Expo Exchange Center

[MichaelC]

From Tulsa World

quote:  Expo Square's Director of Events Paula Crain calls it "a must-have building."

Come September 2008, everyone else will call it the new Exchange Center.

Either way, you won't be able to miss it. The 73,500-square-foot structure will replace the existing Exchange Center, which is between the livestock complex and the Exposition Center on the fairgrounds.

But that's where the similarities end.

As designed by CJC Architects Inc. of Tulsa, the building will contain 60,000 square feet of exhibit space accessible through overhead doors.

That's a big selling point for Crain, who said two national horse shows that call the fairgrounds home have been pushing for more space.

"They said we would have to come up with some additional space or 'We'll have to look for another location,' " Crain said.

The new structure will do more than house horses, of course.

Crain described it as a "multi-purpose" building that can be used for meetings, trade shows, concerts and a variety of other events.

In addition to the large exhibit area that runs the length of the building, several pods will be spread along the perimeter of the structure. These will provide space for restrooms, offices and additional exhibit areas.

The building is designed to allow for expansion to the east and to the west by removing the covered walkways, which are not attached to the building.

"They could remove those covered walkways without messing up the existing building and add on to it," said CJC Vice President Tim Boeckman.

The existing Exchange Center consists of several brick structures that have been cobbled together since the original building went up in 1954.

The building has been the longtime home of the Tulsa Flea Market. Expo Square officials said they plan to work with the flea market to provide it with another location on the fairgrounds.

The new Exchange Center will cost $9.5 million to construct. It is being paid for with 4 to Fix the County and Vision 2025 funds.

Flintco Inc., the construction manager for the project, plans to begin work on the new Exchange Center after this year's Tulsa State Fair, which ends Oct. 7.

[sgrizzle]

Finally, had been wondering what was taking so long.

Does every building have to look like this though? All the animal-related buildings do. The only exceptions seem to be the IPE and the new under-stands racetrack building.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

Finally, had been wondering what was taking so long.

Does every building have to look like this though? All the animal-related buildings do. The only exceptions seem to be the IPE and the new under-stands racetrack building.

no ****, this design is so cookie cutter.

"Hey i know, we'll give it a green roof and lots of useless awnings!"

[cannon_fodder]

What color of roof would you prefer?

I'm happy that they are building something that fits in, but am slightly disappointed that it is basically the same.  Too bad they didnt add some art deco aspects like the Pavilion has - it would still fit in but also be an interesting building.

So are they building this in Tulsa or Glenn Pool  []

[DM]

quote:Originally posted by inteller



"Hey i know, we'll give it a green roof and lots of useless awnings!"

You wont be saying useless when you are at the fairgrounds when one of those pop up storms come rolling thru. [] I sure will not mind having a place to pop in if it rains for a few minutes while I am there.

[Vision 2025]

This building is on schedule, as intended, to begin construction following the 07 Fair, which was driven by available show venues for those that will be displaced during the construction.  Specifically, this allows for events normally held in the old building(s) to be relocated to the new Central Park Hall (now under construction, site work underway) during the building replacement and then move the back afterwards.  

Since the building is essentially being located in the same spot as the old ones (actually separate buildings) it can serve a variety of events plus support livestock shows as exhibit space schedule or in a space crunch can be "dirted."  Plus this building will provide much greater support to the Fair with additional restrooms opening to the outside and those "useless awnings" that allow patrons to get out of the elements and provide shows with valuable outdoor semi-protected exhibit space.

Both architects (Matrix and CJC) agreed that this building should match the livestock facilities as trying to do something unique or Deco so close to the Pavilion would quite potentially detract from the pavilion.  As such the Architects for this building (CJC) did exactly as charged by the board and are designing the building to match the facility master plan, and since it fronts the barns and will be used greatly for livestock show support guess what it needs to look like.  

FYI - The other building currently under construction is the Central Park Hall and as it anchors the other end of the campus directly east of the Pavilion has a very unique and upscale appearance.    

Soap box alert - At EXPO, unless you have been there day in and day out, it is exceedingly difficult to understand the logistics of a project or show at EXPO Square.   I spent 20+ years renovating, expanding and constructing new water and wastewater treatment and delivery systems (plus part of a turnpike, Zink Lake and a bunch of other stuff that is mostly burried) across Oklahoma and have never encountered more challenging schedule constraints nor more dedicated employees and management than at EXPO.  The easy way would have been to cancel shows, clear the site and build on a relaxed schedule then book from scratch but while practical (and significantly easier) it would have been exceedingly irresponsible to our community as shows at EXPO are the best economic engine we have for out-of-town $ to come into our community (and yes that directly benifits the City of Tulsa) and once you loose a show they are virtually impossible to rapidly recapture and if you screw one up everyone in the industry knows.     OK enough of my opinion bet you can guess what I think of the annexation proposal...

DON'T MESS WITH EXPO!

Kirby

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

What color of roof would you prefer?

I'm happy that they are building something that fits in, but am slightly disappointed that it is basically the same.  Too bad they didnt add some art deco aspects like the Pavilion has - it would still fit in but also be an interesting building.

So are they building this in Tulsa or Glenn Pool  []

Just depends if "the stepford wives" is your idea of ideal living..