BOK Park Plaza

[Pete]

From https://twitter.com/shanehamp:

[Teo9969]

From https://twitter.com/shanehamp:

Blue buildings still exist; red slated for demolition:

I

…

I…uh…

… … …

So you're…

… phew …

Wow…Just

…

wow.

[Motley]

It would be so easy to build the south parking garage over the bus station and keep it for retail. It would look great.

[dankrutka]

And no one in positions of power in OKC have learned one thing. OKC is the city with no past.

[BDP]

From https://twitter.com/shanehamp:

Wow.

[UnFrSaKn]

OKC wasn't always empty parking lots. If it's empty, it probably was something.

[Paseofreak]

Guess we might as well finish it up nice and tidy.

[Pete]

Via la Super Block!!

[BoulderSooner]

I will take the after. As I would guess most of Okc

[Tigerguy]

Eh, it's not that bad. A positive spin is that we're trying to show solidarity with the great European cities that were bombed out in WWII and had to rebuild everything.

What, that doesn't work for you? How about...we've decided that there wasn't much interest in the history of the area, so by getting rid of all of the old stuff and building anew, we're laying a foundation for the new history!

Still no? Erm...I've got it! The city fathers had visions of the buildings that would be built on these sites, so they intentionally built things there that weren't worth saving so it would be easier to get rid of the whole kit and kaboodle when the time came for the cool stuff!

Eh, maybe I'm bad at the whole pulling excuses out of my [synonym for donkey] thing. I'll just leave it to the people in charge of deciding what downtown should look like.

[CuatrodeMayo]

From https://twitter.com/shanehamp:

Wow...

I will take the after. As I would guess most of Okc

I don't know how to respond to this...words escape me...

[BrettM2]

I

…

I…uh…

… … …

So you're…

… phew …

Wow…Just

…

wow.

You said it...

[UnFrSaKn]

I will take the after. As I would guess most of Okc

You tend to speak "for everyone".

[Teo9969]

I will take the after. As I would guess most of Okc

The problem is that we shouldn't have to accept the whole of one or the other.

Without question I'd in a heart beat trade the *@%*-hole that is the Sheraton/Century Center for literally just the Baum Building OR The Criterion. The great tragedy is that we had BOTH, and we traded BOTH for that horrible piece of *@%^ use of a block.

The Devon facility is amazing, and would be that much more amazing with those two as neighbors, and with the Hotel Biltmore as a neighbor, and…well, Hotel Black and the Motor Hotel.

Quite unfortunately, it's incredibly possible to keep the Hotel Black and the Motor Hotel…and the Bus station and STILL build this new tower (though perhaps the address would have to change…heaven forbid).

The Cox Center and CHK arena could have both gone other places, the Myriad Gardens probably should have fronted the train station. Continental and Renaissance…well there were clearly already parking lots that could have been gobbled up by these developments, and I notice throughout a variety of buildings that I ultimately don't think anyone here would have ever complained about their demolishing, maybe there those types of developments could have gone.

[UnFrSaKn]

Like Pete said before, losing the preservation fight will set a standard in the community that unless you outright own the property, no amount of opposition from the public will hold up in the end. No more hopeful assumptions about what property owners might do or say they will do. After this block, what else is there worth fighting for? My first thought would be the International Harvester Building on SW 5th and Broadway. Like I mentioned on Twitter... https://twitter.com/unfrsakn/status/553626316168126465

Whoever has the money is the one who declares what matters in OKC.

[UnFrSaKn]

The problem is that we shouldn't have to accept the whole of one or the other.

Without question I'd in a heart beat trade the *@%*-hole that is the Sheraton/Century Center for literally just the Baum Building OR The Criterion. The great tragedy is that we had BOTH, and we traded BOTH for that horrible piece of *@%^ use of a block.

The Devon facility is amazing, and would be that much more amazing with those two as neighbors, and with the Hotel Biltmore as a neighbor, and…well, Hotel Black and the Motor Hotel.

Quite unfortunately, it's incredibly possible to keep the Hotel Black and the Motor Hotel…and the Bus station and STILL build this new tower (though perhaps the address would have to change…heaven forbid).

The Cox Center and CHK arena could have both gone other places, the Myriad Gardens probably should have fronted the train station. Continental and Renaissance…well there were clearly already parking lots that could have been gobbled up by these developments, and I notice throughout a variety of buildings that I ultimately don't think anyone here would have ever complained about their demolishing, maybe there those types of developments could have gone.

People supposedly wanted to move the Baum Building but guess what? Money. Now no amount of money will ever bring any of it back.

[jccouger]

man, what the ****.....

[Motley]

The photo really drives home the loss, but other areas of town are being preserved, Midtown, Auto Alley, Bricktown, FilmRow, so not all is lost.

Maybe someone can make a drive now to get the city council to create a citizen's committee to oversee the urban renewal of the Myriad CC site to ensure it is handled correctly. The committee could set clear guidelines for the developer and have approval of the plans. That way the developer has a clear indication of what will be acceptable before investing in the property.

[adaniel]

I'm going to be a bit of a contrarian here.

What large American city would you have an aerial shot from 1953 that would NOT be significantly different than what it is today?

[OkieNate]

I'm going to be a bit of a contrarian here.

What large American city would you have an aerial shot from 1953 that would NOT be significantly different than what it is today?

And as awfully sad as that picture is how many of those were full of lead paint and asbestos?

[Plutonic Panda]

Via la Super Block!!

Yeah, color me as someone who likes what we have now versus the 1953 version. I don't care how many buildings were torn down, I like the Myriad Gardens and the Devon Energy center.

I'm actually glad they tore all of that down and what we're about to get will make it even more worth it.

[David]

I can't help but wonder what that image would look like zoomed out a to pull in some surrounding districts. Downtown may be a nearly lost cause as far as preservation goes but there are plenty of other areas that aren't. I saw that go by on twitter the other day with people talking about this being a city with no history, and I think that is a very tunnel vision take on the situation.

[Stickman]

I can't help but wonder what that image would look like zoomed out a to pull in some surrounding districts. Downtown may be a nearly lost cause as far as preservation goes but there are plenty of other areas that aren't. I saw that go by on twitter the other day with people talking about this being a city with no history, and I think that is a very tunnel vision take on the situation.

Yes, the SKY IN THE PIE (PEI) plan was a disaster. The leaders saw a lot of old warehouses and neglected buildings and wanted to get rid of them. Of course they ran out of money and it became one big parking lot. Such, is not the case here. The money is all their( except for the s. Side of Clayco
development).

We might get to save one building .

[heyerdahl]

I can't help but wonder what that image would look like zoomed out a to pull in some surrounding districts. Downtown may be a nearly lost cause as far as preservation goes but there are plenty of other areas that aren't. I saw that go by on twitter the other day with people talking about this being a city with no history, and I think that is a very tunnel vision take on the situation.

That's definitely the worst area because it was the core of downtown and was almost 100% lost. But plenty of other entire neighborhoods/blocks are gone. There's a zoomed out version here: 60 Years of Urban Change: Oklahoma and Texas | The Institute for Quality Communities

[Laramie]

There's this sudden urge to save what little is left of OKC's downtown history.

Why did you move the bus station to Reno & Eastern?

There were many structures we should have tried to save other than the bus station; this place was the pits. Did anyone try to save the old Burgundy Club (north) next to the bus station? Wilma (bartender) would be smiling if she were still alive. The Burgundy Club & the bus station went hand-in-hand.

Are there plans to make bus travel (city & Greyhound) a part of the future intermodal hub at old Santa Fe Station?

Point, there isn't anything left to save.