All renderings are shown during the daytime, should we expect this building to be retrofitted with any spectacular lighting elements that I feel like Omni has become known for?

The tower not fronting the park is a big missed opportunity. And the reasoning of trying to avoid a shadow in the park is kind of ridiculous. Has to have been an energy cost saving move. The design looks okay, but it's also very generic. I'm hoping the glass they end up using looks a lot different than what's on Devon and BOK.

Excited for this still, but given what it could be, I'm underwhelmed.

Add another 7 floors then you have something. Looks kind of small to me for the price tag. Just looks like something a smaller sized city like LR would build. I was hoping for something a little more.

You forgot "the top three for residential". And a couple museums and whatnot.

Here is the full press release that was issued yesterday afternoon along with the renderings.

I contacted the PR firm and asked how the Oklahoman happened to have a full story in the paper that same morning, obviously receiving all this information in advance. I was told the PR firm did not release it to them and had only received approval from the Alliance to release yesterday afternoon.

Therefore, it's obvious the Alliance once again leaked public information to the Oklahoman in advance. This is at least the 2nd time they have done this. Ask yourself why they would go to such lengths; it raises all types of ethical and perhaps legal issues.

Also, note the reporter merely lifted quotes from this press release for the Oklahoman's article, without referencing those quotes came directly from a press release.

***************************

For Immediate Release Contact: Lori Johnson
ljohnson@anglinpr.com
405-840-4222

Oklahoma City Gets First Look at Omni Convention Center Hotel

Oklahoma City is getting a first look at the Omni Convention Center Hotel as reviews of the schematic design are beginning. Built and owned by Omni, the 605-room AAA Four Diamond hotel will serve Oklahoma City’s new MAPS 3 Convention Center. The additional lodging and meeting space will allow Oklahoma City to compete for larger conventions. The hotel is expected to have an economic impact of more than $137 million per year.

“Omni and the architecture team, Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio, did a great job designing the hotel in a way that accents and encourages access and walkability downtown and to the other destinations in the area,” said Cathy O’Connor, President and CEO of the Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City. “It will be become a fantastic highlight in Oklahoma City’s Core to Shore vision.”*

Rob Rule, the design architect for the project, provided some input on his thoughts about the design. “The lower three floors of the hotel along the entire block are oriented directly towards the park, and will feature restaurants, a sports bar, a coffee shop, outdoor dining, shopping, and event spaces, all topped off by an open roof-top pool terrace, complete with resort-style cabanas, pool bar and green spaces overlooking the park. The meeting space on the second floor includes a covered outdoor area so guests can enjoy views and fresh air between meetings. The hotel will feature materials and details that blend the best of Oklahoma’s rich historical heritage and future cultural optimism, complete with a variety of brick facades, that relate to Bricktown, to expansive use of glass and metal details with clean, elegant detailing. Conveniently located between the Chesapeake Energy Arena and the new Convention Center, the hotel will feature a tower that is oriented to minimize its shadow footprint on Scissortail Park.”

“The convention center hotel provides the space we need to compete for large conventions that often require a room block of 500 rooms or more,” said O’Connor. “But I’m also pleased with how the hotel offers amenities and features that Oklahoma City residents will enjoy.”

The architectural firm GSB, Inc. is the local project representative reviewing the design throughout the process. Omni will make a formal presentation to the Downtown Design Review Committee in the spring. Construction is expected to start this summer with completion scheduled for late 2020, coinciding with the completion of the convention center and parking garage.

Sorry,not impressed by this at all. They should fire the architecture team. OKC is getting jipped IMO. Look at the last several ones that have been built around the country and tell me why OKC is settling for this.

BTW, this design shows very little change from their original proposal.

and by "original proposal" you mean the so-called "Conceptual Renderings" that we've been working with all along? I knew that conceptual design was the actual hotel design itself and it was downsized to 17-floors. OMG = FAIL.

I suppose it is better than what is and has been at that location but to me it seems like more of the OKC "Settle for 2nd best but claim some kind of victory" way-of-business. One happy note was the idea of 'wrapping' the garage with workforce housing yet I'd think TOPPING the garage with housing would be a better execution.

What is the obsession with height around here? This is like saying everyone over 6"10 has to be a great basketball player. Michael Jordan - 6'6" = fail. LOL.

What is the obsession with height around here? This is like saying everyone over 6"10 has to be a great basketball player. Michael Jordan - 6'6" = fail. LOL.
Almost every urban board I follow including Los Angeles people are obsessed with height. It isn’t just something “around here.” Taller buildings generally speak for larger cities.

but Michael Jordan at 6'6" is more impressive than that Michael Jordan who might happen to be 5'6". lol

Almost every urban board I follow including Los Angeles people are obsessed with height. It isn’t just something “around here.” Taller buildings generally speak for larger cities.

Yet, Portland has hardly any tall buildings. At least they didn't in 2015 when I was there. And there were none planned. Portland is you urban-junkie's dream. They don't care about height. And are almost 1 million people larger than OKC.

Yet, Portland has hardly any tall buildings. At least they didn't in 2015 when I was there. And there were none planned. Portland is you urban-junkie's dream. They don't care about height. And are almost 1 million people larger than OKC.
Here we go with the “there are cities out there with no tall buildings.”

Here, I’ll list the next city for you: “hey PluPan, explain Washington DC” explain Rome.

BTW, a supertall is proposed for Portland and I constantly see posters on Portland forums complaining about the lack of skyscrapers. Needless to say, I do not like Portland, OR at all and they are the exact opposite of what OKC should aspire to be.

^^^ Portland is one of the fastest-growing, most desirable cities in the country for Millennials. Now granted that comes with it's own set of problems but I think there are lessons to be learned from Portland.

^^^ Portland is one of the fastest-growing, most desirable cities in the country for Millennials. Now granted that comes with it's own set of problems but I think there are lessons to be learned from Portland.

Millennials are idiots tho

Height doesn't matter, and certainly is not changing now. But the design is really uninspired. Basically a copy of Nashville's Omni. And the non-glass segments of Nashville's structure, EFIS or whatever, don't look very good, IMO.

Nashville:
http://mechanicalresource.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/omni1.jpg

OKC:
http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni010418asm.jpg

jonny d, they still don't. Tallest is barely 550 feet and is not the one you're thinking it might be. lol.

Portland may not care too much about height but that is because of their geography, which should be noted as very hilly with volcanic mountains and a major river. Downtown is set on a peninsula that acts like an island, so it is very picturesque and Devon tower in such a setting would appear to be 2000 feet tall.

I don't honestly think Portland is a good example to benchmark what we're talking about; Denver might be since it is mostly flat in its city limits if you want to talk about urban utopias in a similar population bracket. Obviously Dallas has similar geography as OKC and would be the natural comparison benchmark; but is a completely different comparison population wise.

I don't have any real issues with the architecture, orientation and whatnot. I do wonder if the main feature in the visual to the north for the majority of the rooms facing that way will be the roof of the arena. I'd like to see some elevations that show both buildings.

Nashville also appears to be 23 floors (vs 17 in OKC. uggh).

Almost every urban board I follow including Los Angeles people are obsessed with height. It isn’t just something “around here.” Taller buildings generally speak for larger cities.

Actually, a lot of urbanists are not obsessed with height as there's some indication that buildings that are too tall can have negative psychological effects on citizens at street level. Most urbanists are obsessed with best use of spaces which has far more to do with street level activity. Of course, some height is needed, but anything above 4-8 stories in a city with as little density as OKC is really not needed. I'd go to that higher end for the spaces around the park, but I'd be just fine with dense 6-8 story developments all around the park. Just check Portland, Washington D.C., a lot of European cities like Paris or Dublin, and other spaces for evidence that height is not important for great cities.

I just think those that want every building to be taller are a vocal minority and comment on it regularly.

I honestly think this is perfect for OKC. Looks wonderful.

^^^ Portland is one of the fastest-growing, most desirable cities in the country for Millennials. Now granted that comes with it's own set of problems but I think there are lessons to be learned from Portland.

I've not been there in years, but I know of 5 millennials and 2 gays who moved to Portland thinking how cool it would be, which they said it was to some extent...... but they moved out because of the crime, the aggressive homeless and the anarchist mentality that seems to be getting out of hand.

Actually, a lot of urbanists are not obsessed with height as there's some indication that buildings that are too tall can have negative psychological effects on citizens at street level. Most urbanists are obsessed with best use of spaces which has far more to do with street level activity. Of course, some height is needed, but anything above 4-8 stories in a city with as little density as OKC is really not needed. I'd go to that higher end for the spaces around the park, but I'd be just fine with dense 6-8 story developments all around the park. Just check Portland, Washington D.C., a lot of European cities like Paris or Dublin, and other spaces for evidence that height is not important for great cities.

I just think those that want every building to be taller are a vocal minority and comment on it regularly.
You are correct. For urbanologists, their main concern is street level interaction. A fair amount are even against super tall buildings as they claim they are out of human scale and can be intimidating. But I was referring to individual posters who post on development forums for individual cities and skyscraperpage and city. Don't even get me started about Skyrise Cities, anything under 50 storeys is frowned upon.

Very few cities are low and dense in the US. Portland being an exception is changing soon. There are several tall buildings proposed. Most die at the hands of NIMBY's. Don't look for many more tall buildings to be built in San Francisco. D.C. has some reason they don't build tall buildings(I can't remember why but I recall it being a little more complex than just security issues). There are a few other cities I can't remember right now, but most cities, especially newer ones, have tall buildings and tall buildings seems synonymous with big cities. Let me say again(not for you but for other posters), I am aware there are a handful of cities out there that don't have towering buildings.

I've not been there in years, but I know of 5 millennials and 2 gays who moved to Portland thinking how cool it would be, which they said it was to some extent...... but they moved out because of the crime, the aggressive homeless and the anarchist mentality that seems to be getting out of hand.

Wow

I've not been there in years, but I know of 5 millennials and 2 gays who moved to Portland thinking how cool it would be, which they said it was to some extent...... but they moved out because of the crime, the aggressive homeless and the anarchist mentality that seems to be getting out of hand.

And the drug epedemic

Almost every urban board I follow including Los Angeles people are obsessed with height. It isn’t just something “around here.” Taller buildings generally speak for larger cities.

Most of the great urban areas in Europe are lower rises than here and much more dense and livable. In the US we love to have a few super-talls surrounded by huge low rise suburbs. I’d rather have an expanded dense center of 10-15 story buildings than one or two more 50 stories surrounded by the 4-5 story cheap buildings we are seeing all over downtown.

Most of the worlds larger and developing cities have supertall skyscrapers or they have them proposed. Asia, South America, Middle East, and even Africa all have them. I don’t know why this is being argued. I am aware a select few cities don’t have them.

Europe’s cities were built way before engineering marvels came through that made skyscrapers possible. There are also tons of new very tall buildings being proposed in Moscow, Paris, and London. Those cities have worked to create financial districts and allowed for towering skyscrapers. London’s is most notable. Of course, you claiming they are more livable is not a fact in any way and I disagree.

Pretty much the majority of developing cities in the world are building supertalls or very tall buildings. Even Lagos(which I’m visiting this summer) is being heavily redeveloped with taller buildings and the Capitol of Nigeria is being moved to a more central location and taller buildings are planned.

I’d rather have tall buildings and suburbs. But I’ve made that point clear.

What cheap buildings are you seeing? No offense, but you come as a troll sometimes. You always seem to want to argue for the sake of arguing. I say that because you mention OKC is apparently building cheap 4-5 story buildings, yet you also mention or insinuate height is not if importance to you. But again, you also say you’d rather see 10 story buildings?

So is there some correlation between cheap engineering and buildings that are 3-5 storeys? 10 story buildings can’t be cheap? So you don’t want 59 story buildings and you don’t want 3-5 story buildings? Somewhere around 10 stories is good? I’m not quite undestanding you.

Still, I’d like to know what buildings you are complaining about being cheap in DTOKC. I know there’s a couple hotels in east Bricktown, but aside from that, everything ekse looks to be pretty good quality.

We have a glut of 4-5 story because they are cheap to build and we build the hotels and apartments with cheaper mechanical and other systems. Over 5 requires a different kind of build. They are built that height not out of design, but out of costs.

By the way, if you think the super talls inplaces like Dubai make it more livable then you haven’t been to those places. I’d much rather live, visit and work in say Amsterdam than Dubai. Or most all of Paris than Singapore. Or Buenos Aires than Shanghai (new part). Having a postcard skyline doesn’t make a city intimate or livable.

You are obviously cherry picking certain cities to try and make some point. I don’t even know what it is. No one has said Dubai is livable, but it certainly is to a lot of people. M

As for your first response I see what you mean. That doesn’t necessarily mean these buildings built are just cheap however.

I agree, no thought has went into this design, it's not unique to OKC at all. They just simply tweaked the Nashville Omni design, no creativity put into the design. But if you look at all the Omni hotel designs as of late, they all kind of follow the same design format. But I am pretty sure it will look a lot better once it's actually built.

You are obviously cherry picking certain cities to try and make some point. I don’t even know what it is. No one has said Dubai is livable, but it certainly is to a lot of people. M

As for your first response I see what you mean. That doesn’t necessarily mean these buildings built are just cheap however.

My point was we don’t have to have a 50 story hotel to make it a great project. This will be an excellent addition to our city and looks like it will have good street level presence, as well as good interaction with the park and with the arena.

As to the cheap buildings, the construction of many of these 5 stories hotels and apartments are not of high quality. They look fine now though. They aren’t built for long term efficiency, but rather lower first cost. Having a cool lobby cosmetic doesn’t equal quality construction. The Omni will be designed and built right. They do a good job.

Really, a 250 ft structure is fairly appropriate here. Remember how out of place Devon looked (or still does). Imagine a large, very tall structure that far away from the central cluster of skyscrapers we have. It would set an architectural challenge for developers south of Reno to try and not make their buildings look like ant hills. If we assume that the Cox site will have 25-45 floor towers on it, a 17-story building on this site will fit in perfectly with the transect between the CBD and a more intimate setting around the park.

Really, a 250 ft structure is fairly appropriate here. Remember how out of place Devon looked (or still does). Imagine a large, very tall structure that far away from the central cluster of skyscrapers we have. It would set an architectural challenge for developers south of Reno to try and not make their buildings look like ant hills. If we assume that the Cox site will have 25-45 floor towers on it, a 17-story building on this site will fit in perfectly with the transect between the CBD and a more intimate setting around the park.

And here is a visual of what I mean by that. Pete, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed one of your images from the Film Row thread.

https://i.gyazo.com/074bbb07e14767e62bef5cd2d4e4f1b1.jpg

Andrew Casperson, vice president of Omni, cautioned against looking at any other Omni hotels for a hint at the ultimate design for the Oklahoma City Omni.

“We refuse to treat a building as a one-size-fits-all solution,” Casperson said. “When we get to creating a hotel, this hotel will be the focal point of the city in the design, decor, culinary experience. We will make it reflective of the city we will be part of. There are no two Omnis that are alike. We take pride in that. Some chains take that approach. That's not who we are. We want to be a gateway to the cities.”

Read this in a Newsok article. What a lie.

Andrew Casperson, vice president of Omni, cautioned against looking at any other Omni hotels for a hint at the ultimate design for the Oklahoma City Omni.

“We refuse to treat a building as a one-size-fits-all solution,” Casperson said. “When we get to creating a hotel, this hotel will be the focal point of the city in the design, decor, culinary experience. We will make it reflective of the city we will be part of. There are no two Omnis that are alike. We take pride in that. Some chains take that approach. That's not who we are. We want to be a gateway to the cities.”

Read this in a Newsok article. What a lie.

Wow. No kidding. I was actually a bit shocked when I saw how similar this is to Nashville's.

and the anarchist mentality that seems to be getting out of hand.

?

Can you explain what this means? Give some examples?

?

Can you explain what this means? Give some examples?

"Getting out of hand" is probably an exaggeration, but there does seem to be a large anarchist presence there. I'm speaking from extremely limited experience, but I was in Portland for the week of the 2016 Presidential election, and on multiple nights the protests downtown quickly got out of hand, reportedly due to anarchists taking over the originally-peaceful protests. Plenty of damage downtown from these protests. Got to hear flashbangs and fires from my hotel room for quite a while. It was really something. Who knows how accurate the blame on anarchists is, though. Citing anarchists as a reason to not move to Portland seems a bit over the top to me, personally.

(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Portland,_Oregon_riots, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=5GjT8avQ_eA, etc.)

^^^^

Same with the claim of Portland crime being a reason to move back to OKC.
http://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/portland_or/oklahoma%20city_ok/crime

^^^^

Same with the claim of Portland crime being a reason to move back to OKC.
http://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/portland_or/oklahoma%20city_ok/crime

Having lived in both - it's the perception of crime. Stats are one thing, but first hand experience is different. I'd feel a lot safer in sketchy areas of OKC than I would in sketchy areas of Portland.

I asked a couple of the people who left Portland and they said it was a mentality among younger people in the areas in which they lived and worked that laws dont matter, common courtesy and decency don't matter, hard drug use is rampant, street crime is getting much worse, they couldn't go to work or to a restaurant without the homeless aggressively coming at them for money. The former employer lf one has notified the city that it may move if conditions don't improve. But mostly, they just got tired of people constantly in their faces if they wanted to watch Fox News while on the treadmill or had a cup from Chick-fil-a or had a bag from Wal Mart or expressed an opinion overheard by someone at a restaurant that the person didn't agree with. These are not Trump supporters in any way, just reasons they expressed.

Weird. Everyone I talk to who lives or visits Portland seems to really like the city, which is still growing at a really high rate. Seems like it can't be as bad as the dystopian descriptions above. Seriously though, these descriptions sound so unbelievable that, well, they're not believable.

Weird. Everyone I talk to who lives or visits Portland seems to really like the city, which is still growing at a really high rate. Seems like it can't be as bad as the dystopian descriptions above. Seriously though, these descriptions sound so unbelievable that, well, they're not believable.

Portland is a city of extremes. What it does well, it does really well (food, urban living, etc). But those come with drawbacks (high cost of living) and things that come with that (high rates of homelessness). The sketchy areas of Portland are quite a bit worse than here. I have family up there, and they would never venture out in downtown Portland after 8pm (or dark, whichever comes first). Not everyone as the same experiences in Portland, but it is not for everyone.

Weird. Everyone I talk to who lives or visits Portland seems to really like the city, which is still growing at a really high rate. Seems like it can't be as bad as the dystopian descriptions above. Seriously though, these descriptions sound so unbelievable that, well, they're not believable.

Fantastic city to visit. Also, the good areas are really, really good. If you can afford to live in a good area, you will have a very fulfilling experience. Unfortunately, there's not much medium ground. If you aren't in a good area, you are in a bad area or close enough to it where you aren't comfortable. Where we could afford, we were about on the border of bad to very bad. And bad was on the border of a really cool neighborhood.

Your mileage may very but Portland is the tale of two realities. If you make enough money to afford one (the urban utopia) then it's really cool. If you're like me and the other 70% of people in that city, you live in the bad areas and leave your car unlocked because you'd rather people just search your car without breaking your windows. True story.

All I know about Portland is that on the show Portlandia, they filmed the women's bookstore skits at an actual women's bookstore. And that store got really mad and now won't let them film there anymore, going on a long rant in a blog post that sounds exactly like it came from the TV show. It seems that truth is more pretentious than fiction.

Thanks for the context and explanation.

My wife grew up near PDX in the 90s and when we go back now she is so saddened by how it has changed. She said once "I think Seattle shipped the grunge culture down I-5!" She said in high school she and her friends used to go downtown and would not think twice about safety, etc. She said it was clean, beautiful, and really an undiscovered gem of a city. But in the last 20 years that has all changed.

I have been going there since I met her almost yearly to see her family and I have noticed WAY more homelessness (especially teenagers and young adults), WAY, WAY more traffic, and just more dinginess generally.

At its core it is a gem of a city, but undiscovered no more--it is a big city now with lots of big city challenges.

To get back on track there are dozens of new images and site plans here:

http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=449-Dozens-of-new-images-for-proposed-Omni-convention-hotel

Looks like it will add a decent amount of additional convention space of their own if needed

Looks like it will add a decent amount of additional convention space of their own if needed

Yes, about 70,000 square feet within the hotel which has always been part of this deal.

Am I reading the floorplan incorrectly, or is this really going to be a ton of connecting rooms? Is this a fad that is coming back? Have I just been fortunate that I haven't even seen this in years?

Having lived in both - it's the perception of crime. Stats are one thing, but first hand experience is different. I'd feel a lot safer in sketchy areas of OKC than I would in sketchy areas of Portland.

I would also concur with this; I was absolutely shocked to find OKC's statistics so much worse than Portland's. I'm not sure how those surveys were compiled, but Portland definitely feels like a much more rough city than OKC.

I (at 6' 1" athletic build, mind you) and my wife were accosted in downtown Portland before; this NEVER happened in OKC [ever] despite our going to just about everywhere (including OKC's confirmed ghetto areas) and obviously my being an expat from OKC. ... My wife will never step foot in Portland again based on her experience/observation, however she bought a house in OKC last year based on her experiences in there. ...

Maybe they're interviewing the wrong people in these or just looking at statistics per capita (which OKC does tend to have a higher murder rate for some reason. ...).

WRT the subject, it appears the overhead connection is not included.

I think this is a positive based on the design as an overhead would negate the cafe experience fronting Robinson. Also, if I were Fairmont or other hoteliers, I'd argue for a connection to the cc too if Omni got/gets one; since Fairmont is also immediately next to the cc and will be built first.

Hopefully cooler minds will indeed prevail and it will be built to the renderings (or better) with regard to the interaction between the park, hotel, and cc; will be a game changer for OKC and likely pave the way for development of the former Ford lands between the two parks. ..

Would expect the skywalk to land on the broad section of EIFS on the side that fronts the CC. That EFIS is likely there for purposes of approval and the skywalk will be a different item, perhaps associated with the CC's plans rather than the hotel's. Just a guess. No way the skywalk doesn't happen.

WRT the subject, it appears the overhead connection is not included.

I think this is a positive based on the design as an overhead would negate the cafe experience fronting Robinson. Also, if I were Fairmont or other hoteliers, I'd argue for a connection to the cc too if Omni got/gets one; since Fairmont is also immediately next to the cc and will be built first.

Hopefully cooler minds will indeed prevail and it will be built to the renderings (or better) with regard to the interaction between the park, hotel, and cc; will be a game changer for OKC and likely pave the way for development of the former Ford lands between the two parks. ..

This assumes I'm reading the drawings correctly, but... I believe the overhead walkway is shown as a dotted line labeled 10 in the following picture from the article that Pete posted. The walkway appears to connect to the prefunction area around the ballrooms on the 2nd floor of the hotel, between exterior columns 4 and 5 (counting left to right from the southwest corner of the building). This appears to be approximately across the hallway from the door for Grand Ballroom Breakout 7; looking at the exterior south elevation drawing, this would connect roughly in the middle of the 2nd floor windows, directly above the first floor retail space.


Would expect the skywalk to land on the broad section of EIFS on the side that fronts the CC. That EFIS is likely there for purposes of approval and the skywalk will be a different item, perhaps associated with the CC's plans rather than the hotel's. Just a guess. No way the skywalk doesn't happen.

I don't think it would connect there; the start of the blank EIFS wall is where the emergency exit staircases are in the service corridor behind the ballrooms... and then moving east from the stairs to the corner of the building is the kitchen that serves all of the ballrooms via the service corridor.

^^^^^^
Yes after looking at the CC plans posted, I believe it will land forward of this. That said, there 100% will be a skywalk, and it is a rare case where one is warranted due to the nature of the use.

The skywalk to the hotel is a necessity.

I need to be convinced of the one to the parking garage.

The skywalk to the hotel is a necessity.

I need to be convinced of the one to the parking garage.

I don't like how this is being handled.

If it is indeed such a necessity, than it should be included in the convention center budget. If it's so important, make the necessary cuts to the project just like we did at the whitewater facility, transit hub, trails, sidewalks, and fairgrounds.

Yet when it's the convention center, they just pull money from elsewhere as they have with the hotel, garage and other things.

I don't disagree with you on that.

The skywalk to the hotel is a necessity.

I need to be convinced of the one to the parking garage.

I do think that both skywalks are a necessity - I haven't been to a lot of them, but the few convention centers I have visited all have the convention center connected to both the main hotel and nearby parking in some manner like this. That said, I completely agree with Pete - I'm definitely not a fan of the way this is being handled. At all. All of this should have been part of the convention center budget, and the City should never have paid so much for the OG&E data center, so far and above comps... I like the convention center project a lot but something stinks here.

We all know with Oklahoma heat, wind and rain, those skywalks are a necessity.

I'm looking at the hotel to center skywalk from the direction of an attendee. The hotel is catering an event at the center, and I am attending that event. We break for lunch, and I have the choice of a tasty hamburger or a soggy one. A steaming slice of pizza or a steaming pile of mush. A nice fruit salad or a bowl of fruit soup. I can't agree more that it should have been included in the cost estimate originally, because it's a really obvious part of the whole thing. It's like proposing to build the hotel without doors. The original cost estimate was done without doors? Fire the moron and redo the numbers, cause there's gonna be doors. Period.