'OKC: Second Time Around' Book Launch Tonight!!!

[y_h]

Just got back from the Full Circle Bookstore. What a great place!

Oh, man. I was there around 3:30 p.m. so we must have just missed each other. Quite a shame as I would have loved to have said hello.

I picked up a copy of the book from the display table and made mention of the fact that I was taking it home with me to St. Louis. The store clerk was kind enough to swap the one in my hand out for a signed copy at no extra charge. Just another reason why Oklahomans are high on my list of the friendliest people in the world.

I haven't had time to really get into the book yet (I'm still in the midst of catching up on all of the mail and other nonsense I missed while I was vacationing in OKC) but do plan on taking it in from cover to cover as soon as I can. I'm sure it will remain an excellent tonic for any time I'm feeling a bit "Oklahomesick."

[Doug Loudenback]

I'm intrigued by the date of your mention of the Warner being Cinerama. That would conflict totally with what we found in newspaper accounts at that time. I am quite willing to accept, of course, that the newspaper isn't always right.

Further follow up on the above, Steve, from the Oklahoman's archives:

From all else I could find, the above Cinerama movie was the last to show at the Warner. Other articles indicate that it continued to show movies and host productions (notably the Junior League's sponsorship of the Broadway Theater League series) ... but the last movie listing I found was 4/19/1964, for the movie Hud with Paul Newman and Patricia Neal.

An October 20, 1964 Oklahoman article describes the theater's long history under the headline, "Historic City State Slated For Wreckers":

The state's most historic state, Oklahoma City's downtown Warner Theater, will be be reduced to paying the role of a parking lot in early 1965.

Demolition of the structure at 213 W Sheridan will begin immediately ...

... going on to review the building's history.

[Doug Loudenback]

Oh, man. I was there around 3:30 p.m. so we must have just missed each other. Quite a shame as I would have loved to have said hello.

I picked up a copy of the book from the display table and made mention of the fact that I was taking it home with me to St. Louis. The store clerk was kind enough to swap the one in my hand out for a signed copy at no extra charge. Just another reason why Oklahomans are high on my list of the friendliest people in the world.

I haven't had time to really get into the book yet (I'm still in the midst of catching up on all of the mail and other nonsense I missed while I was vacationing in OKC) but do plan on taking it in from cover to cover as soon as I can. I'm sure it will remain an excellent tonic for any time I'm feeling a bit "Oklahomesick."

Thanks, y_h, yes, I would have liked to visit with you, also.

[Doug Loudenback]

Continuing the review ... the 3rd and last part

This synopsis covers Chapters 9- 14 and the Epilog of Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money's OKC – Second Time Around, and gives my concluding impressions.

Chapter 9 is called, "Downtown is dead, and we helped kill it," a quote from Councilman I.G. Purser in 1988, alluding to the destroyed-but-not-replaced buildings largely along the south side of downtown, the loss of downtown's retail commerce, eateries, movies, and just about anything that is just plain fun for a person to do. Surveys showed that Oklahoma Citians had a low opinion of their city and its government and that many if not most would live elsewhere, given the opportunity.

Chapter 9 begins the remarkable story of how Ron Norick, elected mayor in 1987, turned that seemingly unchallengeable tide. One is left with the impression that, if he did not do that single-handedly, without him it is most likely that the tide would not have been turned at all, at least not within our lifetimes.

In political parlance, Oklahoma City is not what is called a "strong mayor" form of municipal government. See Mayor-council government - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia if you want a mini-course about that. Even so, reviewing the period of time between 1987 through the end of Mayor Norick's second term in April 1998, the authors leave no doubt that Mayor Norick knew what had to be done and that he was willing to risk his political position to at least attempt to accomplish it. Urban Renewal had stalled out and, in many substantial ways, failed, and downtown Oklahoma City was continuing to wither on the vine as a place that people would want to be and/or go after 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and/or at any time during weekends.

Sure, several new buildings resulted from Urban Renewal before the Oil Bust, the fall of Penn Square Bank and the ensuing series of bank failures which rippled not only through Oklahoma but the country – Kerr-McGee Tower, Oklahoma Tower, Murrah Federal Building, Fidelity Bank, Leadership Square, Corporate Towers, Myriad Convention Center, Myriad Gardens, and some others, but, notwithstanding, a desolate and vast hole existed between much of downtown south of Park Avenue to Interstate 40 and that area's environs, excepting a place here or there (e.g., Myriad Gardens). In some limited ways, Oklahoma Citians had been willing to tax themselves – e.g., for zoo improvements but not for library and other public needs.

Chapter 9 might be seen as sort of Mayor Norick's "learning" phase – he spearheaded efforts to locate a major United Airlines Maintenance facility here – close but no cigars as Okc lost out to Indianapolis, among other failed initiatives.

Why were we close but always losers, the mayor wondered. "When people hear of Oklahoma City, they just draw a blank," he concluded. "People just don't have a clue about who we are. I just think that we have got to do something."

Chapter 10 is sort of a "catalyst" chapter. The Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and the mayor had similar if not identical notions of what was needed to turn the tide. Not without dissension, the mayor knew his head and forged ahead, putting together a task force of both those who he thought might be adversaries and not, their purpose being to come up with a grand plan. A principle of Norick's vision was "mass" -- for most of the projects to be centered downtown so that one project could feed off of another ... some elements of which were contrary to the wishes of formidable Oklahoma Citians and/or interests, e.g., E.L. Gaylord wanted a new arena at the Fairgrounds, some wanted a totally new cultural center and not just an updated Civic Center Music Hall, etc., etc., etc. However, Mayor Norick, firmly involved in the process, held his ground. Of course, other projects were also involved ... upgrading the Convention Center, a new library, river improvement and development through south of downtown – and – canals and stuff in that ignored part of town that Neil Horton's dreams were hooked upon, Bricktown.

He wanted to proceed forthwith to put the grand design to a vote of the people, asking them to impose a penny sales tax upon themselves for five years to pay for the privilege!

Prior polling suggested passage to be unlikely. "The numbers, Deck and other task members decided, were bad, and almost everyone at the table the election might need to be postponed, at least until after the next mayoral election in March 1994. Instead of going along, Mayor Norick became increasingly adamant that the election needed to be held soon. "You know what?" Norick told the group. "I don't want to be mayor if we don't at least try to do this. If we take a shot at this and it doesn't pass and that in results in me not being re-elected, then so be it."

Chapter 11, "Swing the Vote," involves the efforts of getting people on board so that the vote might succeed, and how it happened. It was not always easy.

Newspaper publisher Edward L. Gaylord was among the skeptics. "You must be crazy," Gaylord responded after hearing the plan. "You'll never get it passed. And besides, that canal is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."

But, others like Joel Levine, conductor of the symphony, made speeches supporting a new ball park for the city, and sports enthusiasts talked about the importance of bringing musicals and opera to the town.

As he campaigned, Norick remained focused upon the plan as a whole and what he felt it would do for the city. "Are you willing to defeat your symphony because you don't like baseball?" Norick asked arts patrons. He also rallied the senior vote, telling older city residents the plan was about the future. "You may not like it. You may not even be around for it. But, aren't your grandkids?"

Rick Horrow, paid Florida based conslultant but catching the fever, called the plan, "the boldest he had ever seen by a city to improve itself by dramatically raising the quality of life of its residents." Attendants at a December 1993 Myriad Convention Center rally were counseled by Coach Barry Switzer: "'The ball is on the one-yard line,'" Switzer screamed, closing out his talk in a manner he might have used with his players a time or two. "Let's put it in the end zone ... and then we'll be number one in the twenty-first century! You have got chance to make a difference, damn it! Do something about it!'"

Dirty tricks, all! But with these tactics and against all odds, the initial MAPS vote passed 54%-46%. Oklahoma Citians had just taxed themselves $200-$300 millions of dollars upon a dream of what they wanted their city to be like.

But, would it happen?

Chapter 12, "An Unexpected Challenge", describes the singular more horrific event to occur in our city, the Murrah Bombing. You know about it. I know about it. I still don't like focusing on it, so I'll indulge myself here and pretty much skip it, except to say that the words and graphics are as excellent as verbal and visual description can said to be upon such a topic. Sorry ... best I can do.

Chapter 13, "Butchering the Steer," is perhaps the most agonizing chapter in the book. It describes the infighting and politics that somehow managed to spit out a finished product. I'm not a fan of fiefdom's and self-interest and such things, so I did not like this chapter, even though it was necessary to the story.

In addition to the above, the public was becoming anxious as time went on with no dirt turned. Even sports writers like John Rhode got into the act:

Obviously, we all want MAPS to be handled correctly. But let's pick up the pace. How 'bout it, MAPS people? Sign some contracts. Dig a hole. Move some dirt. Lay some concrete. Plow down the old. Start building the new. When can you start? Sometime yesterday would be nice.

It didn't help that "supporter" Earnest Istook, who was in a Congressional position to make a difference, opposed the plan's light rail element, favoring instead bus-like trolleys. It didn't help that erroneous reporting occurred in the Oklahoman about the depth (14") of the Bricktown Canal. It didn't help that the NHL turned down Oklahoma City's bid to be an expansion team (but, personal privilege here taken, "Thank you, God!")

But, John Q. Hammons did take notice of what was going on and announced that he would build a hotel north of the Myriad Convention Center (the Renaissance Hotel).

In all of this, this reader is left with the unmistakable impression that Ron Norick was a maestro over presiding over diversity, chaos, unmet schedules, but, more, putting a vision before the city and encouraging them to dream ... sounds something like a Neal Horton with a pulpit, doesn't he?

Mayor Norick did not seek another term of office. Before his term was done, it was evident that construction costs and/or perhaps revenue generated (maybe both) did not result in these two items of the equation being equal: Cost to Do = Resources at Hand. So, what to do? Clip the sports arena (Ford Center)? What?

Councilman Frosty Peak said, "Absolutely not!", as to asking the city to impose an extension of the penny sales tax for 6-8 months to a year. The council did not act before Norick's term expired.

The ensuing campaign mainly pitted Guy Lieberman, the front-runner, who would scrap the sports arena, against Kirk Humphreys, who campaigned on a message to "Finish MAPS Right." He said, "By golly, we've come this far – let's finish it first class." In the runoff, Humphreys won hands down, 69% to 31%.

After the election, more than 13,000 fans attended the Bricktown Ballpark for its opening as outgoing Mayor Ron Norick threw the opening pitch.

In the process, many longtime residents rediscovered downtown for the first time in years. "This is a great place," said Jason Lively, a south Oklahoma City resident. "But I didn't know how much work they've done here. I'm going to come bak more often." "MAPS is really doing the trick," agreed James Chenney, an accountant who worked downtown.

First-time visitors to the park were surprised by its quality. As they walked the park's concourse, they were seen alternatively grinning from ear to ear and then looking around wide-eyed like a five-year-old child who just got his first bike for Christmas.

Chapter 14: A Real Life Sim City

The introduction on page 159 pretty much tells the tale and all that follows:

The public's attitude towards MAPS clearly had been in the upswing as the countdown began for the opening of Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark. The cynicism had faded, replaced by a new enthusiasm not just for the projects themselves, for all of downtown.

But, the holdover issue, whether to put to yet another vote of the people to continue to tax themselves a bit longer for the sports arena, proper funding for the convention center, fairground and river projects, had not been decided by the council to be put to a vote of the people.

Despite lingering controversies, Humphreys and allies at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce were growing confident they might persuade the public to extend the MAPS tax just enough to "Finish Maps Right." But would it pass? Throughout the history of downtown and river development, the city fathers had always dreamed u0p big plans for the future. Early efforts to tame the river, Pei's plan for downtown urban renewal and McGee's vision of a Myriad Gardens, all moved from drawing boards to construction. Each time, however, funding fell short. And each time, the visionaries had been forced to cut their dreams short of what originally had been planned.

Humphreys was nearing a decision about whether to gamble against history.* * *
***
[As to surveys], This is what caught Humphrey's eye. Nearly forty-four percent of those polled supported extending the MAPS sales tax to finish the projects right – up from just twenty-four percent in the earlier survey."It's not a slam dunk, but it looks winnable if we run the right kind of campaign," Humphreys concluded. He also reasoned that a vote on extending the tax could be interpreted as a referendum on whether he was doing a good job as mayor. "If they don't support it, then fine. I'll get out of the way and let someone else lead [sounds like he took a page from what Mayor Norick said several years earlier ... a good page to take].

Only council member Shwartz opposed the plan, doubtless considering the much earlier promise that the tax would not be extended. Even councilman Lieberman, Humphrey's mayoral opponent who had campaigned on a contrary platform, said, before the council's 8-1 vote,

I hope the citizens will support this. For the good of Oklahoma City, I think I have to support it and I will campaign for it.

On December 8, 1998, 44,000+ voters said, "Yes! We'll pay to finish it right", and, so, as a result, I got to attend 29 Hornets games last season, 2 preseason games this year and the home openener tomorrow night with my son and grandson!

There's lots and lots more, but this is a good enough place to end this long 3rd part review, and I'll even skip the last "Chapter" called "Epilogue". We know about that, don't we ... Maps for Kids, development of the Triangle, the Oklahoma River, and everything else.

Concluding Observations:

In retrospect, it seems to me that the authors have the same blood flowing in them as Neil Horton, a visionary, even if Horton did not have a pragmatic base, and of visionaries Ron Norick, and later, Kirk Humphreys, who were also visionaries but who possessed a measure of authority to make things happen. Other visionaries abound in this book as well.

The authors know of the Oklahoma City when many who lived here were not proud to say that they did, and they know of those live here now who are and who cannot wait until the next day dawns and the next development occurs. Count me as a member of both groups, then and now.

[Doug Loudenback]

Steve Lackmeyer & Jack Money have set up a blog for their book at OKC Second Time Around

I see that they have some upcoming TV & Radio appearances ...

at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, KSBI TV, channel 52, Cox channel 9, Oklahoma News Tonight

at 7 a.m. (ouch!) Tuesday, Nov. 14, KOKC 1520 AM, Steve and Jack visit with Randy Renner and will be available to answer questions, discuss topics in OKC Second Time Around with callers.

Everyone should check this stuff out!

[Doug Loudenback]

I've started a blog review of the book ... similar to what I've already posted here, but this one contains some scans from the book, gratiously allowed by Steve Lackmeyer. I'd post them here but I didn't think to ask about whether it would be OK to post them outside my own web stuff. But, I think you'll like the few that I've posted at OKC Second Time Around

[Doug Loudenback]

In my haste to get out of town, I did not post the correct link to some of the pics in Lackmeyer and Money's book ... they are here: Doug Dawgz Blog: OKC 2nd Time Around ... the other link, OKC Second Time Around , was to the Book's blog. My mistake.

[SpectralMourning]

Nice work on the review, Doug. I definitely need this book! I also was highly impressed, of course, with the I.M. Pei plans. 'Makes you wonder if he has any interest in contributing to the "OKC Renaissance." :-D

[johnnyboyokc]

I will second that it is a beautiful book.........thank you steve for a positive view of okc