Changes at the OK State Fair

[Patrick]

I happened to drive down to the fair grounds yesterday to look at the new roof on the International Building. As many of you may know, the International Building no longer has it's famed open air roof like it had before. Because it was hard to heat and cool, and because maintenance was always a pain, the state fair decided to bust the bubble and put up a real roof on the International Building. The building obviously doesn't have it's distinctive look like it used to. What's your opinion on the change?

Also, the monorail is no longer in place.

[Patrick]

Personally, I'll miss the unique appearance of the old roof, but I suppose for useablility, the State Fair made a wise choice.

Also, I would've liked to have seen the State Fair with a new state of the art monorail similar to that found at Walt Disney World.

[MadMonk]

I just read about the new roof recently. I wasn't aware they were changing it until then. I think I'll miss it. It was unique. Are there any pics of the new roof available?

I read that they also changed the doors since there doesn't have to have a higher air pressure inside to keep the roof up. That part I'm not going to miss. It was always a pain getting in and out.

I won't miss the monorail but, like you, I would've liked to have seen a modern replacement for it.

Is it me or does it seem like there are more attractions listed for the fair this year?

[Patrick]

Yeah, I think the fair is getting more attractions again. Seems like when Skip Wagner came in a few years ago, he really decreased the size of the fair. The new fair director is slowly returning the fair to what is once was just a few years ago.

[Keith]

I happened to drive down to the fair grounds yesterday to look at the new roof on the International Building. As many of you may know, the International Building no longer has it's famed open air roof like it had before. Because it was hard to heat and cool, and because maintenance was always a pain, the state fair decided to bust the bubble and put up a real roof on the International Building. The building obviously doesn't have it's distinctive look like it used to. What's your opinion on the change?

Also, the monorail is no longer in place.

Man, I must be living a sheltered life. I did not know that the International Building got a new roof. I go by the state fair quite often, and I ride my bike over there sometimes on my lunch hour, and I didn't even notice it.

I certainly won't miss the pressure doors that were on that building, however, I will miss the monorail. Each year, my daughter and I would ride on it so that we could relax and just talk.

I'll be out there again this year, volunteering for the Okla. City Police Dept. in their dispatch office at the safety center. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes that have been made.

[Patrick]

Here are some pics of the new roof:








Without any roof:

[MadMonk]

Hey, I like that! It looks pretty sharp, especially with the new paint.

[Patrick]

It's now simply a natural tan color instead of the orange it used to be.

[swake]

How big is this building, and WHY didn't it have a roof?

[Patrick]

Oh, it had a roof. It was just a pressurized inflated roof ("Bubble-Top Roof"), similar to what you'd see at some domes around the country.

I believe the International Building is the largest exhibit building at State Fair Park. You can find the dimensions here: http://www.okstatefairpark.com/bookingvendor/
This pic should give you a better idea of how big the building is:

[Patrick]

I couldn't find a for-real picture of the old roof, but maybe this map from last year will give you an idea. The International Trade Center Building is Building Number 11.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks for the info and pics, Patrick! Good job!

The "new" building looks good to me!

[karlanee]

I too think the new roof looks great. It won't be as easy to tell people - it's in the "Bubble Building" (my girls name for it), but it sure looks nice.

As far as the monorail - I went on it twice I think. It was scary both times. Felt like it was old enough that you just might fall off the side. LOL

[Patrick]

In regards to the new roof...I will admit, the old roof was much more attractive....definitely unique. There's nothing really attractive about the new roof. But, I suppose it makes the building more useable, which is always a good thing for the fair grounds.

The monorail would've been nice, had the Fairgrounds updated it, and refurbished the cars. Since they weren't planning to do that, scrapping it was probably the best option. Indeed as old as it was, it wasn't an asset to the fair.

Personally, I'd like to see the Fair build a new grandstand.

I hate to say this, but we need to look to Tulsa for a nice fairpark. They've invested quite a bit of money into their fairgrounds over the past few years, and it shows.

[swake]

OKC needs some bigger exhibit halls then, I have only been to the OKC fair once years ago but it seemed about the same size as the Tulsa fair without Bells. But OKC couldn't possibly have as many exhibits with that little amount of space and that makes no sense. Seems like you are leaving some money on table with limited space like that.

Are there plans for bigger buildings with your new bond?

[swake]

In regards to the new roof...I will admit, the old roof was much more attractive....definitely unique. There's nothing really attractive about the new roof. But, I suppose it makes the building more useable, which is always a good thing for the fair grounds.

The monorail would've been nice, had the Fairgrounds updated it, and refurbished the cars. Since they weren't planning to do that, scrapping it was probably the best option. Indeed as old as it was, it wasn't an asset to the fair.

Personally, I'd like to see the Fair build a new grandstand.

I hate to say this, but we need to look to Tulsa for a nice fairpark. They've invested quite a bit of money into their fairgrounds over the past few years, and it shows.

Expo Square has made a lot of improvements but they have quite a bit more left to do with the money from 2025.

Also, Expo square looks like they are going to have a lot more space in the next couple of years as it looks like Bell's will most likly be moving to the Riverwalk in Jenks and the Drillers may well be getting a new stadium either downtown or on the river.

[Decious]

Swake, post some pics if you get the time. I've never seen or been to Tulsa's fair. If there's a website, I'll take that too. Thnx.

[swake]

I have no idea how to post pics here, so you are going to have to surf.

Expo square site:
http://www.exposquare.com/

Improvements to expo square:
http://www.exposquare.com/renovations.htm
http://www.vision2025.info/category....ory=exposquare

If you look at the site maps, you can see how much more land they will have if Bell’s moves to the river in Jenks, which really seems like it’s going to happen over the next two-three years.

The Tulsa State Fair:
http://www.tulsastatefair.com/

Expo Square if you haven’t been there is in the middle of a midtown neighborhood just south of TU. There is no room to grow, at all. And Expo Square is unlike Fair Park in that there is more than just the fairgrounds.

There’s first the Expo Building, which used to be the largest free-span building in the world, it’s almost half a million square feet by itself, with no indoor columns. Then there is Bell’s amusement park, which is pretty bad, but they have been in like a ten year battle with the neighborhood over noise, and now it looks like they are moving to west bank of the river at 101st in Jenks just south of the Aquarium. There also is Big Splash, which is like White Water, Drillers Stadium, The Expo Square Pavilion (a great art deco muti-use arena, where Tulsa’s NBDL team is going to play for now), and Fair Meadows Race Track. Oh, and a Tulsa County Health Department Office, an off-track betting site, a hotel, and a National Guard armory. Then you have the midway, all the barns and all the normal fair stuff. And this is all packed into a quarter square mile in midtown.

[Decious]

Looks great dude. I bet a good number of people from Arkansas, Kansas, and Mizzou show up as well as Oklahomans. Thnx for the links.

[Doug Loudenback]

Swake,

If you want to link to images which are already on the internet, use this method:

[img]http//www.xxx.com/directory/specificfile.jpg[/img]

or elabortions on that theme, for example. For the target file, use the full url for where that file is located.

Hope this helps.

[swake]

thanks for the help, let's see if this works

Expo Square Map


Expo Square Pavilion


Barn

[BDP]

That pavillion looks nice.

[Patrick]

The barns at the Tulsa State Fair look very nice and upscale as well. They make our barns look like hick trailor trash.

[Patrick]

swake, it's hard to compare the Tulsa Fairgrounds to the OKC Fairgrounds. The Expo Building is basically the only exhibit building you guys have. At our fairgrounds, the International Trade Center Building is the largest expo building, but it is only one out of many expo buildings. Simply, our exhibits are split up in different buildings, often based on themes. For example, we have cars in one building, Arts and Crafts in another. Etc. I'd say we probably have 8-10 different buildings (Oklahoma Building- consisting of two connected buildings, Centennial Building, Modern Living Building, Arts and Crafts Building, Travel and Transportation Building, Gardens Building, International Trade Center, Carriage Hall, etc.) Basically, we have a campus with different exhibit buildings, instead of having all of the exhibits lined up under one large roof.

[jbrown84]

Haha. I remember going to Big Spash. We used to call it "Little Spit". You think White Water is bad?