Union Station

[Pete]

No, they are actually going to redo all the parking and sidewalks. I talked to the planner involved and there is a $650,000 building permit already issued.

Have absolutely no idea why they would be doing this now.

[Urban Pioneer]

Does that strike you as a bit strange? lol.

[Pete]

Yes, someone should check into this.

You would think the City couldn't possibly be so crazy as to do this right before the first phase of Central Park, but we should know better by now.

[Spartan]

That's a LOT of money...

[OKCisOK4me]

You guys do know that the front drive has already been ripped out for at least a month, right?

[BoulderSooner]

You guys do know that the front drive has already been ripped out for at least a month, right?

i didn't .. but the approval was by staff ... so they could proceed right after they applied

[catch22]

Why are we spending this money on new sidewalks only to rip them out a year from now....

Does this city not talk to people across the hallway?

[kevinpate]

Seems silly and wasteful ... til one considers this is OKC. How many times was Reno redone by the arena?

[Spartan]

Why are we spending this money on new sidewalks only to rip them out a year from now....

Does this city not talk to people across the hallway?

The problem is that it seriously discredits people from pointing to the budget to say we can't do quality bus service (or that if we do it, the streetcar has to go). If we can blow over $500,000 on a sidewalk that will be ripped out again in 3 years, or blow $100,000 a pop on consultants dozens of times a year, then we can do bus service right, AND we can do the streetcar right, too..

So much money.. and I'm not angry about it at all, because at the end of the day, this is still a very well-ran city and we get a lot of bang for our buck. But it just really makes you think of how much more bang for our buck we could be getting.

[catch22]

The problem is that it seriously discredits people from pointing to the budget to say we can't do quality bus service (or that if we do it, the streetcar has to go). If we can blow over $500,000 on a sidewalk that will be ripped out again in 3 years, or blow $100,000 a pop on consultants dozens of times a year, then we can do bus service right, AND we can do the streetcar right, too..

So much money.. and I'm not angry about it at all, because at the end of the day, this is still a very well-ran city and we get a lot of bang for our buck. But it just really makes you think of how much more bang for our buck we could be getting.

I'd rather that 500 grand go into some sidewalks where they are needed. I just hate to see half a million dollars (equivalent to 15 years of my salary) wasted and thrown away in 3 years.

[Pete]

I was in Union Station again last week and I'm so excited about that building's potential.

The paving/parking/sidewalk project around this structure is almost complete and looking closer at the latest plans for Central Park, it does seem as if they plan to keep all of it. So, that is probably why they decided to do it now.

I found this on Union Station in the latest Hargreaves report on Cental Park; besides the recommendations for the large waiting room and the docks, they also recommend converting the small waiting area to a cafe.

The Design Team envisions that Union Station will become the architectural heart of the Downtown Public Park. Although the MAPS 3 budget does not accommodate renovation of Union Station, the Design Team recommends that Union Station be renovated and reprogrammed (through a separate budget) with park-supportive uses such as weddings and events, an informal food venue/ beer garden venue, park info/ administration offi ces, bike and equipment rentals, and park maintenance facilities. HR&A, the Design Team’s economics consultant, believes that a revitalized Union Station has the potential to generate a significant amount of earned income for the Park.


Potential Park-Supportive Uses

Large Passenger Waiting Room:

• Indoor-Outdoor Event, Wedding, Meeting Facilities
• Informal Food Venue or Beer Garden
• Visitor Center, Park Information, Security
• Covered Patio with movable tables and chairs

Warehouse Area (docks):

• Park Administration Offices
• Relocated COTPA Offices (transportation related)
• Bike and Equipment rental (transportation related)
• Park Maintenance, Support, and Storage
• Indoor Fitness, Play, Tour Orientation
• Non-profit Offices, Educational Facilities

[Praedura]

I like their thinking on this. All those uses sound great, and eminently doable.

Hopefully the funding for renovation doesn't become an issue. The part where they state "that a revitalized Union Station has the potential to generate a significant amount of earned income for the Park" should get someone's attention.

[lasomeday]

Its not the funding for the renovation thats the problem. Its the funding to buy the building from the Federal Goverment. The building has been restored with federal transportation money. You are thinking of the wrong building.

[Larry OKC]

Doesn't the City own Union Station???

[Pete]

According to the County Assessor, it's owned by the Central Oklahoma Transportation Authority (COPTA), which is a City department.

I'm sure the plan is to move out COPTA, or at least move them into the back of the structure. They are only using a fraction of the building now; I would guess they no more than a couple dozen of employees at that location.

[Larry OKC]

Pete: that was my understanding also so I was curious about lasomeday's statement..."to buy the building from the Federal Goverment."??

[Pete]

It may be that if the building isn't used for transit than the fed gov would need to be repaid for the grant.

However, if COPTA stays (in the back of the building) I wonder if that might satisfy the requirement. It may also be why the consultants are focusing on some sort of transportation use, at least for part of the structure.

[Geographer]

It may be that if the building isn't used for transit than the fed gov would need to be repaid for the grant.

However, if COPTA stays (in the back of the building) I wonder if that might satisfy the requirement. It may also be why the consultants are focusing on some sort of transportation use, at least for part of the structure.

**COTPA ....Central Oklahoma Transportation & Parking Authority

[Larry OKC]

It may be that if the building isn't used for transit than the fed gov would need to be repaid for the grant.

However, if COPTA stays (in the back of the building) I wonder if that might satisfy the requirement. It may also be why the consultants are focusing on some sort of transportation use, at least for part of the structure.

Yet another reason to utilize it as a Streetcar stop and a mini-version of an intermodal hub for all of the Park related activities

[OKCisOK4me]

Yet another reason to utilize it as a Streetcar stop and a mini-version of an intermodal hub for all of the Park related activities

If and when residential surrounds the central park in the core-to-shore area, yes, I agree that union station would be a prime stop, either for Phase II of the extended streetcar route or part of a future east/west commuter line via the stingy Union Pacific RR line.

[Pete]

It seems COTPA using the space now satisfies whatever federal requirement there may be, so I would assume that keeping them there would serve the same purpose.

As mentioned, it's a relatively small staff and they can be housed in the back or interior of the building, freeing the two large former waiting rooms for events, cafes, etc.

The exterior of the building is in excellent shape so if we could find an events/restaurant operator -- ala the Myriad Gardens restaurants -- they could pay for an required interior improvements.

[warreng88]

Tom Elmore, at it again. A comment from Steve's chat today:

Couch was one of those who gleefully threw in with ODOT to unnecessarily destroy OKC Union Station's rail facility and its direct connections to Will Rogers World Airport and Tinker.

This is not the work of "pro-transit people."

It was the strongest message Couch / Cornett / Humphreys could conceivably have sent to perceptive voters -- because it needlessly destroyed the last, best urban rail passenger center remaining unused in the nation and a set of existing rail connections and other boons that, as late Dallas Area Rapid Transit board member Dr. Dan Monaghan stated, "Dallas would have killed for...."

That cut no ice with the likes of Couch.

I keep wondering -- does anybody but me "get it" yet?

Here's what was being funded by 14-year Oklahoma 5th District Congressman Ernest J. Istook for his pals in Utah and Arizona as he simultaneously funded the slobbering, knuckle-dragging obsession of McCaleb / Ridley / Cornett / Humphreys / Couch / Salyer (et al) to destroy the 12-track-wide, 8-block-long, at-grade OKCUS yard, its three platforms and their expensive and elegant underground passage ways to the 55,000 sq. ft. Union Station Terminal Building --

(By the way, JIM --- where's the "Bus Rapid Transit" in Salt Lake? And, uh -- one more point, JIM -- UTAH is where Tinker's competitor, Hill AFB is located. San Antonio, you might remember, already LOST its "Air Logistics Center." And you "wanna be like them," I guess. 60 daily, fast, modern Frontrunner commuter trains link Salt Lake / Provo and Ogden to each other -- via HILL -- now the ONLY USAF Air Logistics Center in the nation with "oil-crisis-proof-workforce-mobility." Frontrunner is the commuter rail component of what is now a viable, strategically redundant transportation system hedging around the Wasatch front range in the event that "something goes wrong in the Middle East tomorrow morning." Not much likelihood of THAT, huh? JIM? And -- had you heard that the US Secretary of Defense has lately announced that the "latest downsizing of the US Military" is now underway? JIM? JIM?) --

Grand Opening of FrontRunner South - YouTube
OKC Central Chat transcript, Sept. 5, 2014 | News OK

[LakeEffect]

Has Tom not been paying attention to the Central OK Go work? Weird... Crazy only gets crazier with age, I suppose.

[hoya]

Oh yeah, now I remember why I thought that guy was crazy.

[Pete]

OKCTalk - Union Station to be renovated, become home to Arts Council