Oklahoma City lost its competitiveness to attract convention dollars because we took a decade and a half to get the Myriad Convention Center built. Meanwhile, cities like Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Kansas City, Tulsa, Memphis and Wichita were miles ahead of our city.
The 6,500-seat Municipal Auditorium lost its appeal and was later downsized and renovated into a 3,200-seat Civic Center Music Hall.
We have to have 'skin' in the game to get back in the game.
The Myriad (Cox Convention Center) is now fifty years old. We allowed fifty years to go by without aggressively upgrading to stay competitive. The Myriad was a nice facility when it was finally completed; our convention industry died on life support because we didn't have the hotels to support the convention facility we had just built.
The few hotels we did have (Sheraton, Skirvin, Skirvin Twin, Tivoli Inn, Downtown Holliday Inn, Hotel Black) succumbed to obsolescence.
We had one functioning hotel downtown (Sheraton Century Center).
You can't expand your convention industry as a one hotel town.
2014-2020:
We have a catalyst of new hotels downtown to springboard us once the new convention center gets built. This is why an anchor mega hotel adjacent to the new convention center is going to be needed to get us back in the game. We will be in a much better position to support conventions if we have the capacity to accommodate the conventioneers.
Let's get it done...
"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.
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