Will it ever end?
A reader asks The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer if road construction in downtown Oklahoma City will ever be complete?
The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer fielded questions from readers in Friday’s OKC Central Live Chat. You can join Steve’s Q&A’s on Fridays at 9:30 a.m. and submit your questions about the happenings in and around downtown Oklahoma City. Below is an edited transcript of Friday’s chat.
Q: Will road construction (in the name of progress) ever be completed? I don’t think it will.
A: Downtown Oklahoma City street detours are the missing 10th level of Dante’s Purgatory. We’ve endured Project 180 shutdowns and detours for the past several years and now we’re seeing streets being torn up again to install the streetcar system.
I am impressed by the speed and consistency of work being done on the track installation. I’ve yet to see these contractors abandon job sites (something City Hall has tolerated for years both with Project 180 and jobs throughout the city).
Yet when it was lightly raining the other day, the streetcar folks were still out and working. The contractor doing the Project 180 makeover of nearby E.K. Gaylord was nowhere to be seen.
We are set to see Bricktown tracks finished pretty soon. I have no faith in the completion dates provided to date for finishing the Project 180 work along E.K. Gaylord.
Q: What do you think is the most likely fate for the Buy for Less building at NW 23 and Penn? That remaining vacant and the apartment building on the north side of their parking lot are major detractors for that area.
A: Yeah, big win for the owners not doing a deal to keep Buy For Less in place and instead ending up with a decaying empty grocery store and crumbling parking lot.
Q: The Deep Deuce sign looks great! I am so glad it was funded. What other projects could we crowd source to make happen sooner?
A: The Deep Deuce sign at NE 2 facing E.K. Gaylord provides the district a much-needed gateway, but more is needed. And we thankfully have Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. to make these things a reality.
Give the Deep Deuce folks some credit —they got the ball rolling by crowdfunding $6,200 for the sign, which then was matched with $14,000 provided by the downtown business improvement district managed by Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. That funding will include some future lighting and art under the railway viaduct bridge.
Jill DeLozier, vice president of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. confirms any art project done in the viaduct will likely involve a light installation to reflect the desire of the Deep Deuce Business Alliance to do something different from the murals painted along the viaducts in neighboring Bricktown.
As an aside, DeLozier said the Main Street viaduct as of this morning is confirmed to get the next viaduct mural.
So, what could we crowdfund into reality? I would love to see an outdoor exhibit showing Deep Deuce’s great history of music (Charlie Christian, Blue Devils, Jimmy Rushing, all the great visiting performers like Count Basie and Cab Calloway) and of course, the legendary author and native son Ralph Ellison.
Q: I saw your article about the development of NW 13 and Western by Shyon Keoppel and I think it will be a great segue to get more people interested in the Classen 10 Penn area. What other developments do you know of happening in the area that will have an impact?
A: A New York developer has acquired much of the land between Classen, Western, NW 9 and NW 12. But I see no signs of any imminent move forward with it. The Oklahoma City Public School system will either make or break the area with how it handles the sale of its former headquarters at 900 N Klein Ave.
If they sell the property to the highest bidder as they did in the past and award it to a slumlord, this could be a huge deterrent to the area’s long-term success.
Q: Why is the city wanting to build a new parking garage near the civic center with the new Arts Parking Garage only at 53 percent? Is the thought process that it will be near capacity by the time the new parking garage is built?
A: The city is not building this garage. The garage is being developed by the private police association, which has several surface parking lots in the area.
The association originally wanted to build the garage where the old police headquarters is set to be torn down. This site makes a lot more sense, but the association could not get a deal done with City Hall. I’ve yet to get a good explanation as to why.