Gold Dome

[Pete]

It will be interesting to see what the property sells for.

What often happens with TIF is the property speculator makes millions, so effectively taxpayers are paying them, not the developer.

[bombermwc]

Pucker up taxpayer, you're going to pay for a lot of this with a TIF package.

3 of the 10M...yes, but rather than have it sit as a rusting bucket of crap, i'm ok with that. I'd much rather see the thing being used and NEVER destroyed. It has a historic place and is extremely unique. We already lost the bank on May to a damned Oncue. We almost lost this gem for a crappy Walgreens. It's important to wait for the right owner to come along.


Also, anyone else get a The Sims feeling from the renderings? LOL

[Oski]

Pucker up taxpayer, you're going to pay for a lot of this with a TIF package.

If you take on this project, they'll give you $3M. You just need to pitch in the remaining $7M+. What do you think? Not everyone is a fan of strip malls and gas stations.

[David]

I am perfectly fine with a little public money being used to save this building, even if OKC had to spend the whole 10 million. In the end nothing was done to save First Christian, nothing to save the Stage Center, for once we can keep an interesting building around.

[Rover]

If you take on this project, they'll give you $3M. You just need to pitch in the remaining $7M+. What do you think? Not everyone is a fan of strip malls and gas stations.

Do strip malls and gas stations get a lot of TIF money?

This seems like a project worth the support if the economic proposal is sound. Is it about saving a piece of OKC’s heritage, or about making someone a bunch of money? Does it spur other investments in the immediate area? Does it increase property values?

[cinnamonjock]

Am I right to assume this is more likely to happen than the grocery store or skate rink? I can't count the number of different businesses this place was proposed to be.

[Bill Robertson]

I am perfectly fine with a little public money being used to save this building, even if OKC had to spend the whole 10 million. In the end nothing was done to save First Christian, nothing to save the Stage Center, for once we can keep an interesting building around.

I'm fine with it too. I'm sure the city spends money on worse. I personally hated Stage Center but wish it had been saved just because of its uniqueness. First Christian was just extremely sad to see go because of its uniqueness. I really hope the Gold Dome project does work out.

[bison34]

At least the group behind this has experience with these kinds of projects. They get good shows at their other venues.

[Pete]

The issue with the public money is that it may be going to the speculator, not the developer.

Somebody buys a property, sits on it, and then encourages a buyer to apply for TIF, and the amount is often similar to the profit made by the speculator.

[PhiAlpha]

Will they receive FAA approval?

[warreng88]

If the TempleLive thing goes through, it would interesting to see what the capacity would be. TempleLive in Cleveland has a capacity of 2,600, Ft Smith has a capacity of 1,150, Columbus is 1,500 and Wichita is around 700.

Assuming it is between Wichita and Ft Smith, that would put it in the Tower capacity range.

[Boop]

It is about time, it is very long overdue!

[Bill Robertson]

If the TempleLive thing goes through, it would interesting to see what the capacity would be. TempleLive in Cleveland has a capacity of 2,600, Ft Smith has a capacity of 1,150, Columbus is 1,500 and Wichita is around 700.

Assuming it is between Wichita and Ft Smith, that would put it in the Tower capacity range.

That would be a fine size. And being round it could have a different and better seating arrangement. Being a metallic dome will present some acoustics challenges but nothing that can't be easily overcome.

[Pete]

I can tell most people have never been in this building.

The interior ceiling is not a dome:

[warreng88]

I can tell most people have never been in this building.

The interior ceiling is not a dome:

That pic alone will show that working on the acoustics of it would probably bring a little bit of a challenge.

[Pete]

Every building has acoustical challenges. There are plenty of ways to deal with them.

[OkieBerto]

Happy to see the Gold Dome put to a good use and will finally get the restoration it needs. I am not sure if the music venue would be sustainable, but at least the work to update the place will happen and someone else can find a better use for it in the future.

[Mesta Parker]

Looks like a great use of the building, but where is everyone going to park, the lots at 18th and Western?

[Bill Robertson]

Every building has acoustical challenges. There are plenty of ways to deal with them.

Yes they do. This is something I've been involved with in a few churches I helped set up. As I said though. Easy to overcome.
And I forgot about the lower ceiling. My parents banked there. I banked there for some time. I forgot about how the ceiling isn't the underside of the roof. Actually that would make the acoustics much easier to work with. Hard surface echo iis the biggest issue and there's much less with the lower ceiling.

[Pete]

Press release.

Mike Brown was leading the charge for Temple Live back when they made a run in 2021. Now he has his own company and has resurrected the effort.

https://kismetkoncerts.com/

Brown told me the Temple Live renderings were always conceptual and declined to elaborate on specific renovation plans.

**********

Kismet Koncerts to Acquire Iconic Oklahoma City Gold Dome Building for New Music Venue
Plans to save Oklahoma City Route 66 Icon

[Oklahoma City, December 13, 2024] Kismet Koncerts - a Tulsa-based concert and event company – is in the process of acquiring the iconic Gold Dome building at 1112 NW 23rd St. in Oklahoma City. Originally built in 1958 by Citizens State Bank, the Gold Dome Building was the fifth geodesic dome built in the world. The iconic building design was created by American inventor and architect, Buckminster Fuller, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002.

Mike Brown, with Kismet Koncerts, remarked “The building deserves to be saved. We have been working on this project for several years. The first attempt was at a previous venture that I was involved with. At the time we could not put all the pieces together. Oklahoma City is a key market geographically for us, not only as it relates to its strategic location relative to our other properties, but Oklahoma City has continued to grow with a fantastic local and national scene for live entertainment. We reached out to Jonathon Russell and Troy Humphrey at Land Run Commercial, current owners, a little over a year ago to resurrect the idea of repurposing the building, and here we are.”

The redevelopment of the Gold Dome fits into Kismet Koncerts’ strategy of preserving historic buildings to return, even though for a different use, back into a viable contributor to the local Economy.

Brown continued, “We can’t say enough of the tireless efforts from Oklahoma City’s Economic Development Team, Mayor Holt’s office and the patience of JR and his team at Land Run Commercial, the Dome’s current owner. Had it not been for them, this project would have died months ago. We applied for Historic Tax Credits through the National Park Service and State Historic Office as well as the Oklahoma Route 66 Grant, twice, we were not awarded either. The TIF is a major factor to make the project go forward, even with the TIF, there a few more hurdles to overcome, the largest is reaching an agreement with previous owner Chase Bank. The bank has a deed restriction that prohibits any construction on over half of the site. We are working on a resolution currently.

Kismet Koncerts is a live entertainment company operating venues in Wichita, KS, Pineville, MO. With properties under development in Cleveland, OH and Tulsa, OK.

[PhiAlpha]

This will be really cool and make for an extremely unique venue if they pull it off. We obviously have a ton more quality small to midsize music venues now than we did 10-15 years ago but this would be something way more iconic and completely different than even a venue with history and a cool sign (Tower) or just a completely unique set up (Jones Assembly). I would be such a cool addition to the music scene.

[Bill Robertson]

This will be really cool and make for an extremely unique venue if they pull it off. We obviously have a ton more quality small to midsize music venues now than we did 10-15 years ago but this would be something way more iconic and completely different than even a venue with history and a cool sign (Tower) or just a completely unique set up (Jones Assembly). I would be such a cool addition to the music scene.

Yes!

[Pete]

It sounds like this is pretty much a done deal.

By the time public incentives hit an agenda, it almost always is.


Get ready for the Mesta Park people to pitch a fit.

[PhiAlpha]

It sounds like this is pretty much a done deal.

By the time public incentives hit an agenda, it almost always is.


Get ready for the Mesta Park people to pitch a fit.

I mean maybe they do but most of the neighborhood is far enough away from this that they aren’t going to care and should have enough parking that it keeps too many people from parking in the neighborhood. There is a full block separating this from the far northwestern edge of Mesta Park and most of the residents there are just as tired of looking at a dilapidated building on a prominent street corner as everyone is. I was on the board for Mesta Park for a little over two years and we supported every development proposed on 23rd while I was there. Complaints were just from a few delusional individuals who bought homes backing up to or close to empty lots on 23rd street and expected them to stay that way forever. We often told those people we’d address their concerns with the developers and laughed at them behind their backs lol. I can’t remember a time after Guyutes and Cajun Corner (or the previous proposed restaurant) that even individuals in Mesta Park protested anything and the primary complaint about that pre-tower theater music venue proposed a few doors down was that it had little to no parking included. 12-14 years of full scale redevelopment and seeing the benefits from it has gotten people used to it.

[April in the Plaza]

Pucker up taxpayer, you're going to pay for a lot of this with a TIF package.

Well said. And, imo, the biggest problem with this particular TIF is that Classen was already seeing a pretty nice resurgence. No need to throw 107 octane on what was already a pretty steady fire.