People in business have this strange tendency to want to keep all options, including remote options, on the table until the very end. Keep in mind though that many of the main "power players" who supported the parkside convention center location also have a pecuniary interest in this site as well. Just unloading it to the city for the convention center would be the easiest thing to do, which is always a compelling option...
It probably isn't the option with the most potential or the most allure, and of course I'm always more interested in a real development than a convention center. But here's a question I have to ask, and this is a legitimate question.. what gives? This is not a vital chunk of real estate for downtown circulation. All circulation in this area has already been effectively cut off by superblocks we've built in the past and are continuing to plan as I type.
The way I see it, the only impact here, is that it will gobble up the prime real estate along the boulevard (or technically, they will put "little stores and stuff" in the facade of this big blank wall superblock building). But does that really matter in the end? Yes, this was supposed to be the opportunity for downtown's grandest future development on this land, and yes, it looked like it was going to start getting developed sooner than expected. But that was all contingent on the boulevard. I say just give up on the boulevard at this point. It's going to be really crappy and we're going to spend a lot of money on it to make it so, because that's what ODOT does, and the city is to feeble and careless to take the project over. Who cares at this point?
Giving up on the boulevard certainly does seem to make this an attractive location for a convention center I suppose. It's a matter of simple convenience vs. a delusion of grandeur that OKC could be better.
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