Taft Stadium

[Mr. Cotter]

Curious about the pregame activities at NWC. I'm still holding out hope that someone will put in a nice pub within walking distance of Taft.

[shawnw]

Thanks for the clarification.

[ljbab728]

Curious about the pregame activities at NWC. I'm still holding out hope that someone will put in a nice pub within walking distance of Taft.

Wouldn't proximity to the schools be a problem?

[Snowman]

Wouldn't proximity to the schools be a problem?

I think the regulations are it only has too be like 300 feet from the closest door of the school, due to how large the parking lots are it theoretically could probably go across the street from the stadium.

[Urbanized]

Again, if it is ABC-2 (more than 50% of revenue derived from food sales) it can literally be located next door to a school. Only ABC-3 (all sales from liquor) is restricted like that.

[Mr. Cotter]

Yes. And I want a good burger with my beer, thank you very much.

[warreng88]

Yes. And I want a good burger with my beer, thank you very much.

Does the Old Fashioned Burger place north of Eley's sell beer? Two birds, one stone?

[Mr. Cotter]

I don't think they do, and Barry's gives me a grease headache. Patty Wagon is a great burger, but no beer, and it's not exactly the kind of place to spend any time in.

[bombermwc]

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.

The media that Energy posted has always said it would be ready in time for THEIR season. I don't know that I've ever seen anything that posted that it would be ready for the OCPS football season. Yet again, we actually get more information out of Energy than from OCPS. And I'm getting more pissy about the Energy being involved every day. The Energy is going to eventually go either from being upgraded to the next class (which will require a new stadium of their own) or they won't make it and the team will fold. After as long and hard as it was to get the place re-habbed, OCPS better be the PRIMARY tenant. And for the small piece Energy is putting in, they better not be calling any shots. You don't get to put in < 10% (quite a bit of which goes into their branding of the place) and then claim primary rights.

As for NWC's auditorium, I can only say this. The auditorium (like much of the school) was not treated as it should have been by either the district or the students. If I were an alumni and forked over enough money to bring the place up to where it is now (since obviously the district wasn't willing to), then I'm going to want some protection over it. It's not a problem unique to NWC, rather most high school auditoriums that aren't run by a staff member (non-teaching) tend to be abused and damaged because of students not knowing what they're doing, or just flat out mistreating it. As a closer-to-home example for myself, Midwest City's had similar occurances and has had to have 2 complete AV re-builds over the last 15 years. Drama teachers now being technical theater experts, they tend to just screw up the equipment. And with the students not being trained properly, they screw it up even more. Pair that with district maintenance that can't even use the correct gauge wiring (which cause sound problems for oh 10 years) and things get worse. It's one downward spiral that would just get fixed if they had someone in Mid-Del that ran all 3 high school auditoriums and could properly train everyone. It would actually be a cost savings in the end if they paid any attention since they wouldn't spend so much time cleaning up after their short-sighted decision processes. So with NWC, I can actually understand the trepidation of the alumni (who funded the project) because the district/school isn't doing their part to protect the facility. Too often for band events, id walk in MCHS' and the drama kids would be running amuck.

[Bullbear]

There is that gas station a few blocks north of the stadium that has not gas any longer just a conv store but still has the awnings where the pumps where. I have thought several times that something like "Pump Bar" would be cool there with great burgers and bar food and outdoor seating under the awnings. could be a good pub area for pregaming for sure..

[Urbanized]

Sounds like you've got the start of a business plan...

[John Knight]

West side bleachers are going up!

[mkjeeves]

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.

March 2015 is what I heard from a subcontractor today. Subject to change, as usual.

[ljbab728]

I think the regulations are it only has too be like 300 feet from the closest door of the school, due to how large the parking lots are it theoretically could probably go across the street from the stadium.

Actually, you have that backwards, it has to be more than 300 feet from the nearest property line of the school so that's not correct.

http://www.ok.gov/able/*****ABLE____...___/index.html

Applicants seeking a package store license or bar license are reminded that no package store or bar may be located within 300’ of a church or school. 37 O.S. §518.3. The distance is measured from the nearest perimeter wall of the proposed location to the nearest property line of the church or school.

[Pete]

Good progress:

[zookeeper]

That's a great pic to show how they are doing this structurally. I'm really happy that they went the extra mile to keep the WPA facade.

[Mel]

Need a "Nuttin But Burgers" food truck for game nights. Have veggie and soy burgers also. Are food trucks allowed to have a beer license?

[John Knight]

More progress.

[bradh]

The media that Energy posted has always said it would be ready in time for THEIR season. I don't know that I've ever seen anything that posted that it would be ready for the OCPS football season. Yet again, we actually get more information out of Energy than from OCPS. And I'm getting more pissy about the Energy being involved every day. The Energy is going to eventually go either from being upgraded to the next class (which will require a new stadium of their own) or they won't make it and the team will fold. After as long and hard as it was to get the place re-habbed, OCPS better be the PRIMARY tenant. And for the small piece Energy is putting in, they better not be calling any shots. You don't get to put in < 10% (quite a bit of which goes into their branding of the place) and then claim primary rights. .

Someone may have to correct me on this, but I would be that despite the Energy not being "directly" invovled, is McLaughlin's "Fields and Futures" charity putting money in to Taft? If so, there is your connection.

[bombermwc]

Take it for what it is, but the numbers OCPS reports is that Energy put in around 1 million, while the district put in about 11 million. They didn't discuss how the 1 million contribution was divided up...donations or direct funding.

That small of the overall percentage given the amount of "soccer specific" work being done is what bugs me. And out of that 1 million, how much of it is for stuff the district wouldn't use because it's 100% Energy...like the endzone seating, hell of a lot of decorations, etc. And did Energy influence which turf was purchased because of the "removable" lines....which I'd still like to see in action. There is so little discussion out of OCPS on how the district will be able to use the place, it just really bothers me.

Anyone know how the other stadium renovation is going? Was it Speagle? It was going to require far less capital since they could just doze and rebuild without any historic pieces...I think it was like 6 million or something for that whole project.

[ljbab728]

Take it for what it is, but the numbers OCPS reports is that Energy put in around 1 million, while the district put in about 11 million. They didn't discuss how the 1 million contribution was divided up...donations or direct funding.

That small of the overall percentage given the amount of "soccer specific" work being done is what bugs me. And out of that 1 million, how much of it is for stuff the district wouldn't use because it's 100% Energy...like the endzone seating, hell of a lot of decorations, etc. And did Energy influence which turf was purchased because of the "removable" lines....which I'd still like to see in action. There is so little discussion out of OCPS on how the district will be able to use the place, it just really bothers me.

Anyone know how the other stadium renovation is going? Was it Speagle? It was going to require far less capital since they could just doze and rebuild without any historic pieces...I think it was like 6 million or something for that whole project.

This gives details on the renovation of both stadiums.

http://www.okc.gov/agendapub/cache/2...4102151286.PDF

Speegle Stadium Scope of Project
Renovate Speegle Stadium’s current facilities to provide a functional
and safe venue to use and enjoy. Speegle Stadium is located at 510
SW Grand Blvd., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Speegle Stadium is to be renovated based on criteria from the Base
Project Management Plan (PMP), current design standards, and the
educational specifications. These criteria have been narrowed to
necessary items based on budget constraints.
The new facilities that will be built consist of an artificial turf field, 8-lane
track, locker rooms, pressbox, metal grand stands, renovated visitor
stands, concession buildings, public restrooms, fenced storage, and
preservation of the WPA wall on the East and North sides of Speegle
Stadium. All new construction will meet ADA guidelines and be up to
current building codes.

[bombermwc]

Link isn't working. If it's the same proposal OCPS posted, then it's from before Energy became involved as well.

[kwhey]

Question, the Energy renderings cover the track. Are they planning on pulling stuff out each game to cover the track for those things, or are they considering removing it? I'd have a major problem with removing it after the renovation would have just put it in. The stadium is first, for OCPS and Energy is secondary. I absolutely do not want a soccer field taking over this place from the schools. So Energy needs to be OK with the primary lines being for football and not soccer. We didn't wait 50 years for Taft to finally get renovated with MAPs money, so a pro team could usurp it. And what happened to them building their own place somewhere with room to expand up to 20k later?

Why didn't the Thunder build their own arena?

[kwhey]

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.

[Bellaboo]

Why didn't the Thunder build their own arena?

Why would they when the 'Peake Arena is already here ? Which is probably your point.