Taft Stadium

[C. B.]

Here is a video from two weeks ago that shows some of the construction progress.
The turf is already down. I think they made the right call by choosing not to use permanent lines.
They can stripe the field as needed for the sport being played that day.

[OKCisOK4me]

So they're going to paint the turf specifically to soccer standards but won't the field also be home to several local high school football programs as it was before the renovations started?

[Snowman]

So they're going to paint the turf specifically to soccer standards but won't the field also be home to several local high school football programs as it was before the renovations started?

There is paint designed for turf which can be removed almost as fast as laying down new lines, as long as you are making the money for it to be worthwhile, then you could change the configuration every day.

[bombermwc]

Those lines are one thing that actually bug me. It's first job is to be a football/track stadium for OCPS. The few games a year that the Energy will play there may them secondary, regardless of their perceived status. What's OCPS going to do years from now when Energy moves out and leaves them to pay for maintaining the stripes? If they're removable, it means they'll deteriorate so they'll have to continually be re-laid to keep them in a good condition. Once Energy is gone, the revenue stream will be lower and OCPS won't be able to afford it. Compare that to every single one of the other high school stadiums in town that have both football and soccer lines and don't have problems with either one. It just feels like someone moved in and bullied the district into a bad decision right at the end of a project that had taken so long to get moving and funded, only to be hijacked. If Energy had been around at Pribble before Taft started the renovation planning, would they have been as interested?

I'd be curious to know what kind of money Energy is putting into the place too.

[TheTravellers]

Those lines are one thing that actually bug me. It's first job is to be a football/track stadium for OCPS. The few games a year that the Energy will play there may them secondary, regardless of their perceived status. What's OCPS going to do years from now when Energy moves out and leaves them to pay for maintaining the stripes? If they're removable, it means they'll deteriorate so they'll have to continually be re-laid to keep them in a good condition. Once Energy is gone, the revenue stream will be lower and OCPS won't be able to afford it. Compare that to every single one of the other high school stadiums in town that have both football and soccer lines and don't have problems with either one. It just feels like someone moved in and bullied the district into a bad decision right at the end of a project that had taken so long to get moving and funded, only to be hijacked. If Energy had been around at Pribble before Taft started the renovation planning, would they have been as interested?

I'd be curious to know what kind of money Energy is putting into the place too.

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

[BrettM2]

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

That was easy...

[Bullbear]

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

The Sky is falling the sky is falling.. oh wait we could just do this?.. seems reasonable

[jn1780]

Wow, first time I have heard someone whining about paint on a football/soccer field. Yes, let us let a field get used only 12 Friday nights a year.

[Pete]

Here's a photo showing the buttresses that will support the historic eastern wall.

Also, I should have more detailed renderings to share later today:

[CuatrodeMayo]

That new building screams cheap.

[Pete]

^

It's for concessions.

[Pete]

Here are the hi-res renderings for Taft:

[PhiAlpha]

This actually is going to turn out cooler than I thought it would. I was skeptical of how it would look when they announced that they were lowing the height of the stands. Looks like they are going to pull it off and make it look pretty good.

Very glad they did something with that stadium. In high school almost this was by far the worst stadium we played in out of all of 6A (NW Classen was 6A) and that was almost ten years ago. We all recognized that it was a really cool old building but locker rooms were atrocious, stands were terrible, and the grass wasn't even well kept. This will address all of those and make it a quality facility.


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[UnclePete]

What kind of dorky name is Oklahoma City Energy, and are they getting free use of the stadium?

[Pete]

What kind of dorky name is Oklahoma City Energy, and are they getting free use of the stadium?

They will be paying OKC public schools a lot of rent for using Taft.

Money that is badly needed. Total win/win for everyone involved.

[PhiAlpha]

What kind of dorky name is Oklahoma City Energy, and are they getting free use of the stadium?

Given it is what supports our state's economy, I think it's pretty good. Also it's a soccer team...of course it has a dorky name... Check the mls teams: Houston dynamo, New York red bulls, Sporting Kansas City


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[progressiveboy]

Agree! Perhaps in the future, this will lead to a MLS team for OKC. I think OKC is on the cusp of this becoming a reality.

[bombermwc]

Um, after the Energy leave, repaint the stripes for football with permanent paint?

Painting lines on fake turf isn't as easy as laying down chalk on grass. And my confidence in the "removable" lines isn't just stellar. My concern is the availability of the funds to put down permanent lines later after the energy leaves. Remember, if we think we're going to get to MLS one day, they don't like multipurpose stadiums...they want soccer-specific.

And it's not fair to complain about the # of football games here either. There will be FAR FEWER soccer games here than football. There are middle school and high school games played at Taft. Not to mention the track and field events. The stadium has hosted DCI events in the last decade when the stadium was at its worst and could now host them properly. And I believe the women's football team played there. Just a few example of the stream of groups that make use of the facility as a FOOTBALL field. The place is going to have football lines on it waaaaay more often than soccer.

I'm happy the Energy are here, it's great. I just don't want OCPS students to get the short end of the stick on this. Now that they finally have a renovated stadium (or soon will), I want the STUDENTS to be the primary benefactors of it. Not a semi-pro sports team. If you dont' remember, this is also not the first OKC semi-pro soccer team to play at Taft. What were they, the Tornados or something. I used to have a shirt for them.

Just out of curiosity, where does the Energy practice?

[Snowman]

[Cocaine]

It was also a gay bar called the Patio for a while. I loved going there because it was just me and my friends and we had total control of the juke box. LOL

Same here they also had decently priced beer.

[AP]

From the video, it sounds like the Energy put some money into the stadium along with the other renovations.

[bombermwc]

They put in 1 million compared to the 11 million OCPS put in. That's another reason I'm a little annoyed that they get to "Claim" it so much as their own when they contributed less than 10% to the project....and most of their money is in all the branding gear than actual structure.

The field lines still piss me off.

[Pete]

Just released a new video on Taft; says Energy will have pregame festivities at NW Classen:

[shawnw]

So... I thought this was supposed to be done in time for this school year/football season? My daughter, who attends NW Classen and is on the pom squad, just told me their home games are at Douglass again this year. What?!?

Also, she said "we're not even sure if we're going to be allowed to use Taft when it's done". Grrr... this is looking similar to the performing arts hall situation. The school itself is not allowed to use it except at certain times because the alumni association paid for it to be redone and they don't want it getting messed up.

[Pete]

Some time ago they revised the schedule to finish the stadium in early 2015. It was originally supposed to be completed before this school year.

But, NWC and other schools will certainly have access as it's the Energy is only paying a small percentage of the improvements.