Ideas 4 MAPS

[Laramie]

Keep the aquarium tied with the zoo as a capital improvements project that may lead to some hotel projects in the Adventure District.

An Aquarium, OKC Zoo, Remington Park race track & casino, Softball Hall of Fame, Firefighter's Museum, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum & Science Museum Oklahoma (planetarium segway omniplex) could use a large 250-300 room hotel in the area.

I was at the Embassy Suites on the Meridian hotel corridor the year OU beat Alabama for the WCWS championship; the Alabama women's softball team was booked there. They left the Embassy Suites with a charter bus and a caravan of 10-12 cars.

Budget $100 million on MAPS 4 Initiative; give us an outstanding dedicated Aquarium to replace the one at the zoo, something World Class that will complement the existing exhibits at the OKC Zoo.

[d-usa]

Heard on the radio today that the Zoo has already conducted some research and impact studies for an Aquarium and it would need a 5 acre area.

[Plutonic Panda]

I’ve always thought a minor revamp of a new aquarium with larger land/aquatic animals would be good for the zoo along with a tunnel under the pond that exists nearby that could create some sort of interactive exhibit of an artificial swamp/wetland of Oklahoma and Louisiana.

I would hope a massive, tourist type of aquarium is built in Bricktown or maybe something in the CBD to increase vibrancy. Maybe work with Bob Howard group on that lot in between myriad gardens and Scissortail park to have an Aquarium in the development and they can pay for part of sort of like a PPP. This would surely boost their development and make it more valuable.

I am not a fan of placing a new massive world class aquarium at the zoo for a couple reasons. Main one being I don’t want to zoo funds to be so tied up in maintaining this it would take away from the other great things they’ve been doing. It would be nice to see the zoo expand with a giant panda exhibit and such things. Plus it would be nice to have other way to experience such an aquarium without the hassle of going to the zoo and it would add more amenities downtown, which need it.

[OkiePoke]

I think having it near downtown is the best location. It could be near the river or Scissortail park.

[Jersey Boss]

Heard on the radio today that the Zoo has already conducted some research and impact studies for an Aquarium and it would need a 5 acre area.

And parking for visitors. That was not included in the 5 acres. Also mentioned was Jenks spent 25M in 2004.

[shawnw]

Fortunately there will always be overflow parking across the street at Remington. Something that is often needed even without an aquarium.

[Jersey Boss]

Yes that is true so long as it is located at the zoo and not the other sites being mentioned in this thread.

[Plutonic Panda]

I think having it near downtown is the best location. It could be near the river or Scissortail park.

The boathouse district would be a cool area to have it too.

[jonny d]

And parking for visitors. That was not included in the 5 acres. Also mentioned was Jenks spent 25M in 2004.

If they put it at the Zoo, I fear there may need to be a *GASP* hotel or 2 in the Adventure District...amazes me how there has not been a single hotel open there. I know plenty of people during horse racing seasons who come for whole weekends, but then have to go away from Remington Park to stay. While not the end of the world, it would be nice to have an option or 2 for those guests.

[Laramie]

If we could get several hotels or something comparable to the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn Express and a Four Points by Sheraton the Adventure District would boom.

My justification for an aquarium at the zoo stems around the fact that our aquarium would showcase aquarium specific exhibits since the zoo showcases other specialty exhibits like the Great EscApe, CatForest/Lion Overlook & Elephant Habitat. Don't know how many visitors from the WCWS visits or know about what's available in the Adventure District because there are no hotels in the area; many return to the Meridian Hotel Corridor or DT hotels.

We've need to promote others areas beside midtown, downtown & bricktown...

[shawnw]

If they put it at the Zoo, I fear there may need to be a *GASP* hotel or 2 in the Adventure District...amazes me how there has not been a single hotel open there. I know plenty of people during horse racing seasons who come for whole weekends, but then have to go away from Remington Park to stay. While not the end of the world, it would be nice to have an option or 2 for those guests.

Especially since there's SO much mostly unused parking at Remington. You'd think that, in the very least, THEY would build a hotel or two on their grounds. Then the competition might come to the area as well.

[d-usa]

Then just run the streetcar up the tracks to the station up there and you got a neat little package.

[BoulderSooner]

It doesn’t make sense financially to add the new aquarium to the existing zoo

It will be at another location.

[SouthSide]

I have been to the Atlanta aquarium and its definitely cool. I think OKC would be better off to come up with unique projects to create its own identity,

[Laramie]

Especially since there's SO much mostly unused parking at Remington. You'd think that, in the very least, THEY would build a hotel or two on their grounds. Then the competition might come to the area as well.

You're correct; who better than the Chickasaw tribe (hospitality expertise) could operate a hotel right there on the Remington Park grounds as well as an Aquarian close enough to the zoo where it would complement its operations. A zoo admission or an Aquarium admission would allow you to visit either one or both venues.

If OKC ever wanted to take advantage of tourism, the Adventure District is where we should invest some incentives. Some hotels & restaurants in walking or shuttle distance in this area would offer tourists, especially those here for the WCWS a variety of attractions.

[Laramie]

Just want to add that the OKC Zoo in our Adventure District is better equipped to secure & maintain an Aquarian year round. Now they need approximately 5 acres set aside for an Aquarian.

My questions:

Is there enough land available for an Aquarian at the zoo.
Would they need to do away with the Amphitheater or some other on site venue.
What affect would an off site Aquarian (OKC core); have on the zoo.

If we were to move it to the core say downtown or near the AICCM acreage, how would this affect the Zoo who wants to replace their current Aquarian; they do appear to be open to a site in the core.

IMO the Zoo has other exhibits where they have invested millions in their 1/8 cent permanent sale tax allocation for capital improvements. Would an off site other than the OKC Zoo impact their current operations?

[d-usa]

We have a lot invested via previous MAPS in the core, so I would like to see the Adventure District get some love if we do an Aquarium. I do think the Zoo is bed equipped to handle an Aquarium, but I think it should be run as a separate entity. Maybe an option to buy a ticket for either, with a discount if you buy a double pass. I don’t know who owns what land in that area, but it seems like we should be able to come up with some land up there. The Zoo is becoming better every year, the Science Museum has greatly improved over the past 10 years as well. An Aquarium would be a good fit up there and might be the catalyst for a hotel or two.

Tie in improvements to the rail line from down town to the Adventure District, and you could have an easy connection between the Core and the AD.

[Laramie]

The streetcar extension as we know is another popular idea for MAPS 4. What about a train since we already have an existing line.

Does anyone have any updated information on a train from the Adventure District to the Oklahoma City area. A group of some OKC message board posters met at the old downtown library at NW 3rd Street at Robinson quite some years ago (don't want to reveal my age LOL) to discuss and resurrect the idea.

Recall HotRod, Kerry, myself and others were told that a train from the Zoo area (much like the El Reno train) was being planned. We met with a legislator who told us about the possibility of a link to OKC.

[OKC Guy]

We have a lot invested via previous MAPS in the core, so I would like to see the Adventure District get some love if we do an Aquarium. I do think the Zoo is bed equipped to handle an Aquarium, but I think it should be run as a separate entity. Maybe an option to buy a ticket for either, with a discount if you buy a double pass. I don’t know who owns what land in that area, but it seems like we should be able to come up with some land up there. The Zoo is becoming better every year, the Science Museum has greatly improved over the past 10 years as well. An Aquarium would be a good fit up there and might be the catalyst for a hotel or two.

Tie in improvements to the rail line from down town to the Adventure District, and you could have an easy connection between the Core and the AD.

Agree this would be best location for it.

Why not get 5-6 hotels (or more depending on use rates) to pitch in and have shuttle vans to take patrons to Adventure District (zoo/museum/Remington Park)? I know it takes them out of Bricktown but odds are they go back to Bricktown for food/bars afterwards since hotel is there.

At Hotel you sign up for group texting so can see schedules and van arrivals/departures. Could text in when need ride 20-30 minutes out. This could be done pretty cheaply if shared costs. And would give these hotels an advantage over others so more hotels likely sign up to share costs and add this service. If customers can reliably get to/from area they would use it.

Thus no need for major rail outlay

[jerrywall]

Out of curiosity I went to the web page for the adventure district today. On the home page, featured dining. Subway. Featured service. A gas station.

[mugofbeer]

It doesn’t make sense financially to add the new aquarium to the existing zoo

It will be at another location.

And you know this how? Has there been a study done and numbers available?

Even if it were located by the zoo, I would bet it would be a separate facility from the zoo.

[OKCRT]

Build it downtown where you have hotels and eats already in place and create a more vibrant area.

[Jake]

Energy FC has a podcast and they interviewed Jake Trotter and Bob Funk where they discussed wanting to put soccer on MAPS 4.

https://m.soundcloud.com/billy-walto...-soccer-in-okc

[Midtowner]

There's a lot of land at the Zoo which would work to host this site. There's also probably a great deal in cost savings in already having on-site vet and food preparation facilities. Parts of the existing aquarium could be incorporated into an expansion. There aren't any displays left in the area as most of the animals who were housed in the old stalls on that side of the zoo moved to the Asia exhibit or elsewhere. Once you get past the Manta Ray exhibit and the kids zoo, there's really nothing back there except the sea lions, which I would expect to be part of the aquarium.

[cappa]

I remember reading a master plan from 2010 for the zoo that included improvements to the aquarium along with many other things that either did or were supposed to happen this decade. Herpetarium and pachyderm area improvements were among those that have not yet come to fruition. I can't find the plan from the zoo directly anymore, but there is still a NewsOK article that mentions $19.4 million aquarium upgrades that were supposed to be finished this year. Oops! In September 2017 the zoo posted an article detailing its decision to close the aquarium stating that "the upgrades necessary to bring the 30-year-old aquarium habitats and associated support areas to or above accreditation standards would be prohibitively expensive." They also go on to say the northeast area of the park would be a central focus for future improvements and that plans would be revealed in an updated master plan that was supposed to be completed later that year. As far as I know those plans haven't been made available to the public.

Out of curiosity I went into Google Earth to see how much space they have to work with. I'm not sure how to include screenshots or if I even can as a newcomer (hi all!), but I'll try my best to explain a couple rough options.
1. The entire northeast chunk of the park including the aquarium, area directly to the west leading up to the education center, butterfly gardens, stingray bay (which I assume would be incorporated into the new aquarium), and now-vacant exhibits along the waterfront is about 4.25 acres.
2. If you want to preserve the butterfly garden and instead only work with the current aquarium area and the area directly to the west, there's about 2.5 acres to work with.