I noticed new fencing around the perimeter of the abandoned warehouse buildings. Also, temporary construction offices (mobile buildings) are on site. Anyone know what's about to happen?
A sign is posted now - It's going to be the staging site for the IDL project.
Quote from: AdvanceTulsa on July 10, 2009, 09:27:08 AM
A sign is posted now - It's going to be the staging site for the IDL project.
Well, better than nothing I guess. . . ;)
Thanks for the info just the same.
After that, if they can get the funding, it will begin conversion to a fine arts high school.
You know what I would love to see on that site....asphalt, lots and lots of lovely asphalt. Now before you jump on me for more asphalt jungle in downtown let me say this.
We have a close to $200 million investment in the BOKCenter and millions more in the Tulsa Convention Center renovation. Now, these facilities are forced to provide large shows and large conventions only at night because of poor parking planning for daytime events (think 'Get Motivated' September 22, 2008). City of Tulsa's comments that there was plenty of parking within a 10 minute walk was a joke and we all knew it. Take today for example, who's going to walk 10 mins in 100 degree plus heat to get to a laywer's or national mayor's convention (which we lost out on btw).
The Tulsa Visitor's and Conventions Bureau wants to grab the next rung of convention sizes with the expanded Tulsa Convention Center and BOKCenter, which are supposed to feed off eachtother and should be utilized to draw even larger events to Tulsa that would require both locations due to proximity...but alas, the daytime parking issue remains and many multi-day convention events are run during the daytime.
IDL real estate is prime property if we are to turn downtown into anything, especially in any of the 'districts.' So what can be done to acquire ample parking yet do not disturb this prime real estate for parking garages and upfront the cost/public investment of construction?
The Brady and Blue Dome Districts, if they start filling in as they are supposed to with arts, entertainment, restaurants and bars, due to the miracle that is the new ballpark (since the BOKCenter obviously cant do it
at all by itself), will need additional parking as the vacant lots that provide parking now are redeveloped into better use structures.
These 'districts' can not flourish if there is no easily accessible parking or a means by which to get there easily from where you parked. Rather, shuttle service from large outlying lots can ferry passengers from secured parking areas into downtown to the BOKCenter and Tulsa Convention Center for both daytime and nighttime (for any overflow) events, as well as ferry passengers to the districts for nightly entertainment. I think there would need to be two or three such lots, but just outside the IDL, there is room.
This encourages convention business during the daytime, which we are currently lacking due to the parking fiasco that was demonstrated previously.
As for what Grizzle stated was a consideration for the site, a fine arts school, now move that to the lands acquired by OSU-Tulsa, West of campus and adjacent to Brady Heights (that will now go unused due to OSU's cancellation of the full 4 year university plan they had years ago when they started acquiring it through TDA).
This in turn will start the development of the Jack Crowley designed "poor man's Du Pont Circle on Boston...encouraging the denser infill development of mixed use with what he described as trolley service between the North and South ends of the IDL with multiple stops.
Seems a win-win to me:
- Provide daytime convention parking, providing better use of public investment while increasing return
- Encourage development of North Boston OSU lands for tie-in to a revitalizing Brady Village Arts * Entertainment District and downtown
- Help Brady Heights with its residential resurgence
- Provide ample parking for downtown districts
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Could be a site for the new downtown library...
Quote from: RecycleMichael on July 10, 2009, 06:25:19 PM
Could be a site for the new downtown library...
It won't be.