

Could someone explain the rational behind the 3 different levels of window sizes on the Kerr-McGee building? It is very unusual looking.

Could someone explain the rational behind the 3 different levels of window sizes on the Kerr-McGee building? It is very unusual looking.

There's more concrete the further down you go for support of the structure. It's more structural than aesthetic.

I really never put much thought into doing a...well deconstruction update for Sandridge Commons along with the Devon construction updates. Just not enough time in the day I guess. Plus this time of the year, there's not a lot of time in the day after work with good lighting, but those are just excuses.

You'll be pleased to know I just got back from doing video down there from E.K. Gaylord, west along Robert S. Kerr, to the corner of Robinson here. I got different shots along the way, not strictly Sandridge Commons. The Oklahoma Savings & Loan building and this whole angle is nothing but air.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/indiatemple/oksl_1_2008.jpg

The Braniff looks old and worn down, with odd holes and windows in the side, like it is about to be demolished but we know they are saving it. It's too bad I didn't record the last days of the OS&L, but oh well. I'll try to have the video up as soon as I can. I plan on adding more content into the video before it's done.

Could someone explain the rational behind the 3 different levels of window sizes on the Kerr-McGee building? It is very unusual looking.

It was done to make it look like an inverted pyramid. I don't think the exterior of the building is holding anything up other than the windows.

Kerry,

Listen to what you are saying. "The message to property owners". No one should be able to tell another person what to do with their own property unless it affects the rights and freedoms of others. What is this...Moscow? I think most of us would rather have a beautiful city but I think freedom trumps everything. Anyone that would advocate imposing their will on another citizen for beauty sake is questionable to me. This is one of the reasons that I believe home owners associations (HOA) should be illegal. People have too long touted their "right" to maintain property values at the expense of their neighbor's freedoms. I don't care if a person wishes to line their front lawn with refrigerators or park recreational vehicles side ways with no wheels in their front yard, it is their property. Property value is a risk that a person takes when they purchase a property. A property owner has the right to invest as much money as they wish to raise their property value but they do not have the right to take away the rights of others. There is no innate right to maintain property values at the expense of other's freedoms.

Sorry... I just had to voice my opinion on this because I just got out of an HOA power struggle. I would NEVER own a piece of property if a compulsory covenant agreement were part of the deal.

I agree, which is why I am exercising my freedom to never pay my rent, because entering into a covenant agreement is socialist.

Could someone explain the rational behind the 3 different levels of window sizes on the Kerr-McGee building? It is very unusual looking.

There's a building in Baltimore (http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=ibmbuilding-baltimore-md-usa), designed by the same architect, that resembles the Sandridge tower especially in this regard.

Also the Pei towers in Philly

Society Hill Towers - Philadelphia
These look like the residential towers that were supposed to be built in OKC as part of the Pei Plan.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/4843735168_76b5004d84.jpg

IBM Building - Baltimore

http://www.emporis.com/img/6/2003/11/232387.jpg

Too bad that boring archtitect got his stuff out in more than one city...ugh. I thought I remembered hearing somewhere that he did that to make the upper floors feel less "confined" or something like that. Althought, I don't know why an upper floor would feel more confined than a lower floor with the same size window (see every other tower). Not to mention the fact that you give the little guys on the lower floors the smaller windows and the overpaid execs at the top the larger ones...screw the small guy. Of course now that the building has been remodeled inside, it's totally different, but you're stuck with the facade.

Recall reading somewhere that it wasn't a structural thing but an aesthetic one (think it was over in Doug's blog but can't relocate now). Something to do with force perspective or something like that?? The odd thing I noticed is as originally designed (Doug has a postcard pic), there were 2 Towers with a connecting, set back building in between. But the 2 towers weren't the same, one was what we see now (with the 3 different sizes of windows) and the other were all uniform in size. I liked it (although others here didn't) and think it is what SandRidge needs to do with the property instead of their current plans. Finish it as designed.

The second tower was not part of the original design but something they were thinking about adding shortly before the oil bust.

Larry, I remember that now too. Something about if you were standing on the street and looked up, the windows were supposed to all look the same size. Too bad that's the only angle it looks good at...lol

I wanted to have this up last week, but it's so time consuming with Devon construction videos to work on at the same time.


http://vimeo.com/20342031

This is from last Friday, so there's no telling now what they've started demolishing.

Thanks so much William!

Wow, that is a huge hole in the middle of downtown -- more striking than I imagined.

Let's hope the improvements go a long way towards making this area look better.

Screen caps from the 1080p video. Right click and "View Image" to see full size.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-1.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-2.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-3.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-4.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-5.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-6.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-7.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-8.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-9.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-10.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/SandRidge%20Commons/SandridgeCommons-February2010-108p-11.jpg

I need to re-upload the video at some point tonight. You'll be surprised what tiny mistakes you find after you watch it. It'll be down for a while.

Since I got to work late today and had to park at the top of my garage across the street I got to see what all is going on with that building. They are demolishing it from the inside. I would say the first floor is gone, except for the outside walls. You can see straight through the upper windows. I wonder why they are doing it different then the other buildings?

They want it too far gone to save before the outer facade is removed and everyone sees that the original appearance was there all along?

They want it too far gone to save before the outer facade is removed and everyone sees that the original appearance was there all along?

That's what I was thinking, but didn't say anything. Who knows though. I'd try to be there when they start pulling it down to see what's underneath. Now if they do it at night or something odd then you'll know.

They want it too far gone to save before the outer facade is removed and everyone sees that the original appearance was there all along?

Ding Ding Ding - winner.

Just had lunch in a north facing room at the petroleum club and the roof of the India Temple Building is gone, and the top floor is gutted with many of the support beams already being removed from that top floor. There were probably 10 or so workers removing bricks from that level as well. Very sad looking from the top down.

Pics?

Steve has some photos on OKCCentral.com

From the petroleum club?