Stage Center

[hoya]

I think it could be something really worth fighting to keep if it was functional. There are other places to build towers, we don't have to tear up Stage Center. The only problem is, it doesn't function. Right now it exists as a big, city-block sized piece of modern art. There don't appear to be any plans to make it work as an actual stage again, or as anything else. If we could go back to MAPS 3 proposals and put in "$40M - turn Stage Center into Children's Museum" then it might work.

[betts]

Betts,

I feel your pain, but hopefully we won't see you on the news chained to one of the SC buildings as they start demo ! lol

I do hope some how some way they can salvage some of the remnants of these structures and put over in the C2S park.

I must say I've thought about it! I would love to see parts of it at the C2S park.

[OKCisOK4me]

Oh look..a lil bit of recent history for you lovers out there. Can't wait for this lot to be flattened for construction of a new chapter!

[Spartan]

I think moving some of its iconic pods to the C2S park which is currently too boilerplate for me to support, would be a slam-dunk. That park needs some local touches and we need to preserve our local history.

[UnFrSaKn]

Stage Center (June 10 2013) - YouTube

[UnFrSaKn]

Stage Center (July 9 2013) - a set on Flickr

[UnFrSaKn]

Stage Center (July 13 2013) - a set on Flickr

[betts]

Thanks for those photos. I love this building. I bet there will be regret over its destruction some day.

[hoya]

It's very interesting looking, I'll give you that.

[BDP]

It's very interesting looking, I'll give you that.

It certainly is the only building downtown that consistently draws interest from my friends and family when they visit. Granted, most, if not all of them have lived or do live in much larger cities, so they're not easily wowed. Most think Devon center is nice, but familiar and kind of find its elevated significance more an indicator of Oklahoma City's lack of major corporate presence. So, it's actually Stage Center across the street that grabs their fascination, especially when I explain what it was.

[Pete]

From yesterday:

[s00nr1]

Hopefully they find a way to transplant those trees instead of just cutting them down.

[UnFrSaKn]

Whatever is easiest, that's what they will do probably.

[LakeEffect]

Hopefully they find a way to transplant those trees instead of just cutting them down.

Trees can be planted. These trees were only planted to hide Stage Center anyway...

[Spartan]

Trees can be planted. These trees were only planted to hide Stage Center anyway...

Yeah, we don't want to retain this species of tree downtown.. Dean McGee chose them because they grew wild and thick and blocked views.

[Pete]

Notice how mature the trees in the Myriad Gardens look already, and most were new plantings after the recent renovation.

Much, much more is now known about landscape architecture than just 20 years ago. Or at the very least, landscape arch has become a full-blown and valued profession in it's own right and is no longer just a matter of planting some pretty trees and letting them grow.

It's one of the great things about Project 180... Getting in the right species of plants, making sure they have the right type of irrigation, making sure they can withstand the elements, allowing for their growth patterns, etc.

[s00nr1]

Who said anything about keeping them in the same spot? Hence the word "transplant." You guys really made a much bigger deal out of this than I intended.

[Jim Kyle]

Still it was a good comment; we don't want "just any" tree even if it does happen to already be in the area. When I moved to my present home in 1982, I immediately planted a row of poplars in the green belt behind my lot, to add variety to the cottonwoods, mulberry, and willows already there. I chose poplars for their rapid growth, not realizing that also implied short life -- and blissfully unaware that poplar is considered "junk wood" by landscapers. They did grow quite tall in just a couple of years, and then the first strong downdraft came along and felled them! I moved some of the red cedars that were volunteering in the area, to replace them, and those lasted without damage until the huge ice storm about 10 years ago. A falling cottonwood limb smashed one of them; the rest are still thriving.

These days I'm paying the price for encouraging those cedars, having become quite allergic to their pollen. Still, they do offer a nice bit of variety, along with the redbuds (which failed to survive last summer's drought), crepe myrtles, maple, sweet gum, and pecan (grown from a nut over the past 31 years) that I also added to the area -- and the homeowners' association hasn't minded my efforts a bit.

[Pete]

Yep, when my family bought a new home in NW OKC in 1962, we planted 8 trees.

When we sold in 1989, all were mature and healthy.

Now, all but one are gone. Either destroyed by disease, the elements or removed by the owner because they were unmanageable. So, instead of a nice mature tree canopy, there is one tree left, and it's in the backyard. I've noticed the rest of the neighborhood trees are pretty sparse as well.

Very sad, as that should be a neighborhood and area benefiting from hundreds and hundreds of trees of 50+ years in age. And we all know mature trees can make any neighborhood look much better and lends tremendous character you can't find at 188th & MacArthur.


The home I live in now was built in 1984 and in the ten years I've owned it, I've had to remove three trees and tons of shrubs and still am fighting a constant battle to manage what remains because everything was over-planted and/or just wrong for the setting. And my lot is less than 8,000 sf!

[Platemaker]

Notice how mature the trees in the Myriad Gardens look already, and most were new plantings after the recent renovation.

Much, much more is now known about landscape architecture than just 20 years ago. Or at the very least, landscape arch has become a full-blown and valued profession in it's own right and is no longer just a matter of planting some pretty trees and letting them grow.

It's one of the great things about Project 180... Getting in the right species of plants, making sure they have the right type of irrigation, making sure they can withstand the elements, allowing for their growth patterns, etc.

I worked at the Colcord during the Myriad renovation. I remember early on talking with the horticulturists from OJB about plant selection (because I consider myself a garden snob haha). They didn't disappoint. I have to say that OJB did everything right as far as I'm concerned.

[mcca7596]

I worked at the Colcord during the Myriad renovation. I remember early on talking with the horticulturists from OJB about plant selection (because I consider myself a garden snob haha). They didn't disappoint. I have to say that OJB did everything right as far as I'm concerned.

Too bad the Gardens aren't being maintained though.

[LakeEffect]

Too bad the Gardens aren't being maintained though.

Really? How so?

[CuatrodeMayo]

Here are a couple I took last week in the Children's Garden for starters...



1 in about every 3-5 lights are out. As a somewhat regular visitor, I have noticed several maintenance issues over the last few weeks.

[Platemaker]

Ugggg! That's it! No more kiddos in the park! (The plant selection is still tops though )

[mcca7596]

Really? How so?

I don't live in the metro; I've just heard the stories about the dying plants and cracking surfaces along with a few photos posted on here, sounds like it's even worse in the crystal bridge. I just don't get why things can't be maintained there.