OG&E Tower

[Bellaboo]

Hopefully so. The lull before the outbreak....

I'm hoping we hear some solid stuff before October 1st. That's my current "wish" timeline.

It could happen, I'm out of town from the 17th to the 23rd......so it's starting to set up.

[Praedura]

Came across this cute skyline graphic from the Arts Council:



Hey... wait a minute. What's that building to the left of Devon Tower? They've already included the new SC tower into the skyline?????




Ok, ok... that's probably supposed to be Oklahoma Tower. But it's scaled mighty tall and too far south to be accurate, as that looks more like the SC site from that perspective.

Just sayin...

[Teo9969]

Came across this cute skyline graphic from the Arts Council:



Hey... wait a minute. What's that building to the left of Devon Tower? They've already included the new SC tower into the skyline?????




Ok, ok... that's probably supposed to be Oklahoma Tower. But it's scaled mighty tall and too far south to be accurate, as that looks more like the SC site from that perspective.

Just sayin...

Sandridge

[Richard at Remax]

ITs the chase building. View is from NE. skydance is the thing that is out of place.

[OKCisOK4me]

No...the view is from between Robinson and the Harvey Spine somewhere south of I40 in the future south park.

With that in mind, Sandridge would be to the right of First National and Chase is the big box on the right.

Therefore, that's a new tower...

[Praedura]

Sandridge

So the SandRidge building is taller than Chase and located right next to the Myriad Gardens? I need to talk to that artist, lol.

[Praedura]

ITs the chase building. View is from NE. skydance is the thing that is out of place.

Yeah, that fits perfectly. Except that it kills the new tower theory.

[Richard at Remax]

what are you smoking OKCisOK??

[Plutonic Panda]

I think it's the fact that they had the Skydance Bridge in the photo, it is confusing.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

You guys are putting entirely too much energy into that overly simple drawing...And driving up the post count in this thread so people check it thinking there's been a development.


STOP IT OR I'LL SHUT THIS WHOLE THING DOWN AND TURN THE CAR AROUND

[OKCisOK4me]

what are you smoking OKCisOK??

I was eating lunch at the time. I was excited like Predura ;-) Oh well ;-)

[UnFrSaKn]

what are you smoking OKCisOK??

Lol you guys... Yes this is the correct angle. No one outside of a select few have any clue what it will look like and a good chance not even they have a final design yet.

[Pete]

Still quiet on this project but heard they have all the PR lined up and ready to go.

I believe they are planning a big presentation with building renderings, tenant information to overshadow the demolition.

Remember, they have to apply for a demolition permit first, and this is a completely separate process from getting building plans approved.

[Praedura]

Still quiet on this project but heard they have all the PR lined up and ready to go.

I believe they are planning a big presentation with building renderings, tenant information to overshadow the demolition.

Remember, they have to apply for a demolition permit first, and this is a completely separate process from getting building plans approved.

Oh man! If this is true, we could have an announcement within a week or two!

[warreng88]

Gazette article:

Center Stage

Vocal proponents of the vividly colored theater vow to save Stage Center with a variety of proposals.
Tim Farley
September 18th, 2013

Historic preservationists like Lisa Chronister and Catherine Montgomery don’t give up. Controversy over Stage Center, the former Mummers Theater in downtown Oklahoma City, built in 1970, is a classic example.

Although the property’s new owner, Kestrel Investments Management Corporation, has plans to seek a demolition permit in November, hope still exists to somehow save the building described last year in Architectural Record as a “love-it-or-hate-it” structure.

For decades, the now-defunct theater — complete with its concrete forms, brightly colored steel ramps and large corrugated metal boxes — has evoked opinions at all levels in connection with its unique appearance as well as its functionality. The building has been closed since it sustained extensive flood damage in 2010.

Rainey Williams is president of Kestrel. He said in July that plans for the 3.15-acre site — located between Sheridan and California avenues and Dewey and Walker avenues — call for an office tower at least 20 stories high with a parking garage and public spaces for downtown residents and visitors.

The new owner is still negotiating with prospective tenants and finalizing plans for the office and retail tower.

“As a native of Oklahoma City, I personally put a great deal of thought into the property and the Stage Center facility,” Williams said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this point, but the building has outlived its use, and removal of Stage Center is simply the next logical step in the evolution of making this property usable again.”

Even if the building is removed, must it be destroyed? That’s a question Chronister and Montogmery are fighting to get answered.

What can be saved?

Williams promised to work with city officials in the demolition permit process “to make sure we follow all the necessary steps to obtain approval and safely remove it from the property.”

If the demolition permit is approved, Chronister, an OKC architect, hopes pieces of the building will be preserved and placed throughout the city. Although it’s not a typical preservation effort, retaining parts are better than it being forgotten, she said.

“Probably the most important would be the metal panels, which are so distinctive. Maybe they could be placed on other buildings or bus stops around the city,” Chronister said.

“When you drive by, you would see it and remember Stage Center.” She said the value of preserving the building in any way possible is more than aesthetic — Stage Center was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places “for its architectural merit at the national level and for exceptional significance,” according to the State Historic Preservation Office, a component of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

She would also like to develop a photographic record of the building, a plan first recommended last year for the building’s suggested placement on the National Register of Historic Places. However, then-owner Oklahoma City Community Foundation objected because it might have hampered the sale of the property, so the record wasn’t made and the building wasn’t placed on the register, she said.

Chronister, who also protested previous attempts to demolish the Gold Dome at NW 23rd Street and Classen Boulevard, is hopeful Stage Center’s new owners will host an open house and tour before the building is razed.

“People could come and say goodbye,” she said. “I personally have accepted the fact that it’s going to come down.”

More faith

However, Montgomery, principal architect and owner of Preservation & Design Studio, believes the building can be saved in its entirety. “We should retain it,” she said.

“It has a national level of significance. This is an important building both nationally and internationally. It gave birth to Postmodernism. It’s huge, and very sad that Oklahoma City would not recognize the gem they have. We should protect that.”

In 1971, Time magazine critic Robert Hughes praised Stage Center as “an exquisitely human building in its scale, organization and intriguing unpredictabilities.”

The building’s architect, John Johansen, died last year at 95.

But, she admitted, as downtown OKC has evolved the last 13 years with sparkling new buildings and renovated old ones, Stage Center has become an odd fixture that doesn’t appear to fit into the city’s revitalization plan.

“Matching isn’t always good,” Montgomery said. “Matching is the death knell of an urban area. To have another tall office building isn’t exciting to me.”

Montgomery, an expert in historic preservation projects, believes a commitment by the property owner could save Stage Center by using existing federal and state historical preservation tax credits.

“I’m a possibility thinker, and it’s not over until it’s over,” she said. “They could receive up to 40 percent of the costs associated with renovations.”

Montgomery suggested Stage Center could be used to host corporate and community meetings “if one had a commitment to do that.”

In the past, a children’s museum was proposed for Stage Center, but nixed for lack of community support.

Meanwhile, Preservation Oklahoma, Inc. Executive Director David Pettyjohn said his nonprofit group is working on an online petition designed to create support for keeping Stage Center. In addition, the Facebook page Save the Stage Center (Mummer’s Theater) of Oklahoma City has drawn significant public interest.

“There is a real uniqueness of the structure,” Pettyjohn said. “It is an important part of our built-in environment. It’s part of the past. It’s a piece of art that focuses on circuitry and represents that power and energy.”

Center stage

[lasomeday]

I was just in Krakow, Poland and they are building condos/apartments above 17th century buildings. I took a photo of it.... I don't know much about the project, but it looked really cool in person. Maybe our city could do this at Stage Center or the Preftakes block....

It is right on the river, so it is very expensive real estate for Krakow.

[Teo9969]

I loved Krakow (other than getting a drinking in public ticket). I thought it felt so much like OKC in terms of the "air". Obviously it's very different for many reasons, but if OKC had a sister city in Europe, I would chose Krakow of the places that I've been.

[lasomeday]

I agree, but I think Warsaw has more in common with us. The people are great and they have experienced tragedy worse than us. They understand that rebuilding after devistation is the best way to overcome and move forward. They were devastated after WWII beyond comprehension with the Nazis destoying every document and building that had any significance to the Polish people. They are very warm and friendly and made me feel at home.

[Teo9969]

I was only in Warsaw for 30 hours, so I didn't really get enough to compare the 2. Certainly Warsaw feels more like OKC development wise (I mean, we probably have a similar average building-age).

I think Krakow felt more like OKC to me because it's a relatively passed-over/forgotten city in the whole of Europe, about the same population as OKC (1.4M in the metro-area), is located in the south of its country, and has very simple people. It's actually because Warszawa was so obliterated by war that I struggle to relate to it. I certainly think the bombing was a horrible thing...but it really is nothing compared to what Warsaw went though. And that's not to make light of the bombing, on the contrary, it's to try and begin to understand the annihilation of that city.

...But since this is a tower thread, I think that we can certainly agree that if a tower were going up in Poland, it would be going up in Warszawa, and I do think Warszawa would be a good city for OKC to hold up as an inspiration...well, minus the soviet tract housing.

Warszawa skyline, for those of you unfamiliar.

[HangryHippo]

I was only in Warsaw for 30 hours, so I didn't really get enough to compare the 2. Certainly Warsaw feels more like OKC development wise (I mean, we probably have a similar average building-age).

I think Krakow felt more like OKC to me because it's a relatively passed-over/forgotten city in the whole of Europe, about the same population as OKC (1.4M in the metro-area), is located in the south of its country, and has very simple people. It's actually because Warszawa was so obliterated by war that I struggle to relate to it. I certainly think the bombing was a horrible thing...but it really is nothing compared to what Warsaw went though. And that's not to make light of the bombing, on the contrary, it's to try and begin to understand the annihilation of that city.

...But since this is a tower thread, I think that we can certainly agree that if a tower were going up in Poland, it would be going up in Warszawa, and I do think Warszawa would be a good city for OKC to hold up as an inspiration...well, minus the soviet tract housing.

Warszawa skyline, for those of you unfamiliar.

For the most part, I really dislike the design of modern skyscrapers in Europe. I much prefer what the US or Asia designs.

[UnFrSaKn]

I posted these two proposed towers in Warsaw in the Mystery Tower thread a few months ago.

[Teo9969]

For the most part, I really dislike the design of modern skyscrapers in Europe. I much prefer what the US or Asia designs.

Wien has a really cool pair going up right now:

[warreng88]

I posted these two proposed towers in Warsaw in the Mystery Tower thread a few months ago.

I could do without the guy in the speedo in the pool picture, but whatever... When in Rome...

[Dubya61]

I was just in Krakow, Poland and they are building condos/apartments above 17th century buildings. I took a photo of it.... I don't know much about the project, but it looked really cool in person. Maybe our city could do this at Stage Center or the Preftakes block....

It is right on the river, so it is very expensive real estate for Krakow.

Back in the ... what? '80's? there was a plan to add on to the Bizzell Library at OU with a huge structure that would perch above the historic structure, leaving it intact, but dwarfed by the squatting hulk of a death star that would tower above it.
Personally, I don't think that there is any way to have a new tower co-exist with the Stage Center structure.

[HangryHippo]

The Gazette article states that the demolition permit will be sought in November. I thought we might have gotten a glimpse of the plans before then, but maybe that is when things will be revealed.