Stadium District (formerly Producers Coop)

[jonny d]

This picture reveals the MASSIVE missed opportunity to connect Bricktown to the Cotton Mill area caused by building the boulevard. It's difficult to properly state how much of a mistake that was. The geniuses in charge didn't learn the lesson of the old I-40.

But I see the canal going under the boulevard as it is. So it can easily be extended, right?

[riflesforwatie]

This picture reveals the MASSIVE missed opportunity to connect Bricktown to the Cotton Mill area caused by building the boulevard. It's difficult to properly state how much of a mistake that was. The geniuses in charge didn't learn the lesson of the old I-40.

I'm hopeful that the fact that it's still relatively easy to get around downtown and Bricktown (even with Gaylord torn up and streetcar construction all along Reno/Robinson/Sheridan/etc...), and that still(!) no one really uses the Boulevard will make it easier to tear the thing out in 5 or 10 years when people start to recognize ODOT's folly.

[riflesforwatie]

But I see the canal going under the boulevard as it is. So it can easily be extended, right?

The canal can be extended into the cotton mill (in fact, Couch said as much in Steve's chat last week). But the connectivity between the cotton mill and Bricktown would be better, in general, without the Boulevard.

[jonny d]

The canal can be extended into the cotton mill (in fact, Couch said as much in Steve's chat last week). But the connectivity between the cotton mill and Bricktown would be better, in general, without the Boulevard.

Ah, I see. I thought he meant the canal. My bad!

[d-usa]

The way Bricktown was build up creates a weird connectivity anyway IMO. The rear end of all kinds of businesses are facing the Boulevard and the Cotton Mill by extension. There is no kind of natural flow going that direction outside of following the canal to Lower Bricktown. You have to make a dedicated effort to head down parking lots and to get behind businesses to get to Lower Bricktown unless you are on the canal. I don't know that making the Boulevard more pedestrian friendly would do much to change the fact that there is just nothing really guiding people to walk that direction. They might be able to do some sort of pedestrian bridge towards the west end of Bricktown to create two pedestrian paths to the Cotton Mill, one over the road to complement the one under the road by the canal. But unless you know you want to go to the Cotton Mill there isn't really a reason for people to walk that direction. Once you get south of Reno there isn't much there for pedestrians, no shops to lock at, no restaurants, no entertainment. Everything faces north to front either Reno or the canal, and then it's just parking lots and trash cans south of there.

[hoya]

The way Bricktown was build up creates a weird connectivity anyway IMO. The rear end of all kinds of businesses are facing the Boulevard and the Cotton Mill by extension. There is no kind of natural flow going that direction outside of following the canal to Lower Bricktown. You have to make a dedicated effort to head down parking lots and to get behind businesses to get to Lower Bricktown unless you are on the canal. I don't know that making the Boulevard more pedestrian friendly would do much to change the fact that there is just nothing really guiding people to walk that direction. They might be able to do some sort of pedestrian bridge towards the west end of Bricktown to create two pedestrian paths to the Cotton Mill, one over the road to complement the one under the road by the canal. But unless you know you want to go to the Cotton Mill there isn't really a reason for people to walk that direction. Once you get south of Reno there isn't much there for pedestrians, no shops to lock at, no restaurants, no entertainment. Everything faces north to front either Reno or the canal, and then it's just parking lots and trash cans south of there.

My guess is that the Cotton Mill area is going to have to develop on its own, without a great deal of help from Bricktown. There won't be any synergy between the two for a while. It will need a strong design and good urban planning, with its own attractions and reason for people to go there. Lower Bricktown will probably remain as it is for the foreseeable future, ignoring what is going on with the Cotton Mill development until it is basically forced to deal with it. Once critical mass is achieved at the Co-op site, then a lot of those Lower Bricktown parking lots will probably get filled in, hopefully bridging the gap between the two districts.

It's understandable that they didn't really think that far ahead in the early 90s when they were starting all this. ODOT's stupid move with the Boulevard is less forgivable. But the good news is that there's nothing that's really broken here that can't be fixed.

[traxx]

I'm with ya. Why do we continually build thoroughfares that divide and disconnect our downtown districts? How great would it be if the development at the Co-Op just flowed right into lower Bricktown instead of being divided by a 4 or 6 lane boulevard?

[T. Jamison]

The bright-side is that the Co-Op tract has very different economic drivers, and may not need to rely on Bricktown in order to be successful. The I-40 exposure will make it more of a retail destination that can attract consumers on its own merits, as opposed to relying on Bricktown's residuals. The access to the Co-Op site may be slightly inadequate, but that will not offset the 115,000 VPD visibility. Having a retail oriented developer is a significant advantage for this development, and it will be exciting to see which retailers Bob Sterns can attract to this site.

[dankrutka]

Why do we continually build thoroughfares that divide and disconnect our downtown districts?

Traffic engineers say we must.

[David]

http://journalrecord.com/2017/09/07/...t-on-oil-mill/

[warreng88]

Demolition to start on oil mill

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record September 7, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – Demolition at the Producers Cooperative Oil Mill will start this month, but not all 32 buildings will come down.

The Riverfront Design Committee asked that the production office remain because it could have historical significance.

At its meeting this morning, the committee almost denied the demolition application because it didn’t want to see all 32 buildings gone if some could be considered historic.

Producers Co-Op attorney Clint Whitworth said the group was willing to save the production office, the sales office, and seed house No. 9. He said no buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Committee member Dana Templeton said she didn’t see any reason for the sales office to be saved, hinting that the building’s architectural style had no significance.

The 35,000-square-foot seed house, on the property’s east side, is all metal, so restoring it could be a challenging, along with its grand size.

Committee Chairman John Joyce said the buildings aren’t on the National Register because no one put them on there. Their lack of being on the register doesn’t mean they are historical insignificant.

Under the city’s updated demolition guidelines, a demolition application must also be accompanied with a redevelopment plan. Developer Bob Stearns is doing a master plan for the site, but there are no specific details yet for what will replace the buildings.

Without a plan, the committee felt it should save the possible-historic production office for a later discussion. Once a plan is developed for the site, and if that building doesn’t fit it, then the production office’s demolition could be considered at that time.

Whitworth said he understands the city has a job to do and has to save any building with possible historical significance.

[Pete]

Under the city’s updated demolition guidelines, a demolition application must also be accompanied with a redevelopment plan. Developer Bob Stearns is doing a master plan for the site, but there are no specific details yet for what will replace the buildings.

Glad to hear of this change yet they granted demolition for the majority of this complex without a master plan.

[riflesforwatie]

Glad to hear of this change yet they granted demolition for the majority of this complex without a master plan.

It almost reads like "just let us do one more demolition, and then we'll start enforcing the rules - we promise".

[Pete]

"A demolition plan must be accompanied by a master plan, unless the owner just doesn't want to provide one in which case we'll only let them demolish almost everything now, then later let them do the rest"

[LakeEffect]

Glad to hear of this change yet they granted demolition for the majority of this complex without a master plan.

I'm not aware of anything in the OKC code that requires a plan before demolition...? Unless they updated the code?

[Pete]

^

The JR article cites an "updated demolition guideline" than now requires a master plan for the replacement development.

[Anonymous.]

The "Stage Center" rule.

[Urbanized]

When I drove by Tuesday there was already sheet metal being removed from the I-40 facing (south) facade of one of the buildings.

[OKCisOK4me]

My god, just destroy all of it. Why in any god's name would you want to save one portion of this eyesore?! Please, those of you who LOVED Stage Center, tell me why any parts of this industrial area are worth any breath?

[shawnw]

I don't like any of it, but it's an almost 90-year old complex that deserves a "let's just make sure" kind of look regarding its potential historic significance like any other old structure does.

[dankrutka]

My god, just destroy all of it. Why in any god's name would you want to save one portion of this eyesore?! Please, those of you who LOVED Stage Center, tell me why any parts of this industrial area are worth any breath?

I'm not worried if this gets razed and replaced with a quality development. But at least theoretically, Pete, myself, and others have argued that these structures could have been repurposed into a cool development by someone with some creativity. Just saying. It at least seems worth making sure there's a plan in place before tearing things down.

[Pete]

I would have loved to see a conceptual design for converting this property to a convention center.

Could use some of the big silos as the meeting rooms then some cool glass structures connecting them.

Would have been unique and inventive.

But that's not the way things are done in this town, unfortunately.

[dankrutka]

^^^
Pretty much what I imagined and I figured the spaces between could be converted into cool outdoor spaces and/or complementing structures could have been added. It could have been unique. There is so much standardization in modern construction that anything unique really stands out.

[UnFrSaKn]

http://newsok.com/panel-approves-dem...rticle/5563196

[Snowman]

My guess is that the Cotton Mill area is going to have to develop on its own, without a great deal of help from Bricktown. There won't be any synergy between the two for a while. It will need a strong design and good urban planning, with its own attractions and reason for people to go there. Lower Bricktown will probably remain as it is for the foreseeable future, ignoring what is going on with the Cotton Mill development until it is basically forced to deal with it. Once critical mass is achieved at the Co-op site, then a lot of those Lower Bricktown parking lots will probably get filled in, hopefully bridging the gap between the two districts.

It's understandable that they didn't really think that far ahead in the early 90s when they were starting all this. ODOT's stupid move with the Boulevard is less forgivable. But the good news is that there's nothing that's really broken here that can't be fixed.

Though the city hardly seamed to even try do get them to do anything different, at times it sounded like it was the city managers preferred option.