River West Festival Park

[Breadburner]

Any new info on low-water dams.......50 Mill for Mid-co wow.....!!

[Conan71]

Any new info on low-water dams.......50 Mill for Mid-co wow.....!!

I could be wrong on that number, I think that was the asking price circa Oct. '07 when Randi Miller was trying to fleece us out of $286mm.

[SXSW]

Two files attached; one is a straight map copied with property boundaries; the other is the same boundary map more inline with your satellite imagery.  The blue pin indicates the MidCon property, the darker outlined boundary indicates my former employer.  Looks like the Rodgers family still owns the two parcels to the south of that.  Not saying I don't like your idea, just clarifying that Midcon doesn't own that whole parcel from the Riverparks south on Jackson to 23rd.  Plus, there's a RR track that runs N/S on the west boundary of the MidCo property line.

So everything east of the tracks is Mid-Con, correct?  The Rodgers Litho property west of the tracks wouldn't be included and could stay as it is. 

[Conan71]

So everything east of the tracks is Mid-Con, correct?  The Rodgers Litho property west of the tracks wouldn't be included and could stay as it is. 

There's an "available" sign on Rogers Litho.  Not sure if it's for lease or sale.  Curious if it's priced with the idea it might wind up being part of a river development down the line or for what it is now: warehouse space.

[bacjz00]

Am I the only one who thinks we oughta just move out of the west bank?  Wouldn't a new festival area at the Blair Mansion property be the ticket?   Sure you'd have to have underground parking somewhere to keep the integrity of the residential area, but this makes WAY too much sense instead of investing in that joke of a shell on the West bank. 

Sure, keep Oktoberfest on the west side so that the pukers and partiers can trample the crap out of that rarely used land.

But an outdoor amphitheater makes the most sense at Blair.  I'd like to see the green space kept at Blair, but with some added touches to make it a little more "functional" as a public space.

[ZYX]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/articleimages/2010/20101017_BlairMansion1017.jpg

And, why would you want to put a massive, noisy ampitheater in the middle of this quiet residential neighborhood?

I think the west bank is the perfect place for a large festival/park area. There are no houses around to be disturbed, and it could give us something to be proud of, instead of a big empty field.

[Conan71]

Another amphitheater we can underutilize?

[ZYX]

I think as long as we didn't overbuild it, it wouldn't be underutilized. At least not in the summer. We could showcase some local talent.

[Conan71]

I think it's been mentioned on here before why the current amphitheater is not being used, but I don't recall the reason.  The facility is still in great shape, at least the part on the land.  Why not re-hab what we have or fill in the lagoon and build a new stage area.  A friend at INCOG told me a couple of years ago that filling in the lagoon was part of the RWFP plan.

[ZYX]

Filling in the lagoon is a good idea. That ampitheater would probably get more use if we did.

[SXSW]

The current amphitheatre is too small for many concerts.  I remember River Fest one year where they had the festival on the west bank and didn't even use the amphitheatre and instead set up a stage on the big grassy field next to it.  Another issue with the current 'floating stage' is the bugs from spring-fall.  They don't have as much of a problem with the bugs on the field as they do on the water itself.  It makes more sense to tear down the amphitheatre, get rid of the floating stage, fill in the lagoon and/or remove the jetty (if that's what they are going to do) and build a new earth-terraced amphitheatre just to the south.  The skyline view from that location is awesome.  If Festival Park were nicer I imagine we would see more use, including more concerts, and more than just Oktoberfest.  It could be more of an active park year-round.  Not many cities have such a space on their river so close to downtown with the views we have on the west bank.

[Conan71]

Anyone know the capacity at the amphitheater now?  I was guessing 1500 to 2000.

It was a hopping place back in the early 1990s.  I've seen the Moody Blues, Robert Palmer, and Bruce Hornsby & The Range there and it was always packed.  I'm assuming it had to have been at least a 2000 seat venue to have gotten that kind of talent there at the time.

I've mentioned it several times but the insect problem became more than apparent when Palmer altered his lyrics in one of his more notable songs as he was swatting his way through his set:

"You're gonna have to face it you're infested with bugs"

True story.

[dbacks fan]

Is the Mid Con site going to be included in new development or is this a wishful thinking idea? Just curious before I make any comments.

[Conan71]

Is the Mid Con site going to be included in new development or is this a wishful thinking idea? Just curious before I make any comments.

That's the $20, $40, $50 ? million elephant in the room.

[dbacks fan]

That's the $20, $40, $50 ? million elephant in the room.

I went back and read the thread from the beginning. The reason I ask is, if it were made part of RP, it would give the area between 21st and the edge of Westport, roughly 1.6 million sqft of space, thats almost twice the size of Tempe Beach Park and could be very well developed.