Gold Dome

[workman45]

1112 NW 23rd
sq. feet=17,830
acreage=2.4375


Information & Latest News

12/22/13: New owners may include restaurant
6/20/13: Gold Dome to be sold, refurbished
3/26/13: Efforts to demolish Gold Dome put on hold

Links

County Assessor Record

Gallery

[wsucougz]

Just found out that Prohibition Room is closing June 30th. They will reopen in the Tower theatre building 2 months later.[/U][/B].

Timeline sounds a little aggressive just from looking at the place but great news.

[citizenkane]

So are they moving into the space next door to the Tower Theater or are the going to be occupying the actual theater space?

[RSA]

Prohibition Room will be next to the Tower Theater, not in the actual theater space. They are still going to be putting a cultural events center in the actual theater space, that will probably host art films, concerts, etc etc...

Unfortunately the relocation of Prohibition Room has not gone according to plans. We will not be moving into the Tower Theater space. Our plan B has come to be a great spot for us. It is in the hands of our designers and architects right now and we hope to present to the city next week. As soon as we get more information I will be happy to annouce the new location.

It's great that Prohibition Room is moving further down 23rd because evidently they were a problem for Dr. Lam, and now hopefully that will put some wind in their sail...maybe they'll actually complete that project sometime soon, now.

It has been printed in a couple articles of our local news papers that we are behind on our rent payments. This is completly not true! We are not going backrupt we do not owe Irene Lam money for any reason. Irene has, for the last 3 years infringed upon our space with various events which were a direct violation of our lease. As a paying tennant of the Gold Dome Irene has been a problem for us and our business. Her events have reflected negatively on us. The lack of climate control in the summer and winter has cause us to lose many customers. (we have no control of the airflow & temp in our restaurant area) Many customers have expressed, to me and my employees, their disgust with the Prohibition Room not wanting to turn up the heat or air. This has reflected negatively on us as well. Our gas has been turned off 3 times due to non payment. You can imagine the impact that would have on our sales since all of our cooking equipment is gas powered. The last time was February. When I asked her about it she refused to even acknowledge my presence and I ended up making the payment so we could be open. Gold Dome leases are full service leases. Which means we do not have utility bills. We do pay an extra $400.00 per month since we are open later than regular business hours. We have argued with Irene for 3 years over these issues and have had enough. After one of our partners left and declaired personal backruptcy, she used a clause in the lease to evict us. In the original filing she stated, we have not paid rent. (I have the cancelled checks to prove otherwise)
In the article which came out Tuesday in the Journal Record, she said we have fallen behind in our rent. We have not. (i have the cancelled checks to prove otherwise. We were paying on the average about $5200.00 per month for our spaces. Since the Gold Dome is almost completly empty we do not uderstand why she would want us out? Especially since she is delinquent with her loans through the city. Irene has picked and chosen parts of the lease she wants to enforce and ignore.



This picture is one of the many events she has had which completly shut us down on a Friday night. Jessica Tate, Jazz Harpist, was having her CD release party that night as you can see, if you have ever been to our restaurant, our entrances were complety blocked. Not to mention, the parking lot was complety full and taken over by Irene's event. Not to mention, we could get to our office, dumpster or food storage.

These and many other reasons are why we are leaving this location. It has nothing to do with personality conflicts. We pay our rent and deserve the requirements of our lease to be upheld.

We went to court many times and have finally reached a settlement. We are leaving July 31st to our new location. Irene is still required to follow the lease. She has already ignored it and we will probably be back in court again.

Prohibition Room is my livelyhood. This is how my wife and I make our living and support our family. We will not allow the land lord to bully us or infringe upon our business with her controlling ways.

We have all the documentation to support what I am telling you in this post. If there is any question, we invite you to come by, have a beer or cocktail and we will show you.

We are very excited to leave to a more stable location since we have been fighting with Irene for the past 3 years instead of improving and building our business.

We appreciate the support we have had from many of you and hope you will continue to support us in the future.

Sincerly
Richard

[pickles]

Wow.

[sroberts24]

Interesting.... to say the least!

[Rover]

Nothing like a forum for transparency.

[Spartan]

It is such an incredible shame that after Dr. Lam was able to save such an awesome and iconic building, it's now come to this. I am concerned for the future of this wonderful structure.

Thanks for letting us hear your side of it, RSA. Too bad you weren't able to go into the Tower--how come that fell through, if I might ask?

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, RSA. Very enlightening, as well as sad ... not just for you.

[duct tape]

What does the Gold Dome intend to do with the space now that the Prohibition Room is leaving? I've heard they have other tenants who have moved out, as well.

[Wordizm]

Hi, I'm Lori. My office is now in the Dome and I'm doing their online marketing and social media. I don't know all the details but I can tell you that Dr. Lam is considering offers from a few restaurants, plus has 2 new tenants moving into the larger ground level spaces. There are still 4 vacancies but someone came in to look at a space yesterday too. I'm going to miss the Prohibition Room being in the Dome. I have quite enjoyed the convenience of being able to go downstairs for my weekly lunches with the Oklahoma City Business Network. Wherever they go, I'm sure the Prohibition Room will continue to support our local artists and offer a great menu and whoever moves into the Gold Dome will have a historic legacy to live up to.

[Kerry]

Maybe this site would have been better off as a Wallgreen/Eckerd/CVS after all.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n57299284/

The geodesic dome's owner, Gold Dome LLC, managed by local optometrist Irene Lam, owes more than $21,000 in delinquent property taxes and has fallen behind on repaying most of a $1 million loan from the city to renovate the building.

...

The Oklahoma City Council will vote on Tuesday on whether to pay off the remaining $874,000 balance on a $1 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development loan it was awarded in 2005 to renovate the Gold Dome with Community Development Block Grant funding.

[tburn]

^ ouch.
It's still a very cool building, and I'm glad it was saved ... I hope someone with deep pockets & creative vision can take over and keep that location & building preserved!

I look forward to visiting Prohibition Room at its new location too!
hope they have a decent parking lot, for the car shows again!

[Rover]

I hope the dome creates a more inviting atmosphere. Last time I was there it seemed pretty disheveled and unappealing. It could create a very unique environment if it just would.

[Wordizm]

I hope the dome creates a more inviting atmosphere. Last time I was there it seemed pretty disheveled and unappealing. It could create a very unique environment if it just would.

The plans are in the works for a more golden Gold Dome. Time, money, community interaction - they're coming together slowly but surely. Would love to hear anyone's thoughts and ideas.

May 26th I'm doing the last Business Social before summer hits. It's a speed networking event and you're welcome to come out; do some networking and we could talk about future opportunities. More info is on Facebook or the website.

www.Facebook.com/GoldDomeOKC
www.GoldDomeOKC.net

[yessir69]

For anyone joining late, here is a summary so far:

[ljbab728]

Gold Dome building in foreclosure sale.

http://newsok.com/gold-dome-set-for-...rticle/3702684

[blangtang]

“We're in the process of working it out with the bank,” Lam said. “We will have a new restaurant opening in the next two weeks and three new tenants coming in.”

-----

A new restaurant, that is good for the area!

[ljbab728]

Maybe, if that indeed happens. We've also been hearing delaying tatics about the First National Center to avoid foreclosure.

[blangtang]

yeah, count me as a skeptic when it comes to a new restaurant and 3 new tenants...it all sounds good when ur trying to avoid foreclosure.

[Urban Pioneer]

What is it with the bad landlords controlling some OKC's most significant architectural icons? Geez. I new the owners of Prohibition Room among others, and LAM was queen of the deffered maintenance squad apparently.

Here's hopes that the preservationalists who fought so hard for that building are graced through some sort of positive ultimate outcome with this grand building. Buckminster Fuller's original geodesic dome has already been torn down.

[RSA]

Somebody better tell http://www.facebook.com/ZONAVIVAOKC about this foreclosure.

All I can say is, IT'S ABOUT TIME! 6 years and she never made a payment other than interest. And I believe that city loan was only 1 percent? Irene was certainly collecting rent from her tenants. Now she says she has tenants moving in? In the past all the "tenants" who were moving in were her own BS businesses. Flower Power? Some mentoring office? Wizard Snow Cones? Prohibition Room was paying $5300.00 per month. Where did it go?

[pickles]

Somebody better tell http://www.facebook.com/ZONAVIVAOKC about this foreclosure.

Prohibition Room was paying $5300.00 per month. Where did it go?

Whoa.

[pickles]

IMHO, too many posters here were keen to give Lam the benefit of the doubt for her, um, idiosyncratic approach to the management of this property. I never understood that.

[smackety]

The sign that was in front of the restaurant area that said "coming soon" is gone and there is black paper all over the windows so you can't see in. I can't find any licensing for any restaurant going in at that location either. I have heard that the air has been out in the building for over a week now and that sewer smell is worse than ever.
I don't believe anything that Irene says. I doubt there are new tenants , and they have been saying that the Latin restaurant was going in there since the week Prohibition Room moved out. Still haven't seen that one either.
Foreclosure proceedings started before P Room moved out, March 2011. The foreclosure was final in March 2012, it is just finally going up for auction.
I agree with Pickles.