I hope it dies tomorrow with 5 official announcements, and we can start a new thread in 12 months when even more new towers are being speculated....it would be the same thread. Always room for more here! :)

I'm just poking a little fun at Spartan. I like his enthusiasm even if from his angle the glass looks half empty. Most people realize things are not too bad here and the areas with room for improvement are being addressed.

If you've ever gone out to other cities threads where they are ripping OKC out of jealousy, Spartan is ripping them right back on the good things about OKC......He just wants OKC, as all of us do, to be better.

I can think of the ABQ site off the top a few years back.

We need to have a thread that provides easy access links to these other websites. Id like to compare prides.

We need to have a thread that provides easy access links to these other websites. Id like to compare prides.

I'd really like to see a list of other sites that are ______ city's respective "OKC Talk" It would be really helpful in taking a trip to see the different things that the locals *really* care about, see progress in progress, ask questions about things to do without having to google and see what a bunch of other tourists or journalists say.

A lot of cities don't have an OKCTalk equivalent and the ones that do are near as well maintained and monitored like OKCTalk is.

A lot of cities don't have an OKCTalk equivalent and the ones that do are near as well maintained and monitored like OKCTalk is.

You can find them by looking for a regions architectural's forums. I know there is one in the DFW area.

Maybe it is time for Pete to expand is his talk empire.

BoiseTalk
SacTalk
AustinTalk
KCTalk
etc...

I know this doesn't involve a mystery tower and I appologize for interrupting this thread, but do any of you remember this beautiful piece of architecture? All the talk of "what ifs" about the OKC skyline got me thinking.

2847

Built in 1932 The Biltmore Hotel was 33 stories tall and at the time, the states largest building. It was on the corner of Harvey and Grand.
My father has photos in sequence of the implosion. Maybe someday I can find them again.

See I'm not the only one who posts old photos and has a great interest. :)

I have a couple dozen photos of it including the implosion ones. That's for another thread though.

Anybody know how many 10+ story buildings have been razed in OKC?

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Commerce%20Exchange%20Building/commerceexchange.jpg

Commerce Exchange Building

This is going to get way off topic...

Many, many in the 7-8 story range.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Herskowitz%20Building/herskowitzbuilding5.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Herskowitz%20Building/herskowitzbuilding2.jpg
Herskowitz Building

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Huckins%20Hotel/huckinshotel6.jpg
Huckins Hotel

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Kingkade%20Hotel/kingkadehotel2.jpg
Kingkade Hotel

I'm sorry I got us way off topic. I just think all of the "what would the skyline look like if" is interesting. People may recognize the land the Biltmore was on today as the Myriad Gardens. It would have looked cool seeing it and the Devon side by side. Old school and new school. I hope we do get more hi-rise buildings. They make great photos. =)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Midwest%20Theatre/MidwesttheaterBldg.jpg
Midwest Theatre

enjoying the old buildings, besides, in a speculation threas, it's easy enough to ask, should new construction for new towers, when they get announcedm mimic the past, or be fresh, even edgy?

see, back on topic already.

Then there was this one...

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/D3F769E3-E067-451C-B5D5-C1E11EC92FC4-2891-000000EA2E5DE6EC.jpg


"Local Federal Savings and Loan Association, 201-207 N. Robinson Ave., Oklahoma City"

Anybody know how many 10+ story buildings have been razed in OKC?

Probably not that many. Lower the threshold to 5 stories and I'll bet it is a bunch. Most of downtown OKCs original urban buildings were built before the elevator was common place which limited how high a building could be.

Then there was this one...

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/D3F769E3-E067-451C-B5D5-C1E11EC92FC4-2891-000000EA2E5DE6EC.jpg


"Local Federal Savings and Loan Association, 201-207 N. Robinson Ave., Oklahoma City"

Ah, ah ah

2849

See the resemblance?

How about something like this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Riviera) for residential? :)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Villa_Riviera.jpg

Great - now I am ticked off again. Thanks alot for showing those old pictures of OKC. :(

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Midwest%20Theatre/MidwesttheaterBldg.jpg
Midwest Theatre

Thanks for showing this one. My grandparents had a printing company in this building. Threw many a paper airplane into the alley on the left side as you look at it here. Brings back a lot of memories..........

Then there was this one...

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/D3F769E3-E067-451C-B5D5-C1E11EC92FC4-2891-000000EA2E5DE6EC.jpg


"Local Federal Savings and Loan Association, 201-207 N. Robinson Ave., Oklahoma City"

I think this one was torn down way past urban renewal. It came down because it would have been in front of the Leadership Square south tower, in about 1982 or 1983.

I know this doesn't involve a mystery tower and I appologize for interrupting this thread, but do any of you remember this beautiful piece of architecture? All the talk of "what ifs" about the OKC skyline got me thinking.

2847

Built in 1932 The Biltmore Hotel was 33 stories tall and at the time, the states largest building. It was on the corner of Harvey and Grand.
My father has photos in sequence of the implosion. Maybe someday I can find them again.


I remember that hotel very well and it was never 33 floors. It was 26 floors with a couple of lower levels.

Great - now I am ticked off again. Thanks alot for showing those old pictures of OKC. :(

Cheer up:

J6hijsqO8H0

Thanks - I needed that.

I remember that hotel very well and it was never 33 floors. It was 26 floors with a couple of lower levels.

Sorry. It's weird. on the okhistory.org site it says this:

"Located on the southeast corner of Grand and Harvey, the Biltmore Hotel was conceived and built during the Great Depression by prominent civic leaders, headed by Charles F. Colcord. Designed by architects Hawk and Parr, by the time it was completed in 1932, the Biltmore was thirty-three stories high and was heralded as the state's tallest building. Financial woes plagued the hotel throughout most of its life and the doors were closed in June 1973. Thousands of citizens turned out to watch as the massive structure was dynamited on October 16, 1977. Many cried openly, knowing that they were witnessing a singular episode of the destruction of historic Oklahoma City."

Everywhere else I read it said 26. Strange.

Sorry again for getting off topic. Maybe we should get back to the "Mystery Tower" of this thread before someone gets their hand slapped. =)

I'd rather see one page of history and old buildings, than five pages of EIFS.

Count the floors.

Biltmore Hotel (Hotel Oklahoma)* - Discussion - OKCTalk (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Biltmore+Hotel+Hotel+Oklahoma&page=1&do=comments#post591973)

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Aerial/20528TO030553DonGwynneCollection-Photographs-Box1TOWNS-OKLAHOMACITY-AERIALVIEWS-VIEWLOOKINGWESTATDOWNTOWNPHOTOBYDONGWYNNEJune27197 0.jpg

June 27 1970

This is about the peak of urban renewal. Chase Tower going up, but no Oklahoma Tower, Sandridge Tower, Corporate Tower, Mid-America Tower, BOK Plaza, IRS building, Renaissance Hotel, or Devon Tower.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Aerial/20528TO030553DonGwynneCollection-Photographs-Box1TOWNS-OKLAHOMACITY-AERIALVIEWS-VIEWLOOKINGWESTATDOWNTOWNPHOTOBYDONGWYNNEJune27197 0.jpg

June 27 1970

This is about the peak of urban renewal. Chase Tower going up, but no Oklahoma Tower, Sandridge Tower, Corporate Tower, Mid-America Tower, BOK Plaza, IRS building, Renaissance Hotel, or Devon Tower.

My god. This is the first picture I've seen that really showed how much was destroyed in the name of "renewal." Unbelievable. And nauseating.

Consider if you took this shortly before steel went up for Chase Tower, the tallest buildings downtown were built around 1932

That picture is proof that man will never invent time travel. If we did that, among other things, would have been 'corrected'.

Consider if you took this shortly before steel went up for Chase Tower, the tallest buildings downtown were built around 1932

Considering what followed was the Great Depression, dustbowl, WWII, the 1949 Housing Act, interstate highways, and then IM Pei - we are darn lucky anything survived. Paradise Lost - OKC style.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Aerial/20528TO030553DonGwynneCollection-Photographs-Box1TOWNS-OKLAHOMACITY-AERIALVIEWS-VIEWLOOKINGWESTATDOWNTOWNPHOTOBYDONGWYNNEJune27197 0.jpg

June 27 1970

This is about the peak of urban renewal. Chase Tower going up, but no Oklahoma Tower, Sandridge Tower, Corporate Tower, Mid-America Tower, BOK Plaza, IRS building, Renaissance Hotel, or Devon Tower.

And no county jail either :/

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Aerial/20528TO030553DonGwynneCollection-Photographs-Box1TOWNS-OKLAHOMACITY-AERIALVIEWS-VIEWLOOKINGWESTATDOWNTOWNPHOTOBYDONGWYNNEJune27197 0.jpg

June 27 1970

This is about the peak of urban renewal. Chase Tower going up, but no Oklahoma Tower, Sandridge Tower, Corporate Tower, Mid-America Tower, BOK Plaza, IRS building, Renaissance Hotel, or Devon Tower.

No Myriad Gardens, no OKCMOA, no Norick Library, no Chesapeake Arena, no Cox Convention Center (well, at least it's under construction), no... on and on. That photo looks like a wasteland compared to modern OKC.

Compare with later images:

July 2006
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6226/6261170157_ee0ae7c875_z_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49394874@N08/6261170157/sizes/z/in/set-72157627932531450)


May 2008
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3330/3192121905_2b9dce2783_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nashcreative/3192121905/in/photostream/)

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3455/3192111255_7455d8335b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/nashcreative/3192111255/in/photostream/)

March 2012
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7130/6972849392_bf571d94df_c_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollybaumannphotography/6972849392/in/photostream)

I have over a hundred from 1972 in color at street level I'm adding to the Reference Articles (http://www.okctalk.com/all-other-reference-articles/) page.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/Old%20Oklahoma%20City/Aerial/20528TO030553DonGwynneCollection-Photographs-Box1TOWNS-OKLAHOMACITY-AERIALVIEWS-VIEWLOOKINGWESTATDOWNTOWNPHOTOBYDONGWYNNEJune27197 0.jpg

June 27 1970

This is about the peak of urban renewal. Chase Tower going up, but no Oklahoma Tower, Sandridge Tower, Corporate Tower, Mid-America Tower, BOK Plaza, IRS building, Renaissance Hotel, or Devon Tower.

What I REALLY love about this image is that Main Street goes all the way through.

What I REALLY love about this image is that Main Street goes all the way through.

So did Harvey - and at one time California did as well (with terminal view of Santa Fe Station I might add).

My god. This is the first picture I've seen that really showed how much was destroyed in the name of "renewal." Unbelievable. And nauseating.

That's funny... because when I look at that pic I thought something quite different. It struck me how much we've done and how far we've come since then... In fact it created quite a strong feeling in me how happy I am I live here NOW as opposed to THEN...

So did Harvey - and at one time California did as well (with terminal view of Santa Fe Station I might add).

Hopefully it will again in a few years.....CA Ave at least.....

Imagine living in New York when the first skyscrapers were going up.

New York Architecture Images- THE PARK ROW BUILDING (http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SCC/SCC012.htm)

In case anyone needed a refresher...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhXaPSz8Sto

Stage Center at 6:20

Good, but misguided, intentions. That is sad to watch nearly the entire downtown gleefully demolished.

I didn't know if I should laugh or cry - so I did both.

The individuals that promoted the rape of downtown OKC should have been or should be strung up in a tall tree.

In case anyone needed a refresher...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhXaPSz8Sto

Stage Center at 6:20

Interesting, kinda funny, and sad at the same time... close to nothing he promoted came to pass...

But the acting was awesome!!!

In case anyone needed a refresher...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhXaPSz8Sto

Stage Center at 6:20

Wow how about all the sunshine pumping regarding the Galleria? Facepalm on that one.

I think #33 above is Alvin Adams, of OU and Phoenix Suns Glory. It looks like him at an ALL-College game possibly ??? He played in the early '70's.

Would the Cox have been open at that time ?

I think #33 above is Alvin Adams, of OU and Phoenix Suns Glory. It looks like him at an ALL-College game possibly ??? He played in the early '70's.

Would the Cox have been open at that time ?

Yes, that was Alvan at what was then the INCOMPARABLE Myriad.

I like the diversity of Philadelphia.

http://www.centercityteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Philadelphia-Skyline.jpg

List of tallest buildings in Philadelphia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Philadelphia)

I lived in Philadelphia for awhile and it has a very cool downtown. However, I really hate the Liberty Place towers.

very excellent image that you used. thanks for sharing that.

Philly is perhaps the coolest urban city in the country.

I lived in Philadelphia for awhile and it has a very cool downtown. However, I really hate the Liberty Place towers.

Liberty Place is one of those building that look better from 10 miles away than they do from the sidewalk 10 feet away. In a city filled with sidewalk interaction Liberty Place provides none of it. Even though it provides retail space (and quite a bit of it), most of it is only accessible via interior corridors which results in a lot vacancies, especially on the 2nd floor. Even if you see something in the display window you like, you have to walk a 100' or more to find an entrance and then navigate a maze of interior hallways to find the store you were just standing in front of.

Shops At Liberty / Store Map | 1625 Chestnut Street - (215) 851-9055 (http://www.shopsatliberty.com/store-map.html?StoreID=6)

Philly is perhaps the coolest urban city in the country.

No doubt about it. Everyone should go to Philly. I said it before but standing in Rittenhouse Sq is one of my favorite places on the planet.

No doubt about it. Everyone should go to Philly. I said it before but standing in Rittenhouse Sq is one of my favorite places on the planet.

It's fantastically gorgeous...that being said, It's the only place I've ever gotten a parking ticket. So until I go back and visit it, it will not be one of my favorite places on the planet.

Parking Wars?

It's fantastically gorgeous...that being said, It's the only place I've ever gotten a parking ticket. So until I go back and visit it, it will not be one of my favorite places on the planet.

That is what you get for driving a car in a walkable city :)

I lived there for 2 months and never once got in a car. No kidding - not once.

Of course, I got a parking ticket in San Francisco about 23 years ago. I still haven't paid it.

Scofflaw! :police: