The recommendation to hire Populous and GSB to conduct a conceptual study for the convention center will go before the MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Committee tomorrow. If passed, it then will go before the Oklahoma City Council for approval. Populous and GSB were the firms responsible for weighing and narrowing down the prospective sites. Out […]
downtown
Posted inArts & Culture
Bad politics
An election year may not be the best time to stage David Mamet’s presidential-election comedy, November. The play pales in comparison to the real thing. But I’m not sure any time is good for staging this insipid, tedious slog of a show. Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre is giving it a go at CitySpace under the […]
Posted inNews
In the park
More than 130 people attended the first of three public meetings on the MAPS 3 park. Credit: Mark Hancock Mary Margaret Jones, senior principal at Hargreaves Associates, the city’s consultant on the project, said it is important to consider many elements when making decisions about the park, such as Oklahoma’s climate, existing and future development […]
Posted inNews
Parked plans
Property owners, First National Building I and First National Building II, appear to have received an extension on the Aug. 28 deadline to pay the remainder of a $12 million settlement to lender Capmark Bank, thus preventing the complex from going into receivership. Calls to Milbank Real Estate Group, the property management company for the […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Lucky 7
Located in the First National Center at 120 N. Robinson, the new eatery is a partnership of Kelly Gray, Chris Kana, Jay Mays, Stephanie Morrical and Paul Sorrentino. Mays said the group has no plans for a third restaurant yet. “We’re just trying to get this new one up and running,” Mays said. “We are […]
Posted inNews
Betting on a better boulevard
At the June meeting of the MAPS 3 streetcar subcommittee, Green presented an update on the progress of the new Oklahoma City boulevard. Within a couple days after his remarks, the Friends for a Better Boulevard Facebook group had been formed, newspaper articles began to appear, local blogs were heating up and talk radio was […]
Posted inNews
Road warriors
Credit: Shannon Cornman City Public Works Director Eric Wenger and city Planning Director Russell Claus updated the Oklahoma City Council on the boulevard project at the body’s July 31 meeting. Wenger reviewed five areas of construction that will be built on the existing right of way of the old Interstate 40 crosstown. Funded by the […]
Posted inNews
Going uptown
Big Truck Tacos Credit: Shannon Cornman In the 1950s, the district was the first major shopping location away from downtown Oklahoma City. Cars filled the angled parking spots on the street while people watched movies at the Tower Theater and browsed through stores of all kinds along the four-plus blocks on N.W. 23rd Street. “It […]
Posted inNews
Boulevard talk
Coordinated by city and ODOT officials, the meeting will address the planned downtown thoroughfare set to be completed in late 2014 on the existing right of way of the old Interstate 40 crosstown. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Coca-Cola Bricktown Events Center, 425 E. California Ave., said ODOT spokeswoman Brenda Perry. […]
Posted inNews
Thank you, birds!
But mysteriously, I’ve not had any bites this year. Mystery solved; I read about the purple martins in Oklahoma Gazette (“Winging it,” Mark Beutler, July 25) descending upon downtown. I live in Heritage Hills and I know now that the mosquitoes that generally feed on me have become snacks for these feathered friends. Hooray! Thanks […]