Maps III should include 25,000 plus stadium.

[Laramie]

Maps III should include a stadium seating in the neighborhood of 25,000 seats flexible for college and high school football and Major League Soccer ready as a part of Core to Shore and leave Bricktown Ballpark for Baseball and/or Softball configuration.

What are your thoughts(?):

A functional stadium much like the Ford Center, capable of being expanded and amenities added as the need arises.

A stadium of the magnitude will exceed $50 million or more.

[metro]

I'm game for it, as long as we get our convention center and light rail/mass transit first. If there's room left for it, I think it would be a worthwhile investment. We could host better and bigger state high school football championships, smaller colleges, and MLS!!

[mmonroe]

$50 mill seems a little short though, after parking, land evals, permits, construction, rezoning if necessary.. even the little things that take time cost money. But it would be nice to see non the less.

[Kerry]

The price for such a stadium would probably be closer to $30 million. The new BrightHouse football stadium at UCF in Orlando cost about $55 million but it has over 45,000 seats.

[Pete]

I've proposed the same thing several times. It's absurd that the best stadium OKC has to offer is ancient Taft.

I'd also like to see it be flexible enough to accommodate track & field.

In the short term it could be smaller and multi-purpose, but it could easily be expanded/adapted as need arises.


Would at the very least like to see space carved out for it as part of Core to Shore or other riverfront or near downtown master planning.

[Saberman]

Thought it was a good idea. One of the preliminary plans for C2S showed a possible stadium site on the far west end of the C2S area, I think on or near Wheeler Park area, if I remember right.

Would be great to start out with around 25,000, and design it so it could be easily expandable. Then it could also be used for state finals as well.

Added link: City of Oklahoma City | Core to Shore

Check December Idea 2 at the top in the middle.

[venture]

I say the...umm....Devon Riverview Stadium, should be down on the river, have a unique curved design to it to allow people sitting on the west, north and east sides a view of the river at certain angles. I'm thinking like a oval shaped stadium, but with wavey/curvey walls that kinda flow around the facility.

I would say anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 seats at max. It would be a great venue for concerts, football games for the lower division schools in the area, HS football/soccer championships, and maybe even work out a bowl game - becausse there aren't enough of those ( /sarcasm ).

[Kerry]

I will say it again - Heartland Castle

[Chefdavies]

I say the...umm....Devon Riverview Stadium, should be down on the river, have a unique curved design to it to allow people sitting on the west, north and east sides a view of the river at certain angles. I'm thinking like a oval shaped stadium, but with wavey/curvey walls that kinda flow around the facility.

I would say anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 seats at max. It would be a great venue for concerts, football games for the lower division schools in the area, HS football/soccer championships, and maybe even work out a bowl game - becausse there aren't enough of those ( /sarcasm ).

That would be cool, so similar to the the University of Tenn, and the Pittsburg steelers stadiums.

I still want that semi pro soccer team to come to edmond.

[Blairman]

That would be a great start, a 25k or 30k stadium. The Big 12 loves "the Brick" because its the right size, not too small or too big.

While the best bet is for a multi-purpose stadium. but I often wonder why the ballpark is not used for more than just baseball.

Wonder if a MLS team, a college bowl game or whatever would get the free money like the Bennett's ballers???

[mmonroe]

Blairman, the Bricktown Ballpark is use for more than just baseball. During the winter time, you can slide down a 2 and a half story snow hill from the upper deck to second base. The ballpark also houses councerts for the outdoor feel.

[Blairman]

okay i will give you the month December for tubing.

When was the last time there was a legit concert the Brick?

[mmonroe]

I know the Dave Matthews Band is coming in August.. but I know it's held concerts in the past. I use to be a server at Coach's.

[soonerguru]

Um. No. A 25,000 seat stadium doesn't get us anything. That would be a tremendous waste of taxpayer funds given that there's no need for a stadium, and if there were a need, 25,000 isn't enough for anything but maybe a high school championship football game.

We need transit. We are trying to be a big-league city with a small-town infrastructure. We will NOT become big league until we have a meaningful transit solution.

[Pete]

guru, you could have made that same argument about a bare-bones arena in MAPS 1. Still needed significant upgrades but the fact it was there and able to be scaled put OKC in a position to act quickly.

Also, MAPS III doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. We can have mass transit and plenty of other things, too.

[mmonroe]

Keep the sales tax the same, and extend it.. just like Big League City...

[OKCMallen]

okay i will give you the month December for tubing.

When was the last time there was a legit concert the Brick?

I guess willie nelson sucks...? Dave Matthews...? Think bigger than the past.

[Kerry]

but I often wonder why the ballpark is not used for more than just baseball.

Well baseball does take up a good portion of the year between Spring Training and the Championship series. What's left over is generally pretty cold.

[Chicken In The Rough]

25,000 seats seems too small. I'd like to see them draw up architectural and engineering plans for a significantly larger stadium that may be built in stages as the need arises. Start with 35,000 to 45,000 seats, and make it expandable to 100,000. This would also mean careful site selection.

Here is a picture of Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, the home of FC Dallas (MLS).



It's small, but beautiful. Something like this (only slightly bigger) that is capable of being doubled or tripled in size would be ideal and very useful.

[HOT ROD]

I like it, but I say shoot for a 30,000 seat minimum Multipurpose Stadium that can be expanded to 50,000 for Football games! Make it iconic, downtown near the river or the arenas, and tie it in with the surrounding 'hood to create a true stadium entertainment district.

I think we should start to let Bricktown fend for itself and concentrate on other entertainment districts in downtown. Midtown and A-Alley are obvious contenders, as is triangle - but I'd really like to see a stadium district develop (from Cox, to Ford, to the new Convention Center, to the new stadium; going N to South) with plenty of retail and ULTRA URBAN (meaning highrise) housing and hotel options in the vacinity.

This would allow Bricktown to truly be 'historic' while letting the other downtown entertainment districts become URBAN and dare I say - fashionable/hip....

[solitude]

Why stop at a stadium that seats 30,000? Why not a real stadium with retractable roof and a long-range vision that seats at least 60,000 with multiple sports configurations and join the elite sports cities in the country? I mean, if we're going to do it - do it right.

[mmonroe]

Why stop at a stadium that seats 30,000? Why not a real stadium with retractable roof and a long-range vision that seats at least 60,000 with multiple sports configurations and join the elite sports cities in the country? I mean, if we're going to do it - do it right.

Here Here.

[SouthsideSooner]

Why stop at a stadium that seats 30,000? Why not a real stadium with retractable roof and a long-range vision that seats at least 60,000 with multiple sports configurations and join the elite sports cities in the country? I mean, if we're going to do it - do it right.

I agree. Thats why I don't think we should include it in MAPS 3. It would just cost too much.

Lets start with the core to shore vision and work out from there. Central park, convention center, light rail.....

[Chicken In The Rough]

I would love to see a big, and dare I say iconic, stadium capable of seating 60,000+ with a retractable dome, etc. But, this would probably suck up every last MAPS dollar and leave little for any other project. I really like the way the Ford Center turned out, and I'd like to see a similar plan for a multi-use stadium. Build something that exceeds our needs for today, that is also capable of expanding to meet our need in 5 to 10 years.

[HOT ROD]

Sol (and others), my 30,000 seats are permanent since the stadium would be multipurpose (ie track/field). You could roll in temporary seats to expand it to 50k+, which would be very doable for Oklahoma City. I know OU/Gaylord is 88K, but

consider Qwest Field here in Seattle only seats around 65K. OKC should focus on luxury/amenities and not JUST seats (like Gaylord Memorial). Quality defines MAJOR LEAGUES, Quantity defines the NCAA.