Scissortail Park

[David]

In this particular case, I would not bet against the interests in the city that are why we are building this new convention center in the first place. They'll want that Convention Center expansion, and they'll probably get it.

[jn1780]

Ah yes, Proverbs 231: 3-4 "Let it be known that that surface parking fronting a busy area within the confines of downtown Oklahoma City will one day go away. Just kidding, it stays forever."

Praise be the God of Parking.

The big difference is that the city will actually own this surface parking lot for future. It also buys the city time when it comes to parking issues near the convention center. There is already the question of how the the parking garage serving the convention hotel will be funded.

Its one of those situations where its absolutely critical to allocate space for future expansion.

[Pete]

I am quite sure the parking structure will be completed in time for the Omni to open, and that garage will also serve the convention center.

But when there are big events, they'll need all the parking in that area they can get.

[Spartan]

The Arts Commission handles all public art in OKC and every publicly funded project is required to set aside 1% of its budget for public art.

I haven't seen them start this process (solicitation from artists, then selection) as of yet.

Does the park budget have $1.2+ million to spare?

[warreng88]

MAPS 3 park ready for bids

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record March 28, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – The bidding process will begin this week for the construction of the north part of the 70-acre MAPS 3 park downtown.

The City Council on Tuesday approved the final plans and specifications for what is often referred to as the upper park, generally bounded by the new Oklahoma City Boulevard, S. Hudson Avenue, Interstate 40 and S. Robinson Avenue. The full park, divided by Interstate 40 and joined by the Skydance Bridge, is part of the $777 million Metropolitan Area Projects package of municipal improvements.

The design of the upper park allows for several alternative additions should the council decide to go beyond an initial budget of $60.6 million, said Gavin McMillan with Hargreaves Associates architecture firm. Bids are expected by May 2 with council approval June 6. Construction is expected to be finished by the second quarter of 2019.

The first 36 acres are subdivided into 15 attraction areas that include the great lawn, cafe, renovated Union Station, water features, playgrounds and gardens. McMillan said his company was able to work closely with park management at the Myriad Botanical Gardens to design features that will improve revenue generation and the park’s overall financial success.

“Along the lake will be a boathouse, which will be a great place to grab a drink and some food and look at the lake and people coming and going,” he said. “We’ve been doing parks for 30 years. In this one, we’ve had the most interaction with the operator from day one. That usually only happens after the park opens.”

Possible operational revenue generators include parking space for food trucks along Robinson Avenue, small event pavilions, Union Station and lawns for music and other entertainments such as arts festivals.

The planned cafe of about 5,700 square feet will include a combination of indoor and outdoor seating and dining areas. The design was developed with input from local restaurant operators. Likewise, the 4,500-square-foot stage involved the Oklahoma City Ballet company, Oklahoma City Symphony and regional music promoters.

[shawnw]

The planned cafe of about 5,700 square feet will include a combination of indoor and outdoor seating and dining areas. The design was developed with input from local restaurant operators. Likewise, the 4,500-square-foot stage involved the Oklahoma City Ballet company, Oklahoma City Symphony and regional music promoters.

I know it's spilled milk and all, but there's no reason the old film exchange building couldn't have immediately filled this purpose and allowed us to have a connection to this area...

[_Cramer_]

I am quite sure the parking structure will be completed in time for the Omni to open, and that garage will also serve the convention center.

But when there are big events, they'll need all the parking in that area they can get.

What happened to the idea of building a garage on the east side along Shields? It would cover the loading docks, etc.

[Pete]

What happened to the idea of building a garage on the east side along Shields? It would cover the loading docks, etc.

The City swapped land to the developer of the Fairfield Inn and that project seems to be moving forward.

[Dustin]

I know it won't be named after a person, but someone on reddit came up with Mickey Mantle Park and I thought that was a cool idea. You could shorten it to Mantle Park.

[shawnw]

If we had kept the Film Exchange Building and that became the future home of the Mickey Mantle Museum, I'd be on board with that, otherwise there's enough Mantle going on in Bricktown.

[warreng88]

What’s in a name? OKC residents submit 5,100 suggestions for park

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record April 10, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – The development of a 70-acre MAPS 3 park in downtown Oklahoma City has entered one of its most important and subjective phases, city officials said.

City Hall is seeking an answer to the question, “What’s in a name?” Or, to borrow from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, could a central park by any other name be successful?

Early resident survey results suggest a Buffalo Park or Bison Park, for example, would not be as attractive as a Scissortail Flycatcher Park, by a vote of 70-200.

Since mid-March, residents have been submitting names for the park, one of several projects scheduled under the $777 million Metropolitan Area Projects tax issue. About 5,100 names were entered online by the April 7 deadline. City staff members will now sort through the raw data to arrange it by common themes and compensate for misspellings before forwarding the most popular ideas to a committee, followed by another survey and final decision.

The only rule posted on the city’s internet site was that the park can’t be named after a person. Officials also said silly names will not be considered.

Several people set aside dignity, however, to follow a trend that developed last year when a British government agency asked for Internet input on a $287 million polar research ship. The majority in that exercise chose Boaty McBoatface.

In Oklahoma City, about 140 submissions were made for Parky McParkface or some variation thereof, according to raw data provided under an open records request. A total of about 5,100 names were submitted before the poll was closed.

Mayor Mick Cornett – whose name showed up 50 times in the list – said he wants the park identity to represent the best of the city and stand the test of time.

That’s why a name including a reference to thunder is probably a bad idea, said Tracey Zeeck, president of the Bumbershoot public relations agency. Although it does suggest something about Oklahoma’s weather, storms typically don’t evoke positive vibes. And the name is already trademarked by the local NBA basketball team.

Regardless, “thunder” was submitted about 80 times.

Sponsorship opportunities will be made available for individual features within the park such as water spraygrounds and event pavilions, said Maureen Heffernan, executive director of the Myriad Gardens. But the park’s overall identity needs to be kept away from a brand that could suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

“It needs to tether the park to the community, and then the name identifies itself to the rest of the world,” Zeeck said. “It needs to represent everyone equally, like a Central Park or Millennium Park (in Chicago) does. Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta commemorates how the people came together to hold the Olympic Games.

“This (MAPS 3) park doesn’t really feel like our park yet. I know taxpayers are paying for it, but there’s nothing in that area that has its own identity yet. There’s no connection,” Zeeck said. “It all feels a little contrived at this point until we know its personality.”

In the same vein as Parky McParkface, the survey drew some wholly inappropriate references to sex or cursing. A few used the opportunity to make political statements about taxation or the appropriateness of such a large project at the people’s expense. The word “tax” appeared nearly 70 times; “people” was submitted 40 times.

Some respondents tried to tie the park to elements nearby. “Skydance,” for example, a reference to the Skydance Bridge over Interstate 40, appeared 140 times. “Myriad” showed up 10 times.

The adjective “central” was submitted 110 times, while “heart” made the list 180 times by itself or as part of “heartland.”

The history of Oklahoma was just as popular. “Pioneer” was submitted 50 times, “land run” came in at 110, and “sooner” got 30 votes.

Kym Koch, head of Koch Communications, said she tries to get her business clients to identify how they want people to feel about the company, focusing on characteristics or traits rather than specific words. Those references don’t necessarily make it into the final brand name, but they do help generate insightful discussion to that end.

Sarah Sears, a principal at S Design Inc. in Oklahoma City, said it’s important to be as inclusive as possible in research surveys because a vocal minority can skew perspective. Sears’ agency helped develop the Embark identity for the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority as well as the name Riversports for the activity district on the Oklahoma River.

“People go with what’s most comfortable, and that’s usually what they’ve already seen before,” she said.

Many survey respondents sought familiar elements of nature. The words “redbud” or “red bud,” for example, got 90 votes, while “prairie” got 80 and “wind” received 35.

Animal names were some of the most popular ideas. “Buffalo” and “bison” received 70 votes, while “scissortail” was submitted 200 times. “Armadillo” didn’t make the cut at all, and “squirrel” showed up in the data 330 times.

“Anytime you pick something too generic, it loses its value,” Sears said. “That’s a basic trademark rule – think about Apple and all the other companies with the word ‘computing’ in their names. … Sometimes the greatest ideas come out of the funniest places.”

The final naming decision will be announced at the park groundbreaking June 29, city officials said.

[TU 'cane]

I'll just post what I submitted as it probably doesn't matter now.

New Century Park

I thought it was strong, simple, and kept OKC's renaissance in mind with how the city has transformed from the lates 90s/early 2000s until now. I also thought it was on par with Centennial Park and Central Park.

I'm not interested in debating the merits of it. I hope it's a finalist, though.

[shawnw]

Not bad, though it has me wondering what happened to "old" Century Park. :-)

[Teo9969]

Union Prairie wouldn't have been a bad idea

[Pete]

[Dustin]

^ OhEmGe!

That's an exciting sight!

[5alive]

^^^
What he said!

[warreng88]

Downey to build upper park

Work already underway

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record May 30, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – A $57.64 million construction contract for the downtown MAPS 3 park was awarded to Oklahoma City-based Downey Construction Co. Tuesday.

The project deals only with the portion of the 70-acre park that lies north of Interstate 40, generally referred to as the upper park, bound by the new Oklahoma City Boulevard, S. Hudson Avenue and S. Robinson Avenue. It is still on schedule for completion in the spring of 2019, said MAPS project manager David Todd, with the southern portion due to be open in 2021. Work orders were signed to begin construction Tuesday.

City Manager Jim Couch said the MAPS 3 amount budgeted for park construction takes into consideration a slow economy.

The revised budget for the upper park totals $95.37 million, of which $36.84 million is already obligated under the MAPS 3 sales tax program. The construction contract allows for several additional expenses, including moving old utility lines, environmental remediation, and architectural and engineering overruns. Other work has been incorporated in the larger project to save money in the long run, Todd said, such as money being provided by the city’s Water Utilities Trust for moving water lines.

The park operator requested about $4 million in additional amenities such as pavilions to allow for more revenue opportunities. Gavin McMillan of the Hargreaves Associates architecture firm said his company worked closely with the Myriad Botanical Gardens to design features complementary to the great lawn, cafe, renovated Union Station, water features, playgrounds and gardens.

Downey also built the whitewater rafting facility at the Oklahoma River near Bricktown.

[TU 'cane]

Spring 2019 will be here before we know it.

[UnFrSaKn]

http://newsok.com/help-name-oklahoma...rticle/5551162

[UnFrSaKn]

http://newsok.com/six-names-for-park...rticle/5551163

[jerrywall]

Don't dislike any but I love Union Commons..

[dankrutka]

I agree. All six are pretty decent options.

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm not fan of Renaissance Green or Painted Sky Park. I wouldn't mind Painted Sky Park to be a name for a park elsewhere in the city but not this one.

That said, I like Union Station Commons the best and will be voting for that one. Would be interested to see a poll on OKCTalk for it.

[Pete]

Very strange to me that the City is using the Newsok site to conduct this poll (you can't vote without visiting their website) when they have the capability to do so on their own, which is how they solicited the names in the first place.

It's a huge conflict of interest -- basically being gifted a ton of web traffic which drives advertising dollars -- for a newspaper that is supposed to be covering the City with objectivity.