New Arena (formerly Prairie Surf)

[G.Walker]

1 Myriad Gardens
Built:1966
947 parking spaces

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9/10/14: Consultant recommends redevelopment plans
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[Pete]

I was just thinking about this, especially as there has now been a great environment created for more office towers. Where the heck would the CBD grow? It's cutoff to the south by both the Cox Center and the Myriad Gardens. Where would a major tower (or two or three) go right now?

It's also a huge black hole in the middle of downtown, lifeless most the time and even when there are events, both the Robinson and EK Gaylord frontages look like something out of old school East Europe: concrete monolith. It's hard to even walk by the darn thing.

The only slight advantage is having the two arenas so close together but really how often do we get the Big XII basketball tourneys? Once every 4 or 5 years?


Removing the Cox might also allow the canal to be extended to the west... Imagine office towers and hotels linked to Bricktown via true water taxis.

It takes up a massive area right in the middle of downtown and is not the highest and best use of that property.


I'm not saying it should come down tomorrow, but once the new convention center is up and running -- say in about five years -- this should be given very strong consideration.

[G.Walker]

I was just thinking about this, especially as there has now been a great environment created for more office towers. Where the heck would the CBD grow? It's cutoff to the south by both the Cox Center and the Myriad Gardens. Where would a major tower (or two or three) go right now?

It's also a huge black hole in the middle of downtown, lifeless most the time and even when there are events, both the Robinson and EK Gaylord frontages look like something out of old school East Europe: concrete monolith. It's hard to even walk by the darn thing.

The only slight advantage is having the two arenas so close together but really how often do we get the Big XII basketball tourneys? Once every 4 or 5 years?


Removing the Cox might also allow the canal to be extended to the west... Imagine office towers and hotels linked to Bricktown via true water taxis.

It takes up a massive area right in the middle of downtown and is not the highest and best use of that property.


I'm not saying it should come down tomorrow, but once the new convention center is up and running -- say in about five years -- this should be given very strong consideration.

Agreed! I can vision this area exanding the CBD, with more modern office tower development, I am pretty sure that city planners have thought about this.

[Thunder]

I don't think it should be demolished. There are tons of events needing the space at the Myriad that does not require huge space of a new convention center. Keep it. There are still plenty of land to erect new towers (hopefully taller than Devon).

[Nuclear_2525]

Why would they demolish a recently renovated, perfectly fine, working, nice venue? One of the reasons OKC is so attractive to the Big 12 (10) basketball tourny is because of the proximity of two basketball courts to each other.

It would be absolutely ludicrous to demolish the Cox Center. There are plenty of places for the CBD to grow towards without demolishing this. It's not like buildings have to be sitting directly adjacent to each other for them to be part of the CBD. Grow to the North or west. There are plenty of locations for new buildings without tearing down a structure that is actually not dilapidated. South of the Arena is already planned for housing, so it's not like the CBD can grow much that direction anyway. Plus, there are more than enough locations within the existing CBD to build new towers and add density.

[SOONER8693]

Absurd idea.

[Dustin]

YES YES YES!! Get rid of it and make room for something amazing.

[Pete]

Here is a list of other large arenas built since 1967 (Myriad/Cox was finished in 1972) that have already been demolished in the U.S.:

Charlotte, Richfield, Landover, Philadelphia, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Indianapolis, Atlanta, San Antonio, Miami, Twin Cities.


All had more capacity than the Myriad/Cox and the large majority had received extensive renovations along the way.

[kevinpate]

It's probably been 7-8 years since I was in the facility so I don't know its condition.
Was Cox refurbished rather heavily within the last 12 years? Were any of the others listed as recently demo'd refurbished that recently?

[MustangGT]

It should be removed IF AND ONLY IF the city and/or developers have a plan AND FULL FUNDING in place with a written guarantee to build what they have planned before they do anything. NO wiggle room. Taking the building down and leaving the ground empty is stupidity on the first degree. Plan and money in hand or the building stays. To do otherwise is exceptionally unwise.

[Pete]

The city could easily strike deals similar to what was done with Devon. They did demolish a city-owned parking lot and purchased and renovated one of the city-owned garages.

I'm not saying they should tear the place down now but those renovations were done a dozen years ago and the place only has about another 10 years (at most) before it will need more money pumped into it.

It was built in 1972 and even as a new structure, started looking very shabby only 15-20 years later. Now that the building is 38 years old and more than a decade removed from the last upgrades, you can bet it's going to need a lot of work again before too long.

By that time the new convention center will be up and running and hopefully the city can get some developers and/or corporations interested in building more Class A office space.

[plmccordj]

This notion of "where would downtown grow?" is ridiculous. This makes the assumption that downtown can only be within the confines of the buildings that are already there. This argument is counter to the countless whining sessions that I have read on this site about the demolition of old buildings downtown. While making those arguments, people have been advocating keeping the old historic buildings to retain the history of our city. While I will not disagree with this argument, one would have to ask where new buildings would be placed. If we MUST keep old buildings then the new ones MUST be built on the perimeter and thus expand the area of downtown. If it is okay in this scenario, why would it be impossible to do just because the Cox center is there? I am not urging the demolition or saving the Cox center but rather questioning the logic that downtown cannot build anywhere but the six or seven blocks that it takes up right now.
Our downtown looks pretty good from a distance but looks itty bitty when you get close. An average person could walk from one end of downtown to the other in five minutes because it is only about the size of three or four football fields.

Regardless of the outcome of the Cox center, I would not put a big building there as opposed to an area on the perimeter simply because it (downtown) will still only be six or seven blocks across. The end result is that you have one block of buildings that look taller than the entire downtown is wide. It does not really matter to me one way or the other but I disagree that future downtown buildings can ONLY be built where the Cox center is. If that is the singular argument for tearing it down, I think it is not a good enough argument.

[Hondo1]

Good Lord no! Not only should it not be demolished, I think it would be a good idea to connect it to the Oklahoma City arena with a skywalk. You would have a huge continguos amount of space offering two large arenas. With this faciilty, plus a new convention center, OKC would be in an enviable position to offer a variety of meeting facilities to meet diverse space requirements. We just need more hotels to accommodate the need for rooms but I think this could (would) come. Just my opinion.

[jn1780]

Maybe 20-30 years from now when a new arena is built to replace the current arena or when it doesn't make sense to pump more money into the Cox Center.

[Prunepicker]

It shouldn't be demolished but it should be renamed. I think the Myriad
would be a good name for it.

[gen70]

It shouldn't be demolished but it should be renamed. I think the Myriad
would be a good name for it.

The Myriad.

[warreng88]

There are still plenty of land to erect new towers (hopefully taller than Devon).

Sorry that a $750 million, 850 foot building is not tall enough for you. Do this Thunder: stop talking about being disappointed in the size of the tower until it is built. I would guess you would see that it is just fine when you see the final product.

[soonerfan_in_okc]

demolish everything but the arena. Therefore that creates land, but keeps the most important part for the city to use.


edit: Only if there is a contract promising the land will be used. Don't wanna see it sit vacant.

[SkyWestOKC]

Off subject:

I hope the next few large-scale towers (obviously many years away) are smaller than Devon, but close in size (say 600-800 ft) to provide some "fill" into the skyline, rather than have one giant amongst a village of midgets.

On subject:

I agree with others that the Myriad, sorry Cox Center, NOT be demo'd short, mid term. Growth of the CBD should not include the present day CBD. The CBD boundaries will grow, naturally, with growth. Removing a convention center, as if there were not land available in the other directions, is IMHO stupid. I think some modification to the Cox Convention Center should be made though; I'd like to eventually see street-level retail on the west end facing the Myriad Gardens. I think the Cox Center is a great facility, which can be modified to fill many needs.

[theparkman81]

Just keep the Arena part, just picture it, it still be the home of the Barons, and i know that we will probably have Arena Football 1 back in our city soon (hopefully we won't name them the Yard Dawgs and I think the brawlers probably won't be around long or had move to the suburbs), and maybe another sports team, add seats to the arena, that will be cool and then put a office building right next to it.

[mburlison]

Sorry that a $750 million, 850 foot building is not tall enough for you. Do this Thunder: stop talking about being disappointed in the size of the tower until it is built. I would guess you would see that it is just fine when you see the final product.

Amen, very childish, as if a Company builds buildings solely to 'look cool' and please kids. Oh, I understand there is a pizzaz side to it, but you build what you WANT, CAN and NEED...not to placate someone's "fantasy" about what it "should be". I think the building is Fantastic, I was in town over the weekend and amazed at the night view as you come around the ramp from I-35 (N) to I-40 (W), that is a beautiful shot.

[jmarkross]

Simply turn it into the biggest downtown Walmart SuperCenter in the world...a trend-setter for the nation...Walmart would love the challenge--and would make it work. Bricktown visitors could browse there after a nice meal or sporting event...maybe tunnels from the higher-end hotels...

[Oil Capital]

It's probably been 7-8 years since I was in the facility so I don't know its condition.
Was Cox refurbished rather heavily within the last 12 years? Were any of the others listed as recently demo'd refurbished that recently?

I believe at least the arena portion has received some significant refurbishment/improvement just in the last year.

[Midtowner]

Just build a hotel on top of it. It'd be a fine place for a convention hotel.

[Chicken In The Rough]

First, how will demolition of the Myriad or construction of a new convention center farther away affect the Skirvin or Renaissance hotels? The city worked so hard to land these projects. It would be a shame to see these hotels hurt by the closure of the facility that feeds them.

Second, I would like to see the Myriad remain for a while longer. As property values continue upward, it will become a much easier decision. The Myriad site will have a number of better uses, and, it will be nearer the end of its useful life.