New Enable signage from Downtown Development Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/dtOKCbuilds):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bieex01CMAED5ux.jpg

That is definitely an improvement over the previous sign.

So what's with the new sign, is EnAble taken off the speculation list?

9617

9617

I remember this vaguely because I worked downtown at the time and my company was to move into LS as one of its first tenants.

Do you remember the purpose or was it all simply fun?

I remember this vaguely because I worked downtown at the time and my company was to move into LS as one of its first tenants.

Do you remember the purpose or was it all simply fun?

I think it might have been a promotion for the new gorilla exhibit at the zoo. Seems like it was called "The Great EscAPE" or something like that. You can see part of a banner in the lower left corner with the word APE on it, and next to that is the KJ-103 radio station banner.

Does anyone know where I can find the original propsal for this property?

Does anyone know where I can find the original propsal for this property?

What do you mean?

There was another developer who proposed something very different for the site and the final plan for this particular building evolved over time.

The Great EscAPE was built in the 90s; Leadership was completed in the 80s. Not saying it wasn't associated with the zoo.

There was another developer who proposed something very different for the site and the final plan for this particular building evolved over time.
I guess I'm thinking of that. I had it in my mind that there was a taller building that was promised and then the developer cut it in to two shorter towers. I might be completely off here

here's what I could find in the oklahoman archives...

one of the proposals from '79 (note the park harvey building on the left)
http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9626&stc=1

and the plaza between the buildings from the same proposal
http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9627&stc=1

here's the concept from '79 of the winning proposal
http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9628&stc=1

here is a mockup in '83
http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9629&stc=1

and last an ad from early '84
http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9630&stc=1

-M

Wasnt it Spartan that was saying it was originally supposed to be something like 80 stories tall? I remember that no one could confirm it tho.

hm, couldn't view the renderings.

Wasnt it Spartan that was saying it was originally supposed to be something like 80 stories tall? I remember that no one could confirm it tho.

Several people have said there was a proposal to build a 50-story building but I never heard of that and nobody's ever been able to produce evidence to support that claim.

hm, couldn't view the renderings.
Me neither.

Several people have said there was a proposal to build a 50-story building but I never heard of that and nobody's ever been able to produce evidence to support that claim.

I think the original proposal was around twice the height that actually got built. Had it been built to the original proposal it would have made a significant impact on the skyline. I do thing the building looks good even as is.

weird... the pictures show up for me when logged in but they don't when i'm viewing as a guest. let's try again.

one of the proposals from '79 (note the park harvey building on the left)
http://www.magnvs.de/pics/ls3.jpg

and the plaza between the buildings from the same proposal
http://www.magnvs.de/pics/ls4.jpg

here's the concept from '79 of the winning proposal
http://www.magnvs.de/pics/ls5.jpg

here is a mockup in '83
http://www.magnvs.de/pics/ls2.jpg

and last an ad from early '84
http://www.magnvs.de/pics/ls1.jpg

-M

LS was supposed to be about 50 floors. I mentioned in another post that you can find pretty good details in "OKC: Second Time Around". OKC development books like that are out of date very quickly, which is great. It would be sad to see nothing change and the book stay current for an extended period of time. :)

Thanks Bombermwc. I remember it was originally supposed to be 50 stories also and somewhere I have seen a rendering of it at that height. If I recall it had a sloped roof similar to the Citicorp building in NYC and not the stair-stepped roof it has now.

Kerry's back!

LS was supposed to be about 50 floors. I mentioned in another post that you can find pretty good details in "OKC: Second Time Around". OKC development books like that are out of date very quickly, which is great. It would be sad to see nothing change and the book stay current for an extended period of time. :)

Steve has mentioned this several times but I've never seen any evidence.

It may have just been a general concept, otherwise there would be renderings somewhere and to date no one has been able to produce them.

I was a commercial real estate broker officed downtown when all this was being discussed and negotiated and I never heard about the possibility of it being that tall.

This is an interesting history by Robert Roloff who was the project architect.

Robert B. Roloff, architect: Leadership Square (http://rbrpictoralhistory.blogspot.com/2013/08/leadership-square.html)

It mentions that there were four proposals for the project but doesn't give any information about the other three. It's possible that one or more of the other proposals was for a taller tower.

This article about the proposals doesn't mention anything taller than 20 floors.

http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Search&Key=DOK/1979/07/19/15/Ar01500.xml&CollName=APA3_DOK_1978-1979&DOCID=58736&PageLabelPrint=&skin=%4f%6b%6c%61%68%6f%6d%61%6e&AW=%31%34%31%37%37%35%34%33%31%36%35%38%32&sPublication=%44%4f%4b&sScopeID=%55%44%52%37&sSorting=%53%63%6f%72%65%2c%64%65%73%63&sQuery=%72%6f%6c%6f%66%66&rEntityType=&sSearchInAll=%66%61%6c%73%65&sDateFrom=%25%33%30%25%33%31%25%32%66%25%33%30%25% 33%31%25%32%66%25%33%31%25%33%39%25%33%37%25%33%31&sDateTo=%25%33%31%25%33%32%25%32%66%25%33%33%25%33 %31%25%32%66%25%33%31%25%33%39%25%33%38%25%33%30&dc:creator=&PageLabel=&dc:publisher=&RefineQueryView=&StartFrom=%32%30&ViewMode=GIF

Being around at the time of development and construction, I don't recall anything other than what was eventually selected and built, proposed for LSQ. I've never seen any newspaper article or developer (Metropolitan Life Insurance was involved in the development) announcement indicating the building was originally planned for something taller. Yes, there were several proposals submitted for the site, but what it built now is the project that was selected. It's just not the case the building was to be taller.

It could be that people are confusing LSQ with the proposed 3rd Galleria/Carrozza building, that was to be constructed at the se/c of Park and Hudson, site of today's new downtown library. I remember it being announced and looking at the model and rendering. It was a 50-something story building and was to open in the mid-80's, but of course by then the crash had set in, killing the proposal.

^

Right, there was a 3rd building planned for immediately west of what is now Oklahoma Tower and there was even a model showing it at 50 stories.

I followed this stuff extremely closely and would remember if anything taller was ever proposed for the Leadership Square site. I could tell you about everything else that was ever proposed downtown from the early 70's on.

This seems to have become an urban legend, having been repeated so many times others think it's true. Until someone produces evidence of it, I regard this as a myth.

I'm pretty sure I've seen a rendering with taller towers. Trying to remember where...

I could have sworn there was a rendering (well painting/drawing given the time) in Steve's book along with the one of the Hilton. I'll have to check it when I get home today. It's been a while since I looked at the book, so I could be nuts. I can picture the thing in my head, but for the life of me, I can't remember where I saw it....just thinking it was in Steve's book.

Here's an old archive article mentioning the "original design" of 4 buildings, but not with much detail on them: Site for Leadership Square Being Cleared | News OK (http://newsok.com/site-for-leadership-square-being-cleared/article/1963879)

Bozalis and Roloff were responsible for a few pretty important structures in OKC. Citizens' Bank (gold dome and tower), The Plaza Tower Hotel, The State Capital Bank (I think it's gone now), and even a few things that were never built.....like this gem OKC Mod » Never Built Oklahoma (http://okcmod.com/?p=5009) (last one on the page) that would have been OKC's arena, but we had to wait for the Myriad. For being a group that was so stylized to the 60's, it's pretty surprising that in the 70's they would be able to design a building built in the 80's, but has stood the test of time as still pretty modern looking because of it's curtain.

I have Steve's book and there is no such rendering of a taller building for the site.

Steve has mentioned this several times but I've never seen any evidence.

It may have just been a general concept, otherwise there would be renderings somewhere and to date no one has been able to produce them.

I was a commercial real estate broker officed downtown when all this was being discussed and negotiated and I never heard about the possibility of it being that tall.

I don't recall ever saying Leadership Square was originally planned to be 50 stories tall. I don't recall ever hearing this before - I don't think it's correct.

Was there ever another building planned for the LS site that would have been 50 stories? What was there before the current buildings were constructed?

The only thing I could ever find is this from a 2008 Journal Record article but since it was written almost 30 years after the final plans were revealed, I believe this may be more of just passing on the same urban legend:


With Oklahoma apparently heading toward untold deep gas wealth, insurance giant Metropolitan Life pursued two of the most prominent, yet fundamentally different office projects in state history.

* At more than 60 stories, Leadership Square promised what would have been the Sooner State's tallest building, capitalizing on downtown Oklahoma City's urban renewal dreams.

* Warren Place offered an opposing strategy, five smaller towers of glass and reinforced concrete rising above wooded hills facing William Kelly Warren's cherished St. Francis Hospital complex.

Although the economic fallout from Penn Square Bank's collapse reduced both projects in scope, MetLife maintained its dedication to quality construction.

In Oklahoma City, that resulted in two mated glass monuments that competed with the Waterford for the city's luxury standard. But in Tulsa, MetLife achieved even more.

https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1P2-17560155/these-walls-warren-place-in-tulsa

There were supposed to be two more buildings as part of the complex. That's not a myth and the article I posted a link to from the archives, mentions them. I know I've seen a picture of the taller tower before, i'll just have to do some work to hunt down where I saw it. The height of the two that exist, were also reduced. That's not a myth.

What may be a myth, is the actual original height. Like I said, i'll have to do some homework and see if I can't dredge something up. When the architecture firm is no more, it makes it more difficult to hunt original plans down. They don't often keep plans for things that were scrapped anyway.

BTW, when I was last in the atrium of this building it felt very dark and dated.

Although I worked there for five years, I never noticed how dark most of the atrium is.

This building is now 30 years old and could use a refresh.

like this gem OKC Mod » Never Built Oklahoma (http://okcmod.com/?p=5009) (last one on the page) that would have been OKC's arena, but we had to wait for the Myriad.

Would've rather had this than the square box that is the Myriad. At least with the addition, the Myriad is closer to the street on the Sheridan side. Before, a large portion of that huge swath of land that was taken up by the Myriad was plaza. I remember it felt like you had to walk a mile and half just to get to the doors at the Myriad.

There were supposed to be two more buildings as part of the complex. That's not a myth and the article I posted a link to from the archives, mentions them. I know I've seen a picture of the taller tower before, i'll just have to do some work to hunt down where I saw it. The height of the two that exist, were also reduced. That's not a myth....

While the 1981 article you linked does indicate the architect originally had ideas of four towers on the site, no where in it does it say anything about the height of the buildings to which OCURA gave final approval, being reduced. Not to go on about it, but there remains nothing shown or linked that proves the buildings were to be taller than what was built. Like Pete, I've closely followed such things for a long time (just as this forum does now), and I was here at the time, watched LS being built, and again I'll say it: it's just not the case the building was to be taller than what was constructed. Until there's proof of it..............

Many times when a proposal is first talked about openly, the developers/architects present their dream project, with all the bells and whistles, and the public sees that as the final presentation, and this is what is to be built. But when discussions firm up and the financials of the project become real, the project changes to match up with reality. This may have been the case with the 'four towers' in LS. While the final presentation to the approving body may not be what the architect may have first envisioned, by default it becomes the final proposal and is what received the final approval. Because someone involved with the project early on may have thought it could be something else and talked publicly about it doesn't mean it was actually proposed.

Wheeze the Juice -- who has their original location in the OK Sea in Deep Deuce -- has recently opened a new location in Leadership Square.

Old School Bagel has completely closed in Leadership Square:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bagel090720a.jpg

https://www.okcommerce.gov/shawnee-business-announces-new-downtown-office-in-oklahoma-city/

Doesn't have any details regarding where they might be going (e.g. if existing or new build), but may Pete can sleuth that out...

https://www.okcommerce.gov/shawnee-business-announces-new-downtown-office-in-oklahoma-city/

Doesn't have any details regarding where they might be going (e.g. if existing or new build), but may Pete can sleuth that out...

I'm hoping for BOK Park Plaza. I wan to see more of that tower filled up. While I'd like to see some small time tech firms move to or get established in OKC, we might have a better shot at aerospace engineering companies such as this one. Get dozens of them all over the city. Especially in downtown.

The Journal Record article states they will be taking space in Leadership Square:

https://journalrecord.com/2021/07/13/united-dynamics-expands-to-downtown-okc/

Makes sense

I mean, that photo was obviously taken inside Leadership Square, so…

Received word that the Medicine Cabinet Pharmacy is closing down. No word on why, they always seemed quite busy. This will be a loss for downtown workers as it was super convenient to get medicine there, and it also had a nice selection of over the counter meds, snacks, toiletries, and other sundries. Can't think of any other business that checks these boxes.

Received word that the Medicine Cabinet Pharmacy is closing down. No word on why, they always seemed quite busy. This will be a loss for downtown workers as it was super convenient to get medicine there, and it also had a nice selection of over the counter meds, snacks, toiletries, and other sundries. Can't think of any other business that checks these boxes.

It is completely gone already, all the shelves and everything.

Received word that the Medicine Cabinet Pharmacy is closing down. No word on why, they always seemed quite busy. This will be a loss for downtown workers as it was super convenient to get medicine there, and it also had a nice selection of over the counter meds, snacks, toiletries, and other sundries. Can't think of any other business that checks these boxes.
Pharmacist/Owner retired.