Quote Originally Posted by Bill Robertson View Post
My feelings about the icons has changed lately. I've said before that I was involved in electrical work at the time and knew the condition of the Space Needle, Monorail and Grandstands. All three needed major work that would have been extremely expensive. But now I think we, the public, the bill payers, should have had input as to whether we wanted to spend the money to save the icons. And anything can be saved if you spend the money. The race track I've always felt stronger about because I spent almost every Friday night and Fair there from the mid 60s to the last race night either watching, working for the track or driving. And the cities reason for closing it was electrical and ADA problems. While it needed a complete electrical redo we had the ability to do most of the work in house. And the ADA problem was access to the upper level. An external elevator, something similar to the food court elevator at Quail Springs, could have easily been done.
But. As much as I loved the track the last 10 to 15 years of operation the car counts were way down. They changed classes of cars a few times to try and attract more cars. And attendance was way down. For us die hard race fans the death of the track was devastating but to the general public I don't think many really cared.
Couldn't agree more and honestly that's what MAPS IS - yet was not made available for our historical icons.

I agree that we probably wouldn't have been able to maintain the icons in their original condition but what about retrofit or even replacement? Seattle's space needle is older than ANY of those icons (as is the Seattle Monorail - both originals) yet they have been retrofitted time and time again, and modernized (esp the Space Needle). We'd NEVER tear it down, even though it is older than F and costs a fortune to maintain.

OKC should have done the same with it's fair park icons; perhaps the grandstand didn't need to be torn down but it's seats, concourses, and amenities upgraded. perhaps the monorail could have been retrofitted and maybe it's line extended to cover the entire fair park with more stops. perhaps the overhead tram didn't need to be removed, it could easily make $$ now that OKC has a better skyline. and the space needle - we have much better technology where it could have been replaced/upgraded and still provide that outwardly experience beyond just the fair days. ...

That's what I'm talking about. We still could have built the new arena and Bennett Center and even the new barns, but kept what we had and if so - likely would have THE best fair park in the nation. Now, we don't even have the best in the state. ...