NW 39th Street LGBTQ District

[Plutonic Panda]

Mayor Holt claims to be all for progressive change and complete inclusiveness so surely a few emails about this area and its importance will be enough for him to try and get some funds towards this street.

[Canoe]

Considering how hostile the political climate in this town was not so long ago when Kirk Humphreys was mayor, the area being in the condition its in is as completely understandable as it is depressing. With that said, do you think revitalization would receive support from city hall today or would it still be controversial?

How long is not so long ago? 16 years?

[LocoAko]

agreed.. it looks terrible. new streets and actual parking rather than gravel in front of those building and planters would go a long way.

Or even a big mural on the side of the building next to Phoenix that faces Penn. Is that something feasible, at least?

[OKCbyTRANSFER]

Or even a big mural on the side of the building next to Phoenix that faces Penn. Is that something feasible, at least?

It would be nice, with this being the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, to paint some sort of LGBT+ history mural.

[hoya]

Considering how hostile the political climate in this town was not so long ago when Kirk Humphreys was mayor, the area being in the condition its in is as completely understandable as it is depressing. With that said, do you think revitalization would receive support from city hall today or would it still be controversial?

I don't think the city would get any pushback at all from cleaning up that area and redoing the streets. Rainbow sidewalks might be pushing it though.

[Pete]

I'm going to talk to James Cooper about this area.

He'll be starting his term soon, this is within his Ward, and he's the first openly gay city councilor.

Perfect project for him to champion and help move forward.

[Bullbear]

that is a great idea Pete and wouldn't be surprised if its already on his Radar.

[Laramie]

Whatever happened to Angles, saw my cousin (Gigi) perform his first female impersonation there, the atmosphere & environment was so relaxed.

Thought this was a neat club with open space and huge dance floor; hit the dance floor myself and shook a few tail feathers.

[Pete]

Whatever happened to Angles, saw my cousin (Gigi) perform his first female impersonation there, the atmosphere & environment was so relaxed.

Thought this was a neat club with open space and huge dance floor; hit the dance floor myself and shook a few tail feathers.

It had a very long run but closed several years ago.

Starting to look pretty ragged now.

One good thing: the taco truck that is always parked there has great burritos!

[Bullbear]

Whatever happened to Angles, saw my cousin (Gigi) perform his first female impersonation there, the atmosphere & environment was so relaxed.

Thought this was a neat club with open space and huge dance floor; hit the dance floor myself and shook a few tail feathers.

Taco truck is legit!
Angles is owned by the same people who run The Copa and the finishline inside the Habana. When The BOOM was looking to move to 39th from 36th they were interested in buying it and it was purchased to try to keep that from happening is my understanding. So the Boom ended up building the space they have now. So now they only open Angles for special events and really just run it enough to keep the license on it. It's sad as its a far superior space ( although much of the lighting has been stripped out or is in poor operating order now) than the Copa. The new Owner of Habana I had heard was possibly interested in taking back the COPA and Finishline space after leases are up and wanted to run those spaces. That would then basically force those owners to reopen angles full time if they wanted to stay in the bar business on 39th which I think would actually be a good thing.
Angles was an ICON for a long time. was an amazing place on any night but had some amazing parties and entertainers. Boy George ( kinda LOL), Dead or Alive, Pointer sisters, and Devine even hosted the White party once. Good times!

[Pete]

I haven't seen anything happen at Angles in a long time.

I'm not sure it is still operational, even for events.

[AusKlos]

I haven't seen anything happen at Angles in a long time.

I'm not sure it is still operational, even for events.

It's definitely still open for events. I went several times last year. It is always open on Pride weekend and they do a few drag shows and other weekend event type things throughout the year. It's actually in great condition inside, besides maybe missing a few of the newer/fancier types of lighting and a/v equipment. But when they do open, everything is very operational/clean/etc.

[Bullbear]

I haven't seen anything happen at Angles in a long time.

I'm not sure it is still operational, even for events.

yah they still do events and pageants.. just saw a post for something there scheduled in may actually.

the interior is in good shape still.. just the lighting is not what it once was.

[Pete]

^

Good to know.

It's a cool spot and can be lots of fun.

[jerrywall]

I don't think the city would get any pushback at all from cleaning up that area and redoing the streets. Rainbow sidewalks might be pushing it though.

What about crosswalks? I like how they look in Key West in the gay district.

[Bullbear]

Crosswalks would be nice. lots of cities have added Rainbow Crosswalks the past few years.. its a nice touch.

[hoya]

What about crosswalks? I like how they look in Key West in the gay district.

I think that's actually against city code, any kind of decorative or multicolored crosswalks. I remember reading that somewhere.

I'm not pretending to be an expert on what the city council would approve in regards to something like this. I just don't see any controversy at all over basic street improvements, just because it happens to be an area catering to gay businesses. But publicly funded murals or artwork or something like that, that had an explicit pro-LGBT message might be a different story. The city council is pretty non-partisan and my guess is that the city would choose the "cause least amount of controversy possible" option.

I certainly don't know for sure, that's just the feeling that I get.

[HOT ROD]

we have approved artwork and cultural scapes for the Asian district (I argue there should be much more like red light posts, asian themed bus & BRT shelters, chinese & vietnamese street signs, design district guidelines for architectural elements, etc)

and for other areas, so why not for 39th?

I see nothing wrong at all for LGBT artwork for the area and improvements like this to the gayborhood in fact would greatly help OKC's image as an inclusive 'big league' city regardless of what craps comes out of 23rd/Lincoln.

[Jeepnokc]

I think that's actually against city code, any kind of decorative or multicolored crosswalks. I remember reading that somewhere.
.

Not sure of city code but the crosswalks in Film Row are decorative to look like film. It is neat looking but a lot of drivers don't seem to realize it is a crosswalk (or...just don't care)

[AnguisHerba]

Someone on Nextdoor mentioned that the streetscape project for NW 39th from Penn to Youngs is scheduled to begin in July 2020. I don't know how credible the source is, but that's exciting if true.

[Pete]

Someone on Nextdoor mentioned that the streetscape project for NW 39th from Penn to Youngs is scheduled to begin in July 2020. I don't know how credible the source is, but that's exciting if true.

The money is allocated but there will be a process where they get input from the local business and community in general.

James Cooper will be leading the charge to help build consensus.

[shawnw]

Someone on Nextdoor mentioned that the streetscape project for NW 39th from Penn to Youngs is scheduled to begin in July 2020. I don't know how credible the source is, but that's exciting if true.

Johnson & Associates, along with the city, had a booth at Pride Fest seeking public input regarding their plans.

[Plutonic Panda]

I said it before and I'll say it again, it will be nice if they can include rainbow crosswalks and other painted infrastructure pieces.

[Bullbear]

I said it before and I'll say it again, it will be nice if they can include rainbow crosswalks and other painted infrastructure pieces.

they received city approval for a rainbow mural in the intersection for pride but it had to be removed by the first of the week.
I agree it would be nice to get the rainbow crosswalks in. I saw this week that Dallas got approval for them as well but they will have to be maintained with private funding which I don't have a problem with.

[Pete]

They are having a community meeting at Expressions Church this evening and I stopped by for a bit.

City staff were leading and they were sharing the feedback they received from Pride the were going to conduct an input session.

$1.6 million for streetscape and the like.

Good turnout and I really look forward to this finally being done.