Enterprise Center

[TStheThird]

Here is something I found in the newest DowntownOKC.com Skyline Snapshot. The Oklahoma City Enterprise Center is downtown incubator and education support facility. Here is a link to the Skyline Snapshot. Make sure and read about the other projects. The Enterprise Center part is on page 5.

Enterprise Center

[okcpulse]

Yes, the Enterprise Center was originally to be located in the Grand Banking Hall of the First National Tower, but the location changed. I believe the Enterprise Center will be a great addition to the economy of downtown Oklahoma City, and I hope that it is a great success. Of course, I'm sure it will be.

Continue the Renaissance!!!

[Patrick]

Actually the Bricktown Fountains article caught my eye before the Enterprise Center article! Doesn't the plaza area in front of the theater look like a charm? Those dancing fountains, although not quite as large as I expected (I kind of thought they might be taller, more like Penn Square's 2 story fountains), but they're still impressive.

There are also some great articles about current development going on in downtown, so you might check out the article. Its pretty exciting to see all of the developments listed on one page, or should I say several pages!

[Nuclear_2525]

I wish the fountains were bigger too. People traveling on the canal won't be able to see them. If they shot 2-3 stories high, everyone would be able to see them.

[Nuclear_2525]

I like the new entrances to the Underground....looks like something you would see in NYC or Dallas!

[Patrick]

I'm extremely happy to hear that the Underground, formerly the Conncourse, is getting a face lift. I happen to remember (I guess I could put this under OKC memories) when the Conncourse used to be a place where you'd take out of towners......it was full of little shops, cafes, hair salons, convenient stores, etc.
Unfortunately, over the years, the Conncourse has been neglected as their has been no clear picture indicating who owned the facility and who was responsible for upkeep! In the earlier years, the major buildings that the tunnels link, maintained their portion of the Conncourse. But several newer office managers have said that the Conncourse wasn't their responsibility to keep up!
As a result, the Conncourse, once a thriving underground mini mall, has turned into a dark, dreary dungeon! There are still a few cafes down there, but much of the space that used to house restaurants and shops has been boarded up and closed! I hope that the new facelift will breathe new life into the Underground! Someone spent a lot of money to develop the Underground many years ago, and it would be a shame to let it all go to waste.

Sure Bricktown has stolen a lot of the Underground's fame, but hopefulyl with a little renovation, the Underground can compete once again!

[Nuclear_2525]

I'm glad it's getting renovations too...the Underground is something really unique to OKC that most people never think of. If OKC could use some MAPS III money to really fix it up and get things going like they have been in Bricktown, then OKC could really attract some attention. This could be the home of the high-end retail that is wanted. If I remember correctly, Las Vegas has something similar to this and it's very popular!

[mranderson]

I have been all over Las Vegas and have never seen anything close to our Conncourse. Is the one in Las Vegas new? (since 2001).

I know Atlanta has a shopping mall which is totally underground called the Atlanta Underground. It has similarities to ours... Well, actually ours to theirs. Atlanta's is many decades old, dating back as far as the depression.

[floater]

I like the reconception of the Conncourse. With new neon lighting designed by the one-man public art machine known as Rand Elliott, The Underground will be a cool spot to hang out and walk around. But I don't think we should push for a lot of retail and restaurant along it. Those places we need streetlevel, to produce visible pedestrian traffic. I like what is planned instead, an expanded historic photo gallery.

[Nuclear_2525]

I'm not exactly sure...a friend is the one that told me about it. But supposedly, its the only place in the world where a lot of the very very upscale stores are close to each other.

[Patrick]

I think the Conncourse is suffering the same fate as a lot of malls in today's society. It's just not convenient. You have to park your car, walk a ways to get to the Conncourse, and then walk even further to get to your store! So, I definitely agree with floater that we need to focus most of our retail street side.
To be real honest with you guys, there's some retail space in the Conncourse, but not a whole lot. It never really was a dense retail area, even when it was thriving. It just had a few small shops and eating areas scattered throughout. I'd say it probably didn't have over 30 spaces for such establishments, if that many.
Most of the people that use the Conncourse anymore are peopel that work at the buildings downtown, so maybe we should focus more on meeting their needs.....maybe a nice bookstore, a few more cafes, conventient stores, barber shops (there are a few down there still), massage parlors, chiropractic clinics, a small office supply store, a print shop, etc. The walls themselves couls be covered with historic artifacts and pictures, as seen already in certain areas of the Conncourse (The Skirvin area has a lot of old historic photos of the Skirvin Hotel).