Now please don't put this on the myraid location!

It paycom is small, how is the new arena gonna be bigger better world class if you build it on top of a 50 year old underground parking garage?

Might wanna sit this one out.

Looking forward to arguing about the eventual renderings.

Here here!

Pottawatomie County voting is cracking me up

3500.posts deep by the end of the night and we don't even know anything about the arena lol. This thread will be insane by the time we break ground in 2-3 years.

3500.posts deep by the end of the night and we don't even know anything about the arena lol. This thread will be insane by the time we break ground in 2-3 years.

It will be like the Devon Tower thread.

Tonight's vote is such a relief to say the least and easily the biggest win in franchise history.

Good for OKC. Well done.

Since the city will be shelling out all this money, can they look into calling it the <something> Thunder Dome? :)

https://x.com/bdawsonwrites/status/1734771734014828848?s=12

Renderings are gonna take a while. Open for 2029

The best I can offer you is the Will Rogers World Arena.

https://x.com/bdawsonwrites/status/1734771734014828848?s=12

Renderings are gonna take a while. Open for 2029

Large glass panes are in style. Surely it will work in OKC.

71-29 with almost 99% in

Jobeth hitting up twitter already. Apparently she still thinks the billion dollars is going to billionaires still and doesn’t understand OKC owns the arena and rent income and the economic value this creates.

She really cannot stand others having different views then her and apparently can’t stand the heat that comes along with having such a differing view.

Eddie with the double leg take down.

18508

71-29 with almost 99% in
Wow. That really is amazing. The negative news(fake media) really had me thinking it was going to be closer. Just shows you how the negative nay sayers can have such a loud voice but the silent majority has the real pull.

The best I can offer you is the Will Rogers World Arena.

Oklahoma City Will Rogers International Arena*

Eddie with the double leg take down.

18508
She’s a POS. It’s embarrassing she was elected. What a joke.

Eddie with the double leg take down.

18508

Her next opponent will definitely use this against her. The strong no stance hurt her future.

VOTES ARE ALL IN! Officially 71/29 *fireworks*

NBA All-star game 2030 or 2031?

Let the building boom begin . . .

Her next opponent will definitely use this against her. The strong no stance hurt her future.

Eddie lives in Ward 6. He won’t but it would be hilarious if he ran.

I know the votes aren't even fully certified, but I am curious what the next steps will be. Like, when will the deciding the site be (I presume that will be the first step, then basing designs off that)? Or will they reverse that order? I am excited the citizens saw through the BS and realized that, while not a great deal, the info presented by "Buy your own arena" people was lies at worst, half-truths at best ($1,300 per person, not accounting for non-citizens paying some of the tax, as well).

So proud of our city! We did it! BIG LEAGUE CITY! As Mayor Holt said, we didn’t just win, WE MADE A STATEMENT! LET’S GO BUILD AN ARENA AND THUNDER UP BABY!

Eddie with the double leg take down.

18508

I have no idea who that Eddie guy is but I am not impressed by those two tweets.

Nobody seems to understand how to be gracious in victory, some of the Yes vote reaction has been pretty embarrassing to watch. Embarrassing for them, if they had the self-awareness to recognize it.

I know the votes aren't even fully certified, but I am curious what the next steps will be. Like, when will the deciding the site be (I presume that will be the first step, then basing designs off that)? Or will they reverse that order? I am excited the citizens saw through the BS and realized that, while not a great deal, the info presented by "Buy your own arena" people was lies at worst, half-truths at best ($1,300 per person, not accounting for non-citizens paying some of the tax, as well).
The site has to be officially identified before design work can begin. I’m sure City within the next few weeks the City will announce a preliminary process for site selection, design award and etc.

I have no idea who that Eddie guy is but I am not impressed by those two tweets.

Nobody seems to understand how to be gracious in victory, some of the Yes vote reaction has been pretty embarrassing to watch. Embarrassing for them, if they had the self-awareness to recognize it.

Sports writer for Sooner Scoop. If you know him and don’t take life too seriously, it’s hilarious.

Sports are crazy. That’s why fan is short for fanatic. Do something that may make fans lose their team…they will react like fanatics. JoBeth is getting a classic dose of…”know your audience/constituents” and she frankly deserves every bit of it when she went that hard in the paint against this and was so insanely far off the mark. Contrast that with Cooper who I’m sure learned “this is something my constituents want” and thought “okay, what can I do to improve it even if I don’t think it’s the perfect plan”

The site has to be officially identified before design work can begin. I’m sure City within the next few weeks the City will announce a preliminary process for site selection, design award and etc.

Anyone want to take the long bet that it won't be prairie surf studio site?

By the way the $1200 or $1300 (or whatever) figure not only failed to take into account the substantial percentage of sales tax paid by visitors, interstate travelers, rural shoppers and others; it didn’t even account for the MSA. $900,000,000 divided by $1200 is 750K. The metro is 1.4 million. It actually works out to about $600 per person, if nobody from outside of the metro spent a dime here. $600 over six years. So…$100 per year, per person.

The disinformation and intellectual dishonesty coming from the no crowd was incredibly disappointing, because I still felt their misguided effort generally came from a sincere place.

Myriad II Arena, I.M. Pei Court.

Let's hear it for that polling that was discussed a bunch a number of weeks ago. I know I knocked it as pretty bad polling and that was an accurate judgment.

It’s gonna be on the cox center site. This shouldn’t be a discussion at this point. Paycom will be demolished

A highly qualified source has been sharing the polling with me for the past few weeks at it has always been around 60-30 with the balance undecided. Seems the undecideds fully swung to “yes.”

Thank GOD it's over, so much bickering over what was assured. Let the countless speculation over potential site locations start. I'm throwing my hat in for the Producers Co-Op Oil Mill site, such a prime location.

It’s gonna be on the cox center sight. This shouldn’t be a discussion at this point. Paycom will be demolished
Well, hate to break it to you but it IS a discussion point.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uezIsYZUxS4/sddefault.jpg


Proposition to fund new $900 million Downtown Oklahoma City arena passes.

KOCO-TV 5 - The passage comes with an agreement from the Thunder to stay in Oklahoma City through 2050
With all precincts reporting, about 71% of voters were in favor of funding a new downtown Oklahoma City arena.
More than 41,000 voters cast ballots to approve the proposition.

The newly approved plan calls for the arena to be funded by extending the MAPS 4 one-cent sales tax for an additional six years, which would include $70 million from previous money already set aside for the Paycom Center. The one-cent sales tax won't start until 2028.

Thunder ownership also agreed to contribute $50 million.

Keep OKC Big League campaign says vote will have long-lasting impact on city.

.

Thank GOD it's over, so much bickering over what was assured. Let the countless speculation over potential site locations start. I'm throwing my hat in for the Producers Co-Op Oil Mill site, such a prime location.

It won’t be there. We know that for sure.

It won’t be there. We know that for sure.

Let the next round of bickering begin!!!!

It won’t be there. We know that for sure.

Yeah I'm aware it's an oil contamination site that would likely cost a billion to clean up but a kid can dream.

Hard to beat free land. Biggest expense with Cox site is demolition and utility relocation. Budget will dictate where it goes.

Potential sites would include:

1. Cox Site
2. Strawberry Fields
3. Rehco
4. Producers Coop
5. Lower Parkside
6. Somewhere Riverside

Can anywhere else downtown even make sense from a footprint perspective?

Hard to beat free land. Biggest expense with Cox site is demolition and utility relocation. Budget will dictate where it goes.
Time is money, and time will be as important to the selection process as is money. There is more to this than you are considering.

Time is money, and time will be as important to the selection process as is money. There is more to this than you are considering.

Then be all mean tell us. We’re all ears.

Open field at Chisholm Creek it is then! Lol But, seriously negotiating land purchases takes time also. I could be lacking in imagination, but more likely I just remember how the convention center site selection went down. Maybe that's the surprise ?

Potential sites would include:

1. Cox Site
2. Strawberry Fields
3. Rehco
4. Producers Coop
5. Lower Parkside
6. Somewhere Riverside

Can anywhere else downtown even make sense from a footprint perspective?

We should see a site selected soon--Early 2024. Imagine the impact on the skyline a $900 million arena will
make on Oklahoma City, hope it's as impressive as Kansas City's T-Mobile and seat well over 18,203 and slightly
over 750k total square footage. This will be BIG LEAGUE!
.

OK, wait. Let me put on my kevlar armor before I say this..... Why not the Fairgrounds?
1. TONS of "free" land
2. Copious parking
3. There's NOTHING there, and it would help the fairgrounds.
4. It would mostly likely spur economic growth around the fairgrounds, which could really use it.

There. I said what I said. It is what it is.

Discuss

No.

OK, wait. Let me put on my kevlar armor before I say this..... Why not the Fairgrounds?
1. TONS of "free" land
2. Copious parking
3. There's NOTHING there, and it would help the fairgrounds.
4. It would mostly likely spur economic growth around the fairgrounds, which could really use it.

There. I said what I said. It is what it is.

Discuss

The horses were the ones who voted no last night. They were hoping for a MAPS for mega horse barns.

OK, wait. Let me put on my kevlar armor before I say this..... Why not the Fairgrounds?
1. TONS of "free" land
2. Copious parking
3. There's NOTHING there, and it would help the fairgrounds.
4. It would mostly likely spur economic growth around the fairgrounds, which could really use it.

There. I said what I said. It is what it is.

Discuss

I can see it now. Cut back from a commercial break: "Welcome back to the Oklahoma State Fair and OKC Thunder Basketball." I am sure the other Oklahoma state fair will love this idea.

It’s pretty clearly gonna be the Cox/prairie surf site. Prairie Surf’s website says it 1.3 million square feet. So much room to work with.

OK, wait. Let me put on my kevlar armor before I say this..... Why not the Fairgrounds?
1. TONS of "free" land
2. Copious parking
3. There's NOTHING there, and it would help the fairgrounds.
4. It would mostly likely spur economic growth around the fairgrounds, which could really use it.

There. I said what I said. It is what it is.

Discuss

To give a non-snarky answer: because the city and businesses have invested a lot in the Bricktown/Scissortail area and rely on a lot of foot traffic from game days. There is no supporting hotel or restaurant infrastructure out by the fairgrounds. Now, if we really wanted to go nuts and build a mixed used development out there, that includes businesses and hotels, then we’re talking. But we’re also talking about a much more massive outlay of public funds.

It’s pretty clearly gonna be the Cox/prairie surf site. Prairie Surf’s website says it 1.3 million square feet. So much room to work with.
It’s not clear at all. I am personally rooting for that location, but there are some barriers. Just as there are barriers to other locations. In the case of Prairie Surf the primary obstacle is time. And Prairie Surf’s lease.

It’s not clear at all. I am personally rooting for that location, but there are some barriers. Just as there are barriers to other locations. In the case of Prairie Surf the primary obstacle is time. And Prairie Surf’s lease.

That’s true, it’s just the most consistent one I’ve read.

The Thunder wants to be in the new building in ‘29 or ‘30. The Prairie Surf site is subject to a currently-in-place lease, which would require some type of buyout and relocation consideration. The Prairie Surf site is also in a massive structure that will probably take a full year to demolish and prepare for a new building, but not after a massive amount of mechanical that run through the building are relocated. Lots of complicating factors and a tight timeline. Other sites are nearly build-ready.

All of that said, the Prairie Surf site makes the most sense for the City and for the urban fabric, and the giant site offers much more co-development and integrated mixed use opportunity.

Build it on the old Ford site between Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park. That lot is such an eyesore

I guess we will just have to wait for a formal cost-benefit analysis for each potential site. I just don't think that much time is saved with other sites, not enough time saved anyway with the other costs associated with those sites. Producers Coop maybe if they started cleaning it up really soon.

The old Ford dealership site could be play, if they did a land swap for Paycom or Cox land.

Build it on the old Ford site between Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park. That lot is such an eyesore

Amen, this gets my vote. You could even build over (or outright end) Thunder Dr. and incorporate some of the ground Paycom currently sits on.

OK, wait. Let me put on my kevlar armor before I say this..... Why not the Fairgrounds?
1. TONS of "free" land
2. Copious parking
3. There's NOTHING there, and it would help the fairgrounds.
4. It would mostly likely spur economic growth around the fairgrounds, which could really use it.

There. I said what I said. It is what it is.

Discuss

The decision before this $900 million arena passed was--it would definitely be built downtown.

Now the fairgrounds might be among the sites in the mix for the $41 million MAPS 4 Multipurpose Stadium--it will
solve the parking where there are tons of parking at the 400+ acres grounds. It could also spur development near the
massive Fairgrounds complex.

We do need to continue to improve the Fairgrounds. The new 5,000-seat, $100 million+ State Fair Coliseum will be a boost for
the area. The stadium needs to have 20,000+ seats wherever it is built; also capable of expansion.

Build it on the old Ford site between Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park. That lot is such an eyesore

Yeah, don't know if your remember the convention center selection process. City tried hard to make that happen there. Owners wanted too much money, that was before Cox and Paycom lands became available though for a potential land swap. It would be "expensive".

The Thunder wants to be in the new building in ‘29 or ‘30. The Prairie Surf site is subject to a currently-in-place lease, which would require some type of buyout and relocation consideration. The Prairie Surf site is also in a massive structure that will probably take a full year to demolish and prepare for a new building, but not after a massive amount of mechanical that run through the building are relocated. Lots of complicating factors and a tight timeline. Other sites are nearly build-ready.

All of that said, the Prairie Surf site makes the most sense for the City and for the urban fabric, and the giant site offers much more co-development and integrated mixed use opportunity.

Why does a mega block make the most sense to the urban fabric in such an important area of the city? I don't buy that at all. It would make the most sense in Strawberry Fields or Coop where the industrial portion of the arena is tucked against the highway and the "public"/entertainment area leads out into an organically developed entertainment district. I know it would be nice to think that Bricktown should just be that district, so just use that, but the loading docks and mechanical sections of the facade are damaging to the urban fabric. If I need to cross the Cox at any point in time, I'm 100% jumping in the car and while we could.potentially remedy some of that through design, we're guaranteed to chew up a portion of the fabric for arena-only functions.

Yeah, don't know if your remember the convention center selection process. City tried hard to make that happen there. Owners wanted too much money, that was before Cox and Paycom lands became available though for a potential land swap. It would be "expensive".

They were super close to Eminent Domain on the property when the city learned what they were asking for was really not that far off