New State Fair Coliseum

[Rover]

Browsing the last few months of the state fair arena calendar. My comment wasn't that much of an exaggeration. It spends half of its time configured for something livestock or horse show related.

So, about 150 use days on various other activities. About 3 per week.

[bombermwc]

That's actually been a complaint for the wrestling state tourney. The floor here stays so cold it can make the kids injury prone.

[Rover]

That's actually been a complaint for the wrestling state tourney. The floor here stays so cold it can make the kids injury prone.

Why would that be? There isn’t ice there any more, is there? Ground and floor should stay proportional to the indoor ambient for the most part. Ground temp below it shouldn’t vary much.

[jn1780]

That would be a good use for the refrigeration coils. Warm the ground instead of cooling it. I think they already do this when de-icing.

[Bill Robertson]

That would be a good use for the refrigeration coils. Warm the ground instead of cooling it. I think they already do this when de-icing.

That could be done. A YouTube search looks like most arenas keep the ice and cover it with rubber mats then lay BB courts, etc. so they may never be in any hurry to melt the ice.

[Dob Hooligan]

I don't think the Norick arena keeps a frozen floor. I think the only ice events being held there the last several years are Disney on Ice during the State Fair of Oklahoma. And I seem to recall the freezing unit is no longer working.

I also think the new arena will not have ice ability.

[Bill Robertson]

I don't think the Norick arena keeps a frozen floor. I think the only ice events being held there the last several years are Disney on Ice during the State Fair of Oklahoma. And I seem to recall the freezing unit is no longer working.

I also think the new arena will not have ice ability.

I believe the only ice in years was for State Fair shows and they brought their own chillers.

[ericrsports]

Yeah, the Norick ice plant hasn't been used in forever, Disney always bring their portable system. I remember hearing the stories during the Barons days about the rough shape of it at that point, I can only imagine it now after 10 more years.

I haven't seen anything about ice being put in the new arena, as much as I wish that was the case. Would be nice to have an opportunity at some type of minor-league franchise being in town again.

[Bill Robertson]

Yeah, the Norick ice plant hasn't been used in forever, Disney always bring their portable system. I remember hearing the stories during the Barons days about the rough shape of it at that point, I can only imagine it now after 10 more years.

I haven't seen anything about ice being put in the new arena, as much as I wish that was the case. Would be nice to have an opportunity at some type of minor-league franchise being in town again.

If they had created a chase to the arena floor from an area outside with electrical service pre installed where a chiller could sit the system could easily have been added later. Neither the chase or a 200 amp, 277/480 volt 3 phase service would be a drop in the bucket of an arena sized project.

[caaokc]

I don't think the Norick arena keeps a frozen floor. I think the only ice events being held there the last several years are Disney on Ice during the State Fair of Oklahoma. And I seem to recall the freezing unit is no longer working.

I also think the new arena will not have ice ability.

Kind of a bummer. It would make an awesome hockey arena

[BDP]

I remember hearing the stories during the Barons days about the rough shape of it at that point, I can only imagine it now after 10 more years.

I went for the first time in a long time (maybe even ever) this weekend. It's very tired. And that's being nice. I was surprised they hadn't at least spruced up the concourse at some point, but if you told me it hadn't been touched since it opened in the 60s, I'd believe you,

Given how much out of state traffic it draws, it's certainly a good thing it's being replaced.

[SEMIweather]

I went for the first time in a long time (maybe even ever) this weekend. It's very tired. And that's being nice. I was surprised they hadn't at least spruced up the concourse at some point, but if you told me it hadn't been touched since it opened in the 60s, I'd believe you,

Given how much out of state traffic it draws, it's certainly a good thing it's being replaced.

Agreed, finally went yesterday for Douglass/Weatherford (great game btw) and was shocked at the state it was in.

[therhett17]

New OKC Fairgrounds arena will be known as the OG&E Coliseum

https://okcfairgrounds.com/blog/post...A4D2jPNmrPPCrj

[G.Walker]

Wait what? lol That doesn't even sound right, lol.

[G.Walker]

https://www.velocityokc.com/blog/dev...ack=super_blog

[Jersey Boss]

New OKC Fairgrounds arena will be known as the OG&E Coliseum

https://okcfairgrounds.com/blog/post...A4D2jPNmrPPCrj

Publicly regulated utility and public fairgrounds won't disclose how much money was involved.
I hope the AG gets involved with this tone deaf utility and the way they spend money.

[Rover]

Publicly regulated utility and public fairgrounds won't disclose how much money was involved.
I hope the AG gets involved with this tone deaf utility and the way they spend money.

You do know their rates are 25% lower than the national average, right?

[unfundedrick]

You do know their rates are 25% lower than the national average, right?

I don't see how that is relevant to this discussion about how they spend money.

[Jersey Boss]

I don't see how that is relevant to this discussion about how they spend money.

Keeping it 100%.

[Rover]

I don't see how that is relevant to this discussion about how they spend money.

That’s the point of being a regulated utility. The aspersion made about them being irresponsible as a utility was a mischaracterization and sounded angry. Responsible utilities advertise all the time. This expenditure seemingly is well within normal parameters. If the original poster knows something the public or regulators don’t that shows this to be nefarious I hope he spills the beans and shares why he’s angry.

[Dob Hooligan]

Publicly regulated utility and public fairgrounds won't disclose how much money was involved.
I hope the AG gets involved with this tone deaf utility and the way they spend money.

A story in The Oklahoman says that OG&E set up "The OG&E Foundation" with some amount of money that were proceeds from their sale of Enable Midstream, and the arena deal came from the foundation.

I'm guessing that means some, or all, of the foundation money would have been tax owed from the Midstream sale, and the foundation allows OG&E to direct it in a way they control. And benefit from, in this case. It also suggests it is not from ratepayers and is possibly somewhat outside of the Corporation Commission oversight.

[jn1780]

A story in The Oklahoman says that OG&E set up "The OG&E Foundation" with some amount of money that were proceeds from their sale of Enable Midstream, and the arena deal came from the foundation.

I'm guessing that means some, or all, of the foundation money would have been tax owed from the Midstream sale, and the foundation allows OG&E to direct it in a way they control. And benefit from, in this case. It also suggests it is not from ratepayers and is possibly somewhat outside of the Corporation Commission oversight.

I really doubt they spent a lot in the grand scheme of things. Its not like the downtown arena naming rights.

[jedicurt]

Yeah, the Norick ice plant hasn't been used in forever, Disney always bring their portable system. I remember hearing the stories during the Barons days about the rough shape of it at that point, I can only imagine it now after 10 more years.

I haven't seen anything about ice being put in the new arena, as much as I wish that was the case. Would be nice to have an opportunity at some type of minor-league franchise being in town again.

ERIC!!! you and i haven't talked hockey in far too long... yes sadly, no ice plant for the new arena. this was something when they first announced it, I kept trying to get more info into why.

and yes, Norick ice plant was in terrible shape. after the storm at the cox center where it flooded from the roof, they actually needed to replace a few parts in the Cox center to try and get the ice ready to finish playoffs that year, and one of the ideas was if they could harvest parts from noricks system, and it was determined that there wasn't anything useable there.

[gaeddert2]

OKC State Fair OG&E Coliseum Construction Update Video

[PhiAlpha]

Publicly regulated utility and public fairgrounds won't disclose how much money was involved.
I hope the AG gets involved with this tone deaf utility and the way they spend money.

Yeah I don't care how innocent and likely irrelevant this is to utility rates...the optics are terrible without considering the fact that they won't disclose the numbers around the deal. The lack of transparency just adds gas to the fire.