Drove past this building last night. There was a good amount of scaffolding around the south side. Looks like it could be getting a new paint job. I think I saw a few small sections painted black but it was dark and difficult to tell.

Been like that at least a couple weeks but not sure what's. Similar situation at the ACM@UCO building in Bricktown.

ACM is getting the brick repointed.

ACM is getting the brick repointed.

Is the pointing getting worn away?

Sorry, Urb. I just couldn't resist that. :)

A primer coat is being applied to the south side today.

5145

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/5145d1386098743-park-harvey-apartments-photo-3.jpg

And it already looks better.

Thanks so much.

I bet the final product will be a big improvement... That building was starting to look pretty shabby.

I hope they don't repaint it brown/beige/tan. I could go for a blue building downtown :-)

I hope they don't repaint it brown/beige/tan. I could go for a blue building downtown :-)

We already have a pretty big one of those...

;)

I hope they don't repaint it brown/beige/tan.

Me too... Does anyone know what color they're going to paint it?

We already have a pretty big one of those...

;)

Sometimes…half the time it looks pretty grey.

I always thought it would look nice if they just replaced the brown panels with reflective ones - basically faux windows, but I'm not opposed to the painting either. I used to work in the Park Harvey building and now work across from it, so I'm certainly interested in seeing how it turns out. By the way, if you ever get a chance to ride the elevators in that building, I highly recommend it :)

From the Downtown Development Twitter account.
5510

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/5510d1387399233-park-harvey-apartments-image.jpg

1973 called. They want their sunset back.

wtf

Pete, can we change the title of this thread to 'Windows Paint Color Template Apartments'?

Love it!

Love it!

Like in the same way you love your wolves howling at the moon sweatshirt and oakley frogskins?

Like in the same way you love your wolves howling at the moon sweatshirt and oakley frogskins?

lol…our buildings are boring. Sure this is totally gimmicky, and I would never ever do my own building in such a way…but it's different. Bad press is better than no press, and the only buildings in the CBD that could actually grab someone's attention are First National, Devon, and the Braniff. Everything else is very meh.

My biggest complaint is the first shade of yellow is way too bright.

Agree with Teo here. Downtown needs a splash of color here and there instead of the brown, glass, black, glass pattern. Would I have gone this bright? Probably not. But I like it nonetheless.

I love it too.

Really glad to see someone trying something a bit bold.

All kidding aside, you gotta take some risks. Maybe it won't look too bad.

Or...

5511

The Lifesavers Building?

Or given the shape, perhaps Starbust?

Very different. Sort of like Mexico Cityish

Holy crap.

I saw them painting this the other day, they were only down to the orange.

Wow.

The colors give me a very southwest Native American vibe, I like it!

Hey, like Russ says. Why not?

Will need to see this in person before I can make a judgment.

I like it.

I am imagining what it would look like if they did it rubik's cube style and altered the base color every third of the building horizontally as well


http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/5510d1387399233-park-harvey-apartments-image.jpg

Very different. Sort of like Mexico Cityish

My first thought too. I like though...will make an impression.

To quote my architect friend Ron Frantz, don't faint; it's only paint.

I can't tell if I like this or not, but there is no question, it will get peoples attention.

Anything is an improvement over the original, but man, this is loud.

Turns out, this wasn't very far off:


http://dl.dropbox.com/s/rlw9bcn4pj1byyv/park_harvey_poly.jpg

I suggest they keep the scaffolding and paint equipment at the front of the storage room - as this paint scheme is going to last about 24 months.

My god, how did that get approved? It's hideous.

Very different. Sort of like Mexico Cityish

circa 1977.

My god, how did that get approved? It's hideous.

Approved by who?

I actually like it. And WAY better than the old colors.

The main thing that would concern me is whether the paint will cause accelerated degradation of the panels. Some materials - like brick - can be severely compromised when paint is applied. Moisture gets behind the paint and is held against the material, at which point the freeze/thaw cycle starts.

Paint is one of the factors that can cause spalling in brick surfaces and eventually can lead to having to dramatically renovate a surface that if left alone is mostly weather-proof. This is the reason the Secretary of the Interior's HP standards call for never painting unpainted brick and encourage gentle removal of old paint rather than re coating.

Paint also has to be maintained and re-applied sooner than most people think, or else it peels and fades and often looks worse than the original.

The same thing can happen with tile and other surfaces. Not sure what the surface material here is, but hopefully it won't be compromised. The original product was not much to look at, but did survive for what, 50 years without having to be repainted or adding to the maintenance costs. If you think in terms of the building having to be repainted every few years now going forward, it might have been cheaper in the long term to replace the panels with something of similar durability but more visual appeal.

Of course, few people today take long-term approaches to their real estate holdings.

Approved by who?

Downtown Design Review Committee a couple of months ago.

BTW, I wasn't suggesting that this building is historic or requires an HP approach when I referenced the Secretary of the Interior's HP standards. They just provide really a really good guide for effectively dealing with the materials found on older buildings.

Blue & orange or crimson & cream would have also been brilliant choices. My color selection committee mailer from the owners obviously got lost in the mail.

Phew, disaster averted by the building owners since those panels do not look like they are brick or tile...

No, they obviously are not. I mentioned brick and tile only as examples of materials that can be damaged by this process. Other materials can also suffer the same unintended consequences. I said in the comment that I was unsure what these panels are made of, but they may or may not be jeopardized. Either way the paint will now be a newly-added maintenance requirement.

But thanks for your belittling feedback. It added a lot to the discussion.

And yes, that's sarcasm for anyone who has a hard time detecting it online.

My bad Urbanized. I apologize for writing that in a way that made it a personal attack on your opinion. I had no intention to belittle you. I apologize.

Hey no prob. I probably just read a little too much into it.

Yeah my feeling is that they moved the building from the 50's into the 70's. It seems like it will still look dated when it is done, but it will be better than it was before.

Blue & orange or crimson & cream would have also been brilliant choices. My color selection committee mailer from the owners obviously got lost in the mail.

I agree on the blue and orange but I think black and orange would really be sharp on this building ;)

Grody

Could someone please take a new photo so we can see the paint progress on the Starburst Building??

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/5790d1389048231-park-harvey-apartments-park-harvey.jpg

Here is a photo from a few minutes ago, but not much in the way of progress.

Probably hard to shoot paint when it comes out of the gun as ice.

Thanks Mr. Cotter!

I forget how cold it's been there.

Come back for another visit! You won't soon forget. Better hurry though; temps in the fifties this weekend!

I hate to be the smug Californian one of the reasons I forget about the cold is because we've had a record warm fall and winter.

It's been in the 80's several times the last couple of months and it's been rare when the high hasn't been over 70. It was almost hot on Christmas Eve and Day!

Well - and I say this in the kindest and most respectful of manner - screw you pal!

If you triangulate my position, you'll figure out I took this about four feet from the front door of Oklahoma Tower.

Two more feet and you might have gotten frostbite.

Pete. Thank you for not only reaching out, but sharing with the rest of us.

I hate to be the smug Californian one of the reasons I forget about the cold is because we've had a record warm fall and winter.

It's been in the 80's several times the last couple of months and it's been rare when the high hasn't been over 70. It was almost hot on Christmas Eve and Day!

A discussion of weather is probably not the best time to bring this up, but have you considered moving back to OKC? Your influence and love for the town are impressive. With the respect you garner through this board I suspect you could make even a larger difference if you were in OKC.