I think there is a conflict between the police union and the city over parking. As I recall the union bought some buildings and lots around the police buildings and the city doesn't want to pay them for parking. Or something like that.

Does the rendering show the smokestack remaining?

Does the rendering show the smokestack remaining?

Yes.

Free Press OKC article about the demo:

https://freepressokc.com/former-okc-police-hq-municipal-courts-building-being-demolished/

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police083021a.jpg

too bad the underground couldn't be retained or rebuilt. But I can see it's not possible given the garage was integral to the structure itself.

I think they should build a parking garage here, have the lower/underground levels for police and at and higher levels for the public. This location could also be great for one or more of the MAPS 4 community support center(s) at streetfront or on top of the garage.

^

That parking level was not below the surface.

They should keep as much of the blonde brick as they can for future projects in this area.

sorry, freepress said it was underground

Pete, I'm not disagreeing per se, but the way it's built, the lower parking level _feels_ underground, even though it may actually just be level with the street (ish). You go up a ramp to get to the upper parking level and down a ramp to get to the lower level where you can see cars parked in this streetview grab.

17072

^

It's maybe 2-3 feet below grade in that area; not "underground".

Look at the last photo I posted.

After all this time, they've hardly made a dent in the old police/court building.

That thing is one big block of concrete.

Yeah I passed by there the other day and wondered what the deal was. They’re just demolishing the old building and putting a surface parking lot in its place, no? Shouldn’t be too hard.

Demolition has begun on the courts part

https://twitter.com/cityofokc/status/1455169387493797889

https://kfor.com/news/local/demolition-of-old-oklahoma-city-municipal-courts-and-police-headquarters-complex-to-begin-monday/

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police110721a.jpg


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


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/policeparking2.jpg

Walked over to Sunny Side to have breakfast for lunch last week and got to watch it coming down for a few minutes..... Pretty amazing what those guys can do with a big machine and a bucket on top of a pile of rubble.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police120421a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police120421b.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police122621a.jpg

Just got a press release from the city saying this demolition is set to resume.

They encountered some issues while trying to preserve the old smokestack (shown above) and of course the jail itself.

I was really hoping that the old smokestack would be preserved. It is a very interesting piece of architecture.

Im sort of curious why the building has a smoke stack. Was it a steam/boiler HVAC or something?

I think a nice little green space, like a police/ criminal justice memorial fountain would be nice for this, having the court building and the police hq facing each other would make for a nice walk to and from and a nice setting for lunch... beats having traffic zooming all around in a parking lot

Im sort of curious why the building has a smoke stack. Was it a steam/boiler HVAC or something?

Likely a trash incinerator, which was once very common in industrial and municipal applications.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police070422a.jpg

So I'm hoping the smokestack is being saved?

So I'm hoping the smokestack is being saved?

Yes.

That's why they had to stop the demolition for quite a while; so they could figure out how to preserve it while tearing things down all around it.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/police093022a.jpg

After all that effort to work around and save the smokestack, the city has now applied to demolish it.

Not sure why but likely because it's too unstable.

I saw an Oklahoman headline that the city is not going to demolish anymore and is looking at future uses. Is this anything new or the Oklahoman reporting old news?

I saw an Oklahoman headline that the city is not going to demolish anymore and is looking at future uses. Is this anything new or the Oklahoman reporting old news?

Just said any demolition plans are on hold and that the city may include the renovation in a future bond issue.

So I'm hoping the smokestack is being saved?

This is the JW Marriott in Savannah, GA built on the site of a former power plant. They saved the smokestacks which makes an iconic statement on the Savannah skyline. The base of the stacks are in an upscale restaurant and you can eat in them. Something visually similar would be a nice addition to the area.

17802

This sort of thing is kind of how things operate in downtown OKC now, right? We'll mortgage OKCPS' future, issue some TIF bonds, make millions for private developers with the taxpayers fronting the costs and the valuable property for redevelopment. Just because a building is old doesn't mean it's worth saving. Maybe it's worth preserving until Oklahoma County can figure out what to do with the existing jail structure across the street. Maybe the old HQ will make sense in some future private development, and since it's sat empty there for decades, it can sit empty for another decade or two without giving me any heartburn, but this isn't going to be something like the JW Marriott. It's too small. I doubt the ceilings are even high enough to accommodate modern HVAC.

Yes, the ceilings are very low which is by far the biggest obstacle and there is no easy solution.

I wasn't suggesting a JW Marriott. I was simply giving an example of a smokestack being repurposed into a placemaking object.

This is the JW Marriott in Savannah, GA built on the site of a former power plant. They saved the smokestacks which makes an iconic statement on the Savannah skyline. The base of the stacks are in an upscale restaurant and you can eat in them. Something visually similar would be a nice addition to the area.

17802
Doesn’t seem comparable.

This is the JW Marriott in Savannah, GA built on the site of a former power plant. They saved the smokestacks which makes an iconic statement on the Savannah skyline. The base of the stacks are in an upscale restaurant and you can eat in them. Something visually similar would be a nice addition to the area.

17802

Welcome back 'Just the facts'.

Smokestack demo issue got pushed out another month.