An idea for Bricktown

[mranderson]

This morning, Catherine Pegram made a faux paus. She accidentally called the mayor of Noble the mayor of Bricktown. That made me think.

Hollywood, California has the honorary mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant. Plus they have the world famous walk of fame.

Why not build a Bricktown walk of fame and find someone to be the honorary Mayor of Bricktown to head the committee to choose honorees.

Many cities have a walk of fame, however, none are as large or as famous as Hollywood. Ours could rival theirs. We could honor people in many categories. Entertainment (television, movies, radio, music, theater, dance), business, politics, and others.

Hollywood charges the honoree a fee for construction of the star. Maybe we could also. Plus, we could make several blocks of bricktown the walk of fame.

What do you think? Any suggestions on where? Who to honor? Etc.

[floater]

After Bricktown started to pick up, it was said that Jim Brewer was the unofficial mayor of Bricktown. Now, for all the developments, Randy Hogan seems to be the mayor of Lower Bricktown. Personally, I wouldn't mind if Jim Tolbert took a higher profile role.

But I think you are correct mranderson, I think someone who is charismatic and a people person who doesn't mind the meet and greet approach would be good for Bricktown. Anybody know someone intimately involved in B-town who can mix it up with the crowd?

[downtownguy]

I really don't Jim Brewer is going to give up his "title."

[Midtowner]

hijacking...

What I think Bricktown really needs is a casino.

[Luke]

Midtowner, I am with you on that. I think the grassy canal corner would be a great place to put a top notch casino/hotel.

[mranderson]

I will start with a few people I know of that could be honored on the walk of fame.

Maria Tallcheif. She was a very well known ballarina from Fairfax. In fact, she and my mom were very close friends when they were kids.

Others. James Garner (obvious), Dale Robertson, GD Spradlin (he was a bit player on "Dragnet" plus was the minister in "Ed Wood" among other well known roles), Walter Cronkite, Bill Moyers, Gary Condit, Robert Reed, and many more.

What names other than the obvious ones such as Toby Keith and Reba McEntire would you like to add?

[floater]

Do they have to be from OKC? These are probably for years from now, but here are some candidates:

Kristen Chenoweth
Flaming Lips

Other obvious:
Garth Brooks
Vince Gill
Brooks and Dunn

Wait and see:
Megan Mullaly
Kellie Coffee (fellow Westmoore grad)
Wayman Tisdale (not just for basketball, but for his smooth jazz career)

[Nuclear_2525]

I think a casino would be great too...a tall casino hotel like the future Creek Nation Casino in Tulsa and the Cherokee Casino in Catoosa. Are there any Indian tribes that have reservation rights in DT OKC?

[Midtowner]

Personally, I'd rather see the state or city own the Casino. Let it be managed by a management company. I think a Casino could really bring people and businesses down there. I have reservations (no pun intended) about tribal gaming. I don't want to get into that here, but I think a casino in Bricktown could be a huge cash cow for the state/city.

[Patrick]

Hey Nuclear.....where is the new hotel at the Creek Nation Casino going to be....are they moving the whole casino. I went there this weekend....wasn't impressed though. Hopefully changes will be made.

I ran up to Catoosa and took a look at Cherokee's new resort. That's a fine place! I'd say it has to be one of the nicer tribal casinos in the state. Haven't been the Winstar, the state's largest, so I can't compare, but I'm sure Cherokee-Tulsa ranks up there. The hotel looks nice!

Anyways, I agree...I think a casino in Bricktown would be a nice addition....maybe the Oklahoma River would be a better location though....around where Zone G of the canal pours into the river. We could start with something small, more like what the Creek Nation has now, and they could work their way to something larger. Most tribal casinos started out small and have just added on. Take Thunderbird and Cherokee for instance.

[Patrick]

I like mranderson's idea of having a mayor of Bricktown. To make the position more functional, maybe it could just be the president of the Bricktown Association...just change the job title.

In regards to the walk of fame....I think this is a great idea! Why not have the sidewalk on the canal out in front of Toby Keith's serve that purpose. This would be another great fundraiser for the Bricktown Association. Maybe this is a project this board could work on.....trying to sell this idea to the Bricktown Association. I'm curious whether or not they'd bite. The walk could contain stars from the state of Oklahoma......of course the stars would have to pay for their own star! The stars could be made out of brick clay to match the overall Bricktown theme.

[swake]

The Creek Casino will be on the site of the old one with a riverwalk

[floater]

As Hollywood has a ceremony for each of its honorees, how about having an annual gala dinner to celebrate each star? Use it to be a major fundraiser for the Bricktown association - for marketing, capital improvements, events. If each pays for their star, you could isolate the cost of the dinner with the funds raised from the event. Have a tribute concert to the honoree at the Roadhouse.

Having the walk of fame in Lower Bricktown would add value and permanency to the sidewalk. Yes, let's push the Bricktown Association to do this!!!

[Luke]

Great ideas, everybody! Who has the phone number to the Bricktown Association?

[mranderson]

The walk of fame would need to be expandable to several blocks in order to compete with the Hollywood walk of fame. It is six or eight blocks long on both sides of the street, starting at La Brea and ending just past Vine. Ours should be at least four or five blocks long.

Some joker will probably say the "stars" should be saddles or Indian head dresses or some insulting thing like those. They should be stars. Red brick with white brick or marble inlays and a brass marker in the center with a symbol of the area of honor. Maybe with a state seal on it also.

The honor ceremony should be televised on the local newscasts and on the city's access channel. Then, a resolution given by the city council. The last one might not be easy. Too many names possible.

Make it a big deal. After all, these people did something to give claim to Oklahoma. They deserve the treatment.

Lower bricktown? Which area is more popular? The area by the canal, or the area you are calling "lower" bricktown. Plus, the name? "Bricktown walk of fame."

[floater]

Yeah, I wish there was more local programming on the networks. If we see more local events on TV, we'd appreciate more what does go on in the city...

[Patrick]

Here's contact info for the Bricktown Association:

Bricktown Association
115 E California Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73104

(405) 236-8666

Feel free to contact them. You can email Brent Brewer at brent.brewer@coxinet.net.

Their website is at: http://www.bricktownokc.com/

[Patrick]

I think with the theater and Toby Keith's venue in Lower Bricktown, maybe this area along the canal should be reserved for this "Oklahoma Riverwalk Hall of Fame". People like Reba, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill/Amy Grant, etc. could all receive stars on the Riverwalk Hall of Fame. Instead of just singers and actors/actresses, we could also have other famous people, like Mickey Mantle, Joe Carter, Johnny Bench, etc. I like mranderson's design for the stars!

[Patrick]

I think this would be a feasible project for this site to work on. downtownguy proposed that we pick a project and start working on it. Obviously, attracting a larger venue to the area would be harder. Maybe we could start out with something small, like getting the Bricktown Association to support our "Oklahoma Riverwalk Hall of Fame."

What do you guys think?

[mranderson]

If I had a sraight pin, I would pop my big head right now.

Imagine ME being responsible for the creation of a major tourist attraction. Yes. This is the starting point.

The name "Oklahoma Riverwalk" I think is too close to San Antonio's river walk. Ours needs to be unique. That is why I proposed "Bricktown Walk of Fame."

As I said in the beginning, the stars should be in honor and/or memory of not only entertainers and sports people, but business leaders, political leaders, and other people who have made a contribution to our state.

Another great one would be the late Gordon Cooper. He died yesterday.

Here is another addition to run up the flag pole and see who salutes it. Oklahoma's answer to the Emmy's. Only people with Oklahoma ties would be elegable for current work. Except for the lifetime achievement award.

The statue could be in the shape of the state seal. Now for the name.

Emmy, Tony, Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe, etc. are all registered trademarks. So they are out. Also out names like the "Okie Award."

[Patrick]

I really like your idea of the name, "Bricktown Walk of Fame". Maybe we should take this idea and run with it. What does everyone think? We could start lobbying the Bricktown Association to get such a program in place. The program would pay for itself by having the person pay for the star, while at the same time, giving Bricktown a distinct identity in the state. It seems to fit well with the movie theater and Toby Keith venue as well, so it's not like this would be completely out of place. As floater mentioned, a collage of all of the stars could be painted on the concrete wall just below the theater.

[floater]

You know, we could get a jump on the Walk of Fame and/or collage with money from the Centennial Commission. The application could be made by the Bricktown Association. For the walk or collage, we'd have to start off with an initial 2005 "class" and plan room for expansion for at least the next 20 years. For the years after that, we could fund it with either WOF/collage rights paid by the honoree. proceeds from the fundraiser, a public source, or a private endowment managed by the Association.

[Patrick]

You know, Blake Wade (director of the Centennial Commission) is still looking for ideas for projects. If we could get the Bricktown Association interested in this idea, maybe they could work with Wade on starting this project as one of the Centennial Projects, only to continue after the centennial is over.