Water is in the pool at the Omni and you can see drapes in the rooms about halfway up.

Surface lot south of convention center is essentially finished.

Robinson is scheduled to be complete and reopened in December.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/convention101120a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/robinson101120a.jpg

why would they fill up the pool just before winter?

why would they fill up the pool just before winter?

Because they open in January and they leave water in the pool year-round.

Is it a heated pool?

Is it a heated pool?

I'm sure it is.

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We can only hope Covid goes away otherwise we are going to have an empty convention center downtown. When was the first big event scheduled for anyway?

The CNU conference in May 2021 was supposed to be one of the first I thought

Covid will go away. Convention Centers are long term investments and this will weather the short-term storm. Situations like this are exactly why it's best to pay cash for these types of things.

The CNU conference in May 2021 was supposed to be one of the first I thought


https://youtu.be/XD3PV11HMf0

Spot on Shawnw...

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This convention center is a Jewel. Landscaping is also very nice

It's really impressive in person.

So is the Omni.

It's really impressive in person.

So is the Omni.

When did you shoot those photos?

pics from the gov lite

https://twitter.com/LtGovPinnell/status/1321943969106923520

pics from the gov lite

https://twitter.com/LtGovPinnell/status/1321943969106923520

Second picture is pretty jaw-dropping.

love the parking lot.

Are they still doing those large OKC letters out front that look like they have a mirror finish on them in the renderings?

I don't think so.

I believe that was just a concept shown in early renderings.

The art installation will be the light features within the two large lobbies that will be highly visible from Scissortail Park.

I don't think so.

I believe that was just a concept shown in early renderings.

The art installation will be the light features within the two large lobbies that will be highly visible from Scissortail Park.

Speaking of those, it looks like they were testing the LEDs when I drove by around 6pm.

https://twitter.com/urbanoracle/status/1323608655011454983


Additional crew members were added over the weekend to stay on track for installation of VIRTUAL SKY, a multi media public artwork by Narduli Studio for the MAPS 3 Convention Center. Shown is progress in the smaller of the two atria. This section of work is nearing 40% complete

That is a big parking lot. I wonder what they will charge for Thunder games? Also when was the first big event scheduled?

The artist, Susan Narduli (in the bottom photo), was testing Virtual Sky last night and working on the programming.

I chatted with her for a while -- very nice person and accomplished artist.

Susan said there will be over 100 scenes and the larger installation (shown in the first 2 photos) will be coordinated with the small one to the south in the 2nd atrium.

There are also LED lights outside and inside the convention center.

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HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/convention110720c.jpg

The roundabout in the bottom of the photo is taking shape as they work towards finishing and reopening Robinson next month:

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/convention110820a.jpg

Such a missed opportunity for a bike lane.

I think they expect people to use the park for biking this stretch

I have some good video showing the shifting patterns and colors that I'll upload later:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/convention111420a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/convention111420b.jpg


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Oh wow!

Good progress on Robinson. The plan is to reopen next month but not sure if they are still on schedule.

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Is the parking lot going to be free to park for public access to Scissortail when not in use for a convention or Thunder game?

Is the parking lot going to be free to park for public access to Scissortail when not in use for a convention or Thunder game?

That is a good question.

I assume so but there are pay booths at the entrances.

I work with someone who was in the convention business for a long time on the east coast and we had a brief conversation today about this facility. She seems to think that it will make us extremely competitive but it's definitely important to see what type of incentives cities are willing to offer after Covid.

Side note, now that I've had a chance to see the building from many different vantage points I love it. The design is weird and cool and obviously, it's a huge upgrade from the Cox Center. It makes a great statement from Scissortail and the light show (from the testing I've seen) is going to be awesome. The ascending roofline from the south to north helps transition from the park to the Omni to the rest of the skyline. If I'm being nitpicky, my one and only gripe so far is the constant changing of exterior finishes. It's like they changed finishes every chance they got from the purple under-roof to the black and grey "brick" on the highest elevation, then you have the more neutral brick on the north and south wings, then there's wood finishes, all intertwined with the grey concrete. Again, this is super picky but I wish they would've been a little more careful with the finishes and make them flow better.

The interior looks pretty damn good from the pictures I've seen and I concur with my coworker that we've put ourselves in a good situation going forward.

Right, I don’t really understand the philosophy behind the black and gray camouflage pattern on top. Also, glass doors to the balcony will be much better than the current solid doors. And, yes, why the purple wall, glass will be much better there.

I have some good video showing the shifting patterns and colors that I'll upload later

We were promised video. ;)

I work with someone who was in the convention business for a long time on the east coast and we had a brief conversation today about this facility. She seems to think that it will make us extremely competitive but it's definitely important to see what type of incentives cities are willing to offer after Covid.

Side note, now that I've had a chance to see the building from many different vantage points I love it. The design is weird and cool and obviously, it's a huge upgrade from the Cox Center. It makes a great statement from Scissortail and the light show (from the testing I've seen) is going to be awesome. The ascending roofline from the south to north helps transition from the park to the Omni to the rest of the skyline. If I'm being nitpicky, my one and only gripe so far is the constant changing of exterior finishes. It's like they changed finishes every chance they got from the purple under-roof to the black and grey "brick" on the highest elevation, then you have the more neutral brick on the north and south wings, then there's wood finishes, all intertwined with the grey concrete. Again, this is super picky but I wish they would've been a little more careful with the finishes and make them flow better.

The interior looks pretty damn good from the pictures I've seen and I concur with my coworker that we've put ourselves in a good situation going forward.

That's why I love this building. I hate the fact OKC is so conservative, even when it relates to the buildings. This is sort of contemporary west coast influence with the stone, metal, wood combinations. Add the multiple colors now the whole building pops.

Here is a video of Virtual Sky:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HciKM2NKwHk

^ Kevin that's fair and I definitely won't knock you for your taste, always good to have multiple perspectives. I like the purple and the black/grey on top but I think my biggest gripe is the concrete. To me, it looks out of place and kinda cheap. Some sort of metal IMO would've been more aesthetically pleasing but it's an extremely expensive facility so I understand it. We paid for a fantastic building.

For those interested in the virtual sky, as Pete mentioned on a previous page this thing has a ton of programming. From the testing I've seen, there were slow-moving scenes, fast-moving ones, a spinning ring-type illusion, and something that looked like a space-themed scene maybe?

At the very least it's a building visitors will rembember.
QUESTION: Did the exterior led lights work in conjunction with the light displays?

Most nights no they've been off or solid but there was one night they were color shifting on the outside. It's tough because since they're testing everything isn't functioning at the same time. From what I can tell there are basically three layers to the lights. The first is the suspended lights shown above. Then there are the lights that streak from the exterior to the interior that color shift. And I haven't been able to figure out exactly what the third layer is yet. The third layer is obviously further in the interior but from the park, it gives a similar vibe to the Art's District Parking Garage installation (shown below). It could be something completely different but I'll try to snap a pic next time I'm there.

(https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/parking-garage-art-installation-enhances-daily-weather-talk/Content?oid=2980390)

https://media2.fdncms.com/okgazette/imager/u/blog/2977485/page2.jpg?cb=1508243792

Last time I saw something nearly as intriguing as that, the movie The Blob was released at the OKC's Jewel Theater.


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6f/9f/79/6f9f7990d67ca2d4fbfd4dcb5c436c06.jpg

Art Center Garage is cool because the colors change with user input. But otherwise it just sits there. They should have had it cycle through some patterns until it senses motion then stop for the input.

Last time I went through the Arts Garage, the user input aspect was not working. I would say this was July sometime.

Why do so many of the people working on this project not have any civic pride? A colleague was part of the project and pissed and moaned the whole time about how the CC was a waste of taxpayer money. Shouldn't we be vetting the tradespeople working on site before they are bought on? Shouldn't they be fired/blacklisted if they are found to have any disdain towards the job? I don't think people like that deserve to have a job.

Shouldn't we be vetting the tradespeople working on site before they are bought on? Shouldn't they be fired/blacklisted if they are found to have any disdain towards the job? I don't think people like that deserve to have a job.
That is ridiculous.

Shouldn't they be fired/blacklisted if they are found to have any disdain towards the job? I don't think people like that deserve to have a job.

Sounds like you're advocating for a loyalty test. I was hoping we were moving away from this Trumpian tactic since he is a soon-to-be ex-president.

Sounds like you're advocating for a loyalty test. I was hoping we were moving away from this Trumpian tactic since he is a soon-to-be ex-president.

What if you found that same kind of worker left a few bolts loose on a main truss or disconnected some fire supression water pipes or loosened a hydrolics line connection on a Southwest Airlines plane or bricked in "OU" in T Boone Pickens Stadium?

Because most trade professionals are loyal to their craft, not the individual job or worksite. Also QC is a real thing, so is engeineering redundancy.

Which isn't 100% preventative - especially if a disgruntled employee wishes to cause problems. This person doesn't sound loyal. If this person was openly hostile to the project and known to supervisors, the employee should have been shown the door.

There's all sorts of cases that can be found if you look it up.

Don’t they hire 3rd party inspectors anyways to ensure the building was constructed properly?

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/convention112520a.jpg

What if you found that same kind of worker left a few bolts loose on a main truss or disconnected some fire supression water pipes or loosened a hydrolics line connection on a Southwest Airlines plane or bricked in "OU" in T Boone Pickens Stadium?

You don’t understand the process at all.

Besides, just because you may not like a project, doesn't mean you aren't still going to take the job and do your best at it. I think all of us do things at work that we don't particularly like, but it's part of the job, so we still do it well.

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Still wild to me that they built the eastern edge of the park without doing the road at the same time only to tear up several parts of the eastern edge of the park to build the road...

Still wild to me that they built the eastern edge of the park without doing the road at the same time only to tear up several parts of the eastern edge of the park to build the road...

agreed coordination with the city public works dept and maps 3 dept should have been better.

The city never coordinates and we see stuff like this happen all over town. Lay a new road, tear it up for something so now it's all patched together for the next 10 years. Drives me bonkers every time.

The city never coordinates and we see stuff like this happen all over town. Lay a new road, tear it up for something so now it's all patched together for the next 10 years. Drives me bonkers every time.
Every single time. It’s madness.

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Is it true that the road in front of the convention center will be named after the former Mayor?