State Fairgrounds

[Bowser214]

Wow looking great! Great drone shots Pete!

[rcjunkie]

I know this is a little of the beat and for that I apologize, but now that we have new and modern facilities, can you please properly maintain the grounds. (trimming, mowing, planting trees, etc

[Laramie]

[Bill Robertson]

It's getting there. I thought the first few times I saw the west outside graphics that they were horrid. They're actually kind of growing on me now.

[Pete]

10 more months would mean completion in late spring 2025 or early summer.

[Pete]

Photo from the Journal Record:

[bison34]

They aren't messing around! Great pic!

[Laramie]

The coliseum will seat about 4,700 in its 21-inch padded seats for horse shows. Retractable seating will allow up to 7,500 seats in different layouts for events like bull riding, concerts and basketball games.



The shape remains the same; just anxious to see the finished product.

This arena seats roughly 5,000; cozy enough for the horse shows that attract an average of around 3,500 which you could lose in 14,000 seat Dixie's style arena.

Couldn't help but notice the concrete floor installed; something that had to be done with the old State Fair Arena when it was built to support ice hockey.

[kukblue1]

I'm going to the State Fair to see Morris Day and The Time Friday night. Haven't been in probably 10 years. Where is the best place to park. $10 parking pass worth it or just park for free?

[Laramie]

I'm going to the State Fair to see Morris Day and The Time Friday night. Haven't been in probably 10 years. Where is the best place to park. $10 parking pass worth it or just park for free?

There's plenty of free parking places on the fairgrounds. Last time I went to the fair was with friends to see the Ohio Players in concert.

When I got ready to leave, I couldn't remember where I parked. Finally a guy came by on a golf cart and asked if I needed help. Told him my recollection of where I parked was on a grassy hill and I could see the OSU-OKC parking garage. He knew the area and took me right to my vehicle.

.

[Dob Hooligan]

I'm going to the State Fair to see Morris Day and The Time Friday night. Haven't been in probably 10 years. Where is the best place to park. $10 parking pass worth it or just park for free?

Forgive me for being simplistic. You pay to be closer to the gate. However, it has been my experience that the closer to the gate I park, the longer I sit in traffic waiting to leave the lot.

[kukblue1]

Forgive me for being simplistic. You pay to be closer to the gate. However, it has been my experience that the closer to the gate I park, the longer I sit in traffic waiting to leave the lot.

Actually now I think about it years ago I got stuck in the free lot cause of the mud. Shouldn't be a problem this year though

[Pete]

[Plutonic Panda]

Is there still a chance that video board could be added in the future or is that just completely dead?

[bombermwc]

Is it just me or do these images make it look like the new arena is a lot smaller than the old one? Some of those inside shots make the seating look a lot smaller too. It might just be angles and whatnot, it's just weird.

[Laramie]

It's going to be a smaller venue in seating capacity; however for the events that will remain in OKC, it's a win-win situation for them. A 4,700 seat arena with 2,500 inside will look a lot fuller than one (Norick Arena) that has 8,500 permanent seats.

This new state-of-the-art arena will be great for our city; primarily built for horse shows. Retractable seating will allow up to 7,500 seats in different layouts for events like bull riding, concerts and basketball games. Look for the coliseum to host many of the OSSAA events from 5A basketball and below. The 6A BB will probably be played in Norman's Lloyd Noble or Tulsa's Mabee Center.

IMO you will probably see the PBR major events at Paycom Center or the new downtown arena. Thanks for the pics, Pete.

[bombermwc]

Basketball is the main thing i was thinking of for seating. Those smaller towns bring EVERYONE out to support their teams. If you haven't ever been to a small school playoff game, especially the early rounds when it's hosted at the 6A schools....the energy level is insane. Maybe being in the smaller room will make the big dance games feel more energetic then too.

They used to do state wrestling there too but i think it has been at a different venue for quite a long time now. Anyone know if that's still the case?

[kevin lee]

Basketball is the main thing i was thinking of for seating. Those smaller towns bring EVERYONE out to support their teams. If you haven't ever been to a small school playoff game, especially the early rounds when it's hosted at the 6A schools....the energy level is insane. Maybe being in the smaller room will make the big dance games feel more energetic then too.

They used to do state wrestling there too but i think it has been at a different venue for quite a long time now. Anyone know if that's still the case?

BOK has it locked up until 2028. Idk if they've decided anything after that.

[jn1780]

BOK is still nicer and larger, so unless they want a cheaper facility they will probably stay there.

The new state faire arena is good for what the fair will use it for. I doubt its going to attract anything new or any concerts for that matter.

[catcherinthewry]

They used to do state wrestling there too but i think it has been at a different venue for quite a long time now. Anyone know if that's still the case?

State wrestling was still there as of 2023.

[HOT ROD]

itd really be nice if the state fair can start pulling their own weight on these projects or at the very least, make a contribution. MAPS is the ONLY source for all of these fairground "improvements", yet they used their revenue stream to tear down what was once icons of the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds: Monorail, Space Needle, Grandstand, Arch, to name a few are ALL gone with no replacement plan. And now, they have a new coluseum but have value engineered it down far lower than what was in the MAPS 4 plan, including the seating (wasn't it originally to be 12K/multi-level, double what we're getting).

I just hate seeing the condition of the fairgrounds, the lack of transparency on operations/revenue/capital expenditure (we know the cap ex is 0 btw), the lack of maintenance - yet people keep harping that this is OKC's best revenue generator. ?? Zoo is a better OKC operation, they're transparent, have a master plan that they're feeding capital plans to, they are great stewards to OKC sales tax funds AND recognize their own revenue sources (admissions, subscriptions, donations, campaigns, etc), AND they maintain the site and have adequate PAVED parking. I'm pretty sure the OKC Zoo is the #1 tourist attraction for OKC, definitely in the Top 3 and you can SEE IT in their operation and in their paper trail.

I'd LOVE for the State Fair to follow similar civic management model that the Zoo (or even Myriad Gardens) operates - then come to us with MAPS proposal(s) instead of sneaking in that we're used to.

[BoulderSooner]

itd really be nice if the state fair can start pulling their own weight on these projects or at the very least, make a contribution. MAPS is the ONLY source for all of these fairground "improvements", yet they used their revenue stream to tear down what was once icons of the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds: Monorail, Space Needle, Grandstand, Arch, to name a few are ALL gone with no replacement plan. And now, they have a new coluseum but have value engineered it down far lower than what was in the MAPS 4 plan, including the seating (wasn't it originally to be 12K/multi-level, double what we're getting).

I just hate seeing the condition of the fairgrounds, the lack of transparency on operations/revenue/capital expenditure (we know the cap ex is 0 btw), the lack of maintenance - yet people keep harping that this is OKC's best revenue generator. ?? Zoo is a better OKC operation, they're transparent, have a master plan that they're feeding capital plans to, they are great stewards to OKC sales tax funds AND recognize their own revenue sources (admissions, subscriptions, donations, campaigns, etc), AND they maintain the site and have adequate PAVED parking. I'm pretty sure the OKC Zoo is the #1 tourist attraction for OKC, definitely in the Top 3 and you can SEE IT in their operation and in their paper trail.

I'd LOVE for the State Fair to follow similar civic management model that the Zoo (or even Myriad Gardens) operates - then come to us with MAPS proposal(s) instead of sneaking in that we're used to.

what?? this is not accurate at all

[bombermwc]

That's not a real apples to apples comparison either. And Frankly, the Zoo has been adding a lot of items that are more for hosting events to make revenue that way than purely focusing on animals. I was not a big fan of the most recent construction for this reason. But they also have a product that attracts a person every day of the week all year round.

The fairgrounds are event based and only attract people when an event is happening. They do have to maintain a large amount of space to handle the actual fair for what 30 days in the year. The rest of the time its something in this building for a few days, something in that building for a few days, oh here's another horse show over here. But in general, the public is packed into those structures on the west side.

I agree that the fair is not transparent about what they are doing and I dislike a lot of it. But they also had some extremely old and aging items (like those you mentioned) that were cost prohibitive to maintain and served very little value purpose on a daily basis for what we had to put in to them. What I'd like to see them do is take a better approach to the landscaping around the entire grounds. The whole place looks like trash still. We could definitely do better. You just have to go to some of the smaller county fairgrounds around the state to see how in other places they've created an aesthetic that ties the whole grounds together and is landscaped 100% times better. We have absolutely zero aesthetic other than metal building....and that's not to be proud of.

They could definitely do better but they also do not get the funding stream that the zoo does. Unless you want to start paying to park at every Fairgrounds event and then pay double what you are to get in those events...i think we're stuck with mediocre.

[jn1780]

Half jokingly, the 'solution' is to just rename the whole place and the 'State Fair' is just an event that comes once a year. The origins of the community event known of 'State Fair" or "County Fair" was really all about competition and showcasing the community. The agriculture and equestrian industry does compete all year round, so really they keeping the original spirit of the State Fair alive.

There have been a lot of elaborate exhibits or attractions built at 'fairs' throughout the years, most are not around anymore. World fairs are most known for this.

Texas definitely found their niche of keeping the worlds fair like spirit going all year round.

[Pete]

On schedule to be substantially complete June 1st.