Big Domed Stadium in OKC area???

[Rifleman2C]

Is it just me or does this thing look like a bedpan?

Um, yeah. I was thinking the title of this thread should read "Big Doomed Stadium in OKC area..."

[Kerry]

I agree that I don't see this happening but does anone know where the image is from? Does anyone remember the plan for Okladome in the 80's. The Cardinals were supposed to move from St. Louis in 1982 but needed a temporary home while a 75,000 stadium was built at the fairgrounds. However, OU wouldn't let them use Owen Field plus the oil bust hit so in '88 they moved to Phoenix. The rest is history.

[OKCisOK4me]

Is it just me or does this thing look like a bedpan?

LMAO

I thought it looked like a spaceship from Star Trek or something but that's pretty good.

[bombermwc]

Smells like a load of crap, looks like a load of crap....must be a load of crap.

[JWil]

Oh lord, this whole deal is insanely stupid. No way and no how. And really, we just don't need it and Jerry Jones/Cowboys would never let an NFL team move here anyway.

As for this OklaDome thing... I'm but a young babe and didn't live in OKC then... I'd love to hear more about that deal. You're saying OKC almost got the NFL Cards back in the day? Interesting.

[Kerry]

JWil - i was pretty young myself at the time but in the early 80's the Cards where going to relocate to OKC. The oil boom was in full swing and there was a plan to build a 75,000 seat dome stadium at the fairgrounds. However, the Cards needed a temporary home while the stadium was under construction and they wanted to use Owen Field in Norman. I guess OU feared competition for sports dollars or were afraid that the dome stadium would never get built and they would be stuck at OU forever so they said no. I think there was also opposition from the Gaylords but I can't remember for sure.

Anyhow, a deal couldn't be reached by the time of the oil bust so the Cards went to Phoenix and played at Arizona State for for about 18 years until their current stadium was built. OKC came this close, you can't see it but my fingers are about 1 inch apart, to getting the NFL.

[Harvey Hudson]

I had heard that a certain EXPRESSive person was looking at puting a coalition together to look into buying the Chargers.

I personally can not attest to the validity of this rumor but if someone can do it, he could. Im just not sure he could get anyone else locally to pitch in.

[SoonerDave]

JWil - i was pretty young myself at the time but in the early 80's the Cards where going to relocate to OKC. The oil boom was in full swing and there was a plan to build a 75,000 seat dome stadium at the fairgrounds. However, the Cards needed a temporary home while the stadium was under construction and they wanted to use Owen Field in Norman. I guess OU feared competition for sports dollars or were afraid that the dome stadium would never get built and they would be stuck at OU forever so they said no. I think there was also opposition from the Gaylords but I can't remember for sure.

Anyhow, a deal couldn't be reached by the time of the oil bust so the Cards went to Phoenix and played at Arizona State for for about 18 years until their current stadium was built. OKC came this close, you can't see it but my fingers are about 1 inch apart, to getting the NFL.

Man, I'm really having to dig deep to bring up any recolleciton of the Cardinals piece of the puzzle, but I remember plans for the dome at the Fairgrounds. I recall, however, it being more tied with the fact that the Gaylords were talking about bringing the flagging Rangers MLB franchise up from their then-awful snakepit of a park in Arlington. There was little to no public support for the idea, and then-gov Henry Bellmon basically killed the thing by proposing some worthless, smaller venue to be paid for via some state tax mechanism, which failed miserably (and deservedly so, it was a stupid, half-baked idea).

As far as the football stadium/Owen Field thing, I have a vague recollection that of the issues that could not be resolved dealt with the sales of alcohol in the stadium, strictly a no-no, but a standard beverage at most any pro sports venue. I don't think OU had the option of even negotiating that issue away - they just couldn't - state law, something. THere may also have been concerns about the ability of stadium support people to turn the stadium around in well-under 24 hours during the times college ball and pro ball were in season, eg if OU and the Cards would have had home games the same weekend. Lots of logistical issues with that one...

-David

[SoonerDave]

I had heard that a certain EXPRESSive person was looking at puting a coalition together to look into buying the Chargers.

I personally can not attest to the validity of this rumor but if someone can do it, he could. Im just not sure he could get anyone else locally to pitch in.

At some point, no matter how optimistic we might be, we have to recognize the limits of the business resources here in OK/OKC...getting an NBA team is no small feat, and the notion of someone else trying to work a deal for an NFL franchise (no matter how intriguing) would be MONUMENTALLY expensive. Even with companies like Chesapeake, Devon, Express, etc, there's a limit to just how much $$$ they can roll into things like sports sponsorships...

[Kerry]

I don't think OKC can support the NBA and NFL yet - and I stress yet. Jacksonville has an NFL team and it is about the size of Tulsa. However, I don't think anyone is looking at Jacksonville as model city for the NFL. JAX is one expansion market I'll bet the NFL is sorry they went with.

[BDP]

Obviously, this is a farce (I don't even think it has a retractable roof. No one is building domes these days without one. ), but I do think it would be great if the city had some sort of outdoor stadium, either at the fairgrounds or river. I don't see it getting any support anytime soon, but I can't imagine us going another 30 years without having one at some point. For the time being, I don't see why we couldn't consider a 12-30k outdoor venue within the city. I think maybe core 2 shore has some plans for something like that, but I am not sure if that's being pursued on any real level. It seems the Mayor still thinks this will happen at the Brick at some point, right?

Ideally, there'd be more private investment than we've had thus far on something like that. Hopefully, the NBA proves viable enough that it can motivate some private investment into an outdoor venue at some point.

[Pete]

When Taft Stadium is the best facility the city has to offer, it's time to at least start planning for something new.

Considering the huge amount of property and focus on recreation in Core to Shore, it certainly should be included.

[MikeLucky]

I posted this in a previous thread, but I would like to see OKC build a facility like this....

Personally I would like to build something like this arena:



Saitama Super Arena - Facility Information

It would be expensive.... but we can have it configurable for a top notch NBA facility or as a 40,000 seat stadium. We could bid for Men's Final Fours, division II/III championship football games, OU could play scrimmages there, OSU could play games there (ha ha), MLS, large political conventions, some major concerts and music festivals.... you get my point.

But, it would be the most unique and identifiable stadium/arena in the US and it would truly set us apart, as well as make OKC more viable for some pretty major events.

Configured as stadium:



Configured as arena:



Tandem use:



Even as a 6,000 seat Hall configuration:



It has concert settings ranging from 12,500 to 37,000:

12,500



16,000



22,000



30,000



37,000



I know it would be really expensive, but it's something so versatile that it would be something that would serve our city for upwards of 30 years...... or more...... Although I doubt it would be more expensive than a 100,000 seat, 1.3 billion dollar dome.... LOL

Just an idea......

[SoonerDave]

Obviously, this is a farce (I don't even think it has a retractable roof. No one is building domes these days without one. )

Despite its lack of credibility, the report did say that the roof on the place would be retractable....in fact, it went to enough detail so as to say it would be mounted on a some sort of an Hitachi-based system...have no clue where that came from.

Too bad the whole thing comes from a crackpot.

[jbrown84]

Moshe Tal is one of his mysterious investors.

[Kerry]

Moshe Tal is one of his mysterious investors.

Are you serious or just being funny?

[jbrown84]

just kidding.

[Kerry]

You scared the crap out of me with that one. While I don't think this is real it would be cool to have and I would support a private development of this magnitude. I think there is a 1% chance this could be legit but attaching Tal to it would have destroyed that 1% chance.

[jbrown84]

Yeah, is he even in Oklahoma anymore? Haven't heard a peep out of him.

[MikeLucky]

Man, I'm really having to dig deep to bring up any recolleciton of the Cardinals piece of the puzzle, but I remember plans for the dome at the Fairgrounds. I recall, however, it being more tied with the fact that the Gaylords were talking about bringing the flagging Rangers MLB franchise up from their then-awful snakepit of a park in Arlington. There was little to no public support for the idea, and then-gov Henry Bellmon basically killed the thing by proposing some worthless, smaller venue to be paid for via some state tax mechanism, which failed miserably (and deservedly so, it was a stupid, half-baked idea).

And that right there kids is the difference between Indianapolis and OKC. Both cities were pretty close in population and status in the early 80's. Both cities wanted to build downtown domes to spur growth and attract a team. Both cities needed their residents to take the leap of faith and pay for a facility with the hope that a permanent tenant would become available.

OKC sat back and did nothing..... Indy built the RCA dome in 1984 and of course the rest is history......

I am glad that OKC changed it's past philosophy when the Ford Center came about.....

[y_h]

That model is actually a mock up of the original design for what is now University of Phoenix Stadium - home of the Arizona Cardinals. It was originally rendered to look like a coiled rattlesnake but they changed the plans in order to make a retractable roof more feasible and went with the barrel cactus design instead.

[Thunder]

Anyone know anything more since this discussion ended 2 months ago?

Is this actually going to happen?

I disagree with Kerry saying that OKC will not support NBA team.

[Pete]

Thunder, the guy that proposed it has zero credibility and this was never a real project.

The Oklahoman and Journal Record didn't even pick up the press release, which shows you how much stock they put in the story.

[Steve]

And both papers were well aware of it.