All you need for a facade is a structure to attach it to.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/UnFrSaKn/failure-xxx-demotivational-poster-1276903791.jpg

I felt from the start it had a good chance to make it look worse, before it at least looked functional and forgettable, now it looks like it had a cheap remodel which does not go with it or look particularly modern and will be actively trying to draw attention to itself.

I think the best solution to cleaning up the EKG frontage and making that a less depressing corridor would be just to wrap that side with some metal panels. There was an ugly garage in Cleveland's University Circle district that got a similar makeover:

http://www.array-architects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/uh-garages-gallery-01.jpg
http://www.array-architects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/uh-garages-gallery-02.jpg

You can see the original garage underneath the new metallic sheathing. It looks particularly stunning because it matches some newer buildings on the CWRU medical campus, but along EKG it would evoke a very cool vibe of going through a metal tube because it's a walled-in space.

I've seen this garage in person and this would have been a stunning improvement. However, OKC doesn't do things like this well. We settle for the LED vomit that will cover the garage.

On one hand we have to remember that it is a parking garage and there's only so much you can do for it. But at the same time, we got crap. There are other examples downtown of how it could be done....as a renovation and doesn't have to be new. And that Cleveland garage is a great example of how some facade work can totally change the thing.

Instead, we turned ours into a childish tack board.

Has this remodel completed? Or does everybody pass judgement before it is half done?

On one hand we have to remember that it is a parking garage and there's only so much you can do for it. But at the same time, we got crap. There are other examples downtown of how it could be done....as a renovation and doesn't have to be new. And that Cleveland garage is a great example of how some facade work can totally change the thing.

Instead, we turned ours into a childish tack board.
Maybe all those complaining about this would like to step up and provide the funding to do this and other projects that are not done to suit them.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/9246560792_7a233cf992_b.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3816/9246560278_a399e915ff_b.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5442/9246559894_c55df10531_b.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2835/9246557310_1ee8f4c14f_b.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2877/9243774383_aa049e91fa_b.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/9252795769_a789c9dc06_h.jpg

LOL, it looks like they've affixed a series of oversized paper clips to the garage.

I think I would have painted the darn thing before tacking on these "improvements". Maybe it will turn out nice, but it certainly could be worse I suppose.

I never thought the garage itself looked all that bad, and the improvements look pretty good to me. The problem -- and all of us are aware of this -- is that E.K. Gaylord with the elevated tracks on the other side is basically an open air tunnel. If the garage were near buildings, I don't think so many people would despise it as much as they do. I agree that Gaylord as a whole is really an ugly segment of downtown, though.

I never thought the garage itself looked all that bad, and the improvements look pretty good to me. The problem -- and all of us are aware of this -- is that E.K. Gaylord with the elevated tracks on the other side is basically an open air tunnel. If the garage were near buildings, I don't think so many people would despise it as much as they do. I agree that Gaylord as a whole is really an ugly segment of downtown, though.

Not a fan of the cheesy mural on the railroad wall either. Perhaps they should have added cows and covered wagons to the tableau.

Not a fan of the cheesy mural on the railroad wall either. Perhaps they should have added cows and covered wagons to the tableau.

Cheesy or not, way better than a blank a$$ wall.

Face it, that stretch of street is not and will not be a warm and friendly pedestrian corridor. It is a transportation corridor only. Whether that is good or bad (cue JTF), it is what we have and is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. The city has limited funds to spend for cosmetic re-do's on parking garages when there are so many other infrastructure things that are of priority. While this project may not be to my aesthetic preferences, at least they are trying something within a budget to improve it. And, they aren't doing something so expensive that if we are flush with funds in 5 years we can't change it and improve it.

If the garage were near buildings, I don't think so many people would despise it as much as they do.

Good point. A great example would be the Main Street Parking Garage. It is a terribly bland building and the only saving grace is it has a five businesses on the ground floor retail and it is completely surrounded by taller structures.

Save a few bucks and paint it. That is what it needs far more than LED garnish.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe there are plans to light up those colored panels they are installing. They are some type of reflective color material that changes color when light hits it. I saw them installing more today, and I did not see any infrastructure for wiring anywhere they are being installed.

Why else would they include night renderings showing them visible, even with a moon? lol


But you are correct, I have yet to see any wiring evidence.

Maybe all those complaining about this would like to step up and provide the funding to do this and other projects that are not done to suit them.

If that were how we operated, then there would be no standards because no one would stand up and say "Hey, this sucks. You can do better". We don't have to be directly contributing financially to the project in order to want it to be the best it can be. It's not about complaining because it wasn't what " I wanted ". It's about nudging people to half do things, to go all the way and put a coat of paint to an actualy project.

I'm the first one to say (and have), it's a parking garage...what do you want out of it. Like so many others have posted here though, lipstick on a pig is still a pig with lipstick. The attachments on the side do nothing to alter the monolithic wall of concrete.

If they painted it grey, someone on here would be complianing that it should have been green, and so on and so on...

If they painted it grey, someone on here would be complianing that it should have been green, and so on and so on...

maybe they could paint it Oklahoma Sunset ... not too red, not too orange.
:)

I can confirm that the panels will not light up, but rather are some sort of tinted iridescent aluminum.

Won't light up? Well that really sucks...


Apparently the east-facing panels are pink. They are hanging them up now. It looks totally ridiculous.

It's lipstick on a pig. They get an "A" for acknowledging that there's a problem with the garage's aesthetics. An "F" for concept and implementation.

Took these last night...

You can see that the little panels definitely don't light up -- they just have metallic paint.

And wow, is this structure a monolithic concrete behemoth as you walk along EKG (not that anyone does this -- why would they??). Note in the last photo the great pedestrian access to Bricktown with virtually no way to get over there short of playing Frogger across six lanes and a concrete median.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/sf81313a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/sf81313b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/sf81313c.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/sf81313d.jpg

LOL. We try so hard.

LOL. We try so hard.

No kidding. I know there's a parking crunch downtown, but I'd like to see this garage torn down and redone.

People dangerously try to cross there at both rush hour times. I am surprised no one has died around 5:00, attempting it.

No kidding. I know there's a parking crunch downtown, but I'd like to see this garage torn down and redone.

I literally cannot stop laughing at this joke of a structure. It's literally lipstick on a pig....and they used the absolute worst and cheapest lipstick on the market.

Also, the street blows.

I literally cannot stop laughing at this joke of a structure. It's literally lipstick on a pig....and they used the absolute worst and cheapest lipstick on the market.

Also, the street blows.

The street is scheduled to be re-built.

The street is scheduled to be re-built.

link??

Wow. Those tack ons look absolutely terrible.

What a waste of time, effort, and money. It looks worse now than before. *Slaps head*

Wow. Those tack ons look absolutely terrible.

What a waste of time, effort, and money. It looks worse now than before. *Slaps head*

True. If they had at least painted the darn thing a color that would make those - things - look like that weren't tacked on like the latest plastic lawn ornament in the tacky neighbor's yard. (Every neighborhood has one!) Maybe a charcoal grey or lighter grey? Maybe the plan is to paint it once all the tacked on stuff is complete? Who designed this mess? And how much did the city pay for it?

link??

Oopps...sorry, Package 6B stops just a little short.

Its like giving a building piercings. Now it just looks weird in addtion to being ugly.

Looking Southeast
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/9730677943_ab56b5fcbf_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77483833@N04/9730677943/)
Santa Fe Parking Garage (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77483833@N04/9730677943/) by lazio85 (http://www.flickr.com/people/77483833@N04/)

Looking Northeast
http://static.squarespace.com/static/512fe56ce4b0c701bd017fbe/51b60192e4b0c042edee3645/51b74032e4b0f643c17dbfcb/1370964748804/SW%20View-%20NIGHT%20copy.JPG?format=1500w

What is that render from? Is Interurban referring to the eatery?

Ugh just terrible. I am trying my best to be optimistic. The rendering looks cool at night, but the ones in place now barely even light up!

Ugh just terrible. I am trying my best to be optimistic. The rendering looks cool at night, but the ones in place now barely even light up!

I don't think they are powered, just reflective.

I don't think they are powered, just reflective.

That is true. It is just reflective metal paint on those panels. Unless they plan to install some kind of up lighting to reflect the colors in the reflective metal, I don't know how it's going to be color lit at night.

This is from Downtown Development's Twitter feed:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXnSe1rCYAA05y9.jpg

Which they ironically list as facade "upgrades". This thing is just hideous and the "work" being done is a joke.

This is the kind of ugly that is so bad it makes your stomach turn a bit.

They could have at least pressured washed the exterior. Hard to call anything an upgrade with brown streaks running down the side.

I'm pretty sure this is the first bedazzled parking garage I have ever seen...

This is a puzzling project indeed.........I'm guessing by the looks of it that Miles did not have much of a budget to work with when tasked with trying to come up with some façade enhancements. It seems like construction is taking forever, but I keep crossing my fingers that it will all come together once completed.

I am curious if in the next five years or so since there is a proposal to build a new parking garage in BT, the main street parking garage and adding on to the east parking garage behind Devon we might see this torn down and a new building (dare I say, Tower?) built here with a taller nicer garage built adjacent to it. COPTA isn't against selling parking garages but I know the temporary loss would frustrate the people who usually park there.

A lot of brushed aluminum looking panels are now mounted.

Looks like the "front" (east side) of the garage is mostly complete in terms of this renovation. They also covered the corner pillar on the SE side with the same paneling.

No offense to the people involved in trying to do something here, which IS better than nothing, but the term "lipstick on a pig" keeps coming to mind...

No offense to the people involved in trying to do something here, which IS better than nothing, but the term "lipstick on a pig" keeps coming to mind...

So funny, I think the same exact thing every day!

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/6088d1389803436-santa-fe-garage-sfparking11314a.jpg

What a piece of s***. I can't believe this project.

Whelp that'll keep the Santa Fe Garage new and fresh for the next 30 years!

Go home Sante Fe Parking Garage. You're drunk.

They really sold this design with the rendering that shows it at night. Without that I hope there was noway this would have passed.

Now that we see how awful it is and how it isn't even visible at night, major facepalm ensues.


The only way to save face for this thing is to stain/paint the concrete a dark gray or black. But with the horrid original design, that looks extremely costly.

Go home Sante Fe Parking Garage. You're drunk.

& stoned & just crazy. & no sense of fashion. :tongue:

Whelp that'll keep the Santa Fe Garage new and fresh for the next 30 years!

I literally laughed out loud at that one.

Ugh, all it would take is painting or staining the concrete to make it look about a 1000 times better. If they had just spent all the money put toward the ridiculousness of this "renovation" to some kind of actual surface improvement, it would actually look decent. Is paint/stain really that expensive?

I have noticed a real lack of workers on this project lately... The last thing I saw done is the exterior paneling (which was an awkward blue color) on the part in the renderings to the left of "Urban Cafe".

Perhaps they are inside the retail spaces working on those, but I feel like maybe 4 people total are working on this currently.

maybe they just really liked Doodle Jump


http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/6088d1389803436-santa-fe-garage-sfparking11314a.jpg

They have redone all the sidewalks on the south side of this building. Also all of the blue and grey paneling is up. I will try and get some photos.