Lexford Park (formerly First Christian Church)

[Bill Robertson]

Being a long time member if Crossings I have confidence in the decision not to buy First Christian. I have a lot of memories of First Christian from playing sports against them and I’m extremely sorry to see it not work out. But I know that Crossings spends their money wisely and with the best intent. So I’m sad that this didn’t work out.

[HOT ROD]

wasn't there some sort of retail development for this area of 36th that never went forward?

could the city now help make that happen? I'd love to see the main egg and jewel box theatre saved but the rest of the land is screaming urban retail lifestyle center to me, buildings could easily be added along with structured parking to make it all work.. ....

Kill two birds with one stone?

[Laramie]

Many of us want to save this property; this egg shell brings back memories of my first seeing the Church of Tomorrow as it was tagged in the late 60s in the World Book Encyclopedia.

Similar to the Gold Dome, this structure is iconic & historic. Muck like the Skirvin, Colcord Hotel, Criterion Theater and the Biltmore (Hotel Oklahoma) you would love to save them all.

As I see memorable structures in our city go down; it's as though a piece of me goes with it.

Hold on to hope, that's all we can desire.

[bombermwc]

You only have to deal with asbestos if you disturb it.

And yes, it's always cheaper to build new and that's why we have tons of national, state and city incentives for historic renovation projects.

Yeah and if you're going to do ANYTHING at all to modernize the place, you're going to "touch" it. There's no way this place is viable in it's current state. So no matter who takes it, this not insignificant cost is going to be part of any deal, be it remodel or bulldozer.

Personally, I love the place. It's unique and i love those acoustics and the creative air system,etc. There are so many cool things there. But it's also still stuck in the 60's. You can't do any meaningful amount of remodeling without going down to the studs.

So we're at the same point so many historic structures are. How long do/can we wait as the structure continues to degrade, while we wait for someone willing to preserve? I believe the next closest DoC church is in The Village, and that's a bit of a drive (since NW Christian is now a Dental Depot). Eventually, the congregation will exhaust their ability to stay in this building and will have to go elsewhere (whether they nest in another church or move to a small space). What happens when they effectively abandon it and stick the For Sale sign out front to the highest bidder? Once they aren't doing the maintaining they currently are, the place is going to nose dive. No amount of HP labeling is going to help that. It might save the structure from a bulldozer today, but if it's not economically viable, then that bulldozer may come later when the place has degraded so much that it cant be saved.

As a comparison, Hopewell Baptist (teepee church) got it's outside "prettied up", but it's still a mess inside. All that happened there was that now it looks better as people drive by. Is that what we can expect here?

[Mr. Blue Sky]

This is a must-read for this discussion.
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/24/75325...tions-downsize

[mugofbeer]

Maybe its a silly idea but in MAPS they are proposing to spend millions to build Senior and kids centers and other facilities. Why not think outside the box a little, kill 2 birds (or maybe 3 or 4), save a one-of-a-kind landmark and use the FCC property instead of building totally brand new facilities? The money they are proposing to spend would pay for some asbestos remediation or they may find it can be left alone and covered (l don't know exactly where it is but l suspect the dome). There is plenty of land for a rec center and it has the Jewel Box and an amphitheater.

[Dob Hooligan]

I

Maybe its a silly idea but in MAPS they are proposing to spend millions to build Senior and kids centers and other facilities. Why not think outside the box a little, kill 2 birds (or maybe 3 or 4), save a one-of-a-kind landmark and use the FCC property instead of building totally brand new facilities? The money they are proposing to spend would pay for some asbestos remediation or they may find it can be left alone and covered (l don't know exactly where it is but l suspect the dome). There is plenty of land for a rec center and it has the Jewel Box and an amphitheater.

I see the value in this, but I think the emotional arguments regarding the price of property and modification/defacement of same would become quicksand that all involved would rather avoid.

[mugofbeer]

I
I see the value in this, but I think the emotional arguments regarding the price of property and modification/defacement of same would become quicksand that all involved would rather avoid.

vs. Tearing it down ?

[Mr. Blue Sky]

vs. Tearing it down ?

Thank you. Just what I was thinking. And? I’m not sure he read the article I linked to.

[Dob Hooligan]

vs. Tearing it down ?

No. Not vs tearing it down. But what I say might appear to be very cynical.
I’m predicting that arguments could arise over the cost of the property, method and cost of repurposing, and the new/different services impact on the neighborhood.
Racial and socioeconomic distrust and disagreements can quickly escalate. It can become a very heavy lift.

[mugofbeer]

No. Not vs tearing it down. But what I say might appear to be very cynical.
I’m predicting that arguments could arise over the cost of the property, method and cost of repurposing, and the new/different services impact on the neighborhood.
Racial and socioeconomic distrust and disagreements can quickly escalate. It can become a very heavy lift.

Yeah, l can agree with the cynical description. With explanations and demonstrations of renovation costs vs. new construction costs and consolidation of projects, l think people would be pretty pleased. Unless the location is just totally wrong, l think OKC residents are pretty value oriented?

[lindsey]

Well, they are abandoning the property on advice of counsel. The church voted to "close" the pre-school/daycare but the pre-school/daycare is hoping to relocate. Does anyone have any ideas of where they could relocate? Many parents and teachers are left in a very bad situation if the pre-school/daycare can not be re-located. I do not believe it has to be associated with this church or any church.

Also, the whole thing smells to me. I wouldn't be surprised if the church is sold and demolished at night or something.

[Womp Womp]

Walker has been blocked off, and they've got a guy in a bucket fiddling with the telecom equipment on the tower. Is this just routine maintenance or are they possibly prepping for further work?

[David]

Steve reported on Twitter over the weekend that what looked like unpermitted demolition was happening to the building. Supposedly it turned out to be asbestos removal but it seems weird that there were no permits filed for the work (confirmed by the City of OKC twitter account).

[Bill Robertson]

Went through asbestos abatement when I was a Facilities Manager for Kerr-McGee. It was 30 years ago so things might have changed but at the time there wasn't a permit requirement unless there was an "immanent danger to the outside atmosphere" or something like that. Ours was completely inside so our contractor didn't have to notify anyone. Again. At the time. Things might have changed since then.

[Pete]

Unless there is new structure, electrical or plumbing, I don't believe there is a requirement for a building permit.

[shawnw]

https://twitter.com/cityofokc/status...27168834506752

The City inspector learned the windows were removed to get equipment inside to perform asbestos abatement only. The contractor has a permit from DEQ to remove the asbestos. No other remodeling or demolition is taking place.

[David]

Ahh, that makes sense.

[mugofbeer]

Any idea who is paying for the asbestos removal? There is a LOT of it in the church and sprayed on the utilities underneath.

[SEMIweather]

Saw several Midwest Wrecking trucks in the parking lot of this property on my way to work just now. Continuation of the asbestos removal, or is the building actually coming down?

[Soonerinfiniti]

It seems so crazy that Crown Heights residents can hold this property hostage for years. Reminds me of when Heritage Hills residents were in an uproar over the apartments to be built at NW 13th and Walker. When built, it likely increased property values in the area.

[Pete]

[Jake]

Rip

[Pete]

The demo permit was filed and issued early this morning and crews were already on site and started pulling it down by 8 AM.

[stlokc]

This saddens me.

Now, I will be the first to concede that I had neither the time, money nor expertise to do anything with this myself. And it wasn't really part of my life at all so I had no personal stake. It's just generally such a shame that a use couldn't be found for this iconic structure. OKC has so few real architectural treasures.

I really hope that whatever takes the place here rises to the occasion and isn't some bland shopping center. This is a pretty important intersection in OKC, right in the heart of our most successful and thriving urban neighborhoods. What will developers be bringing to the table?