Stadium Trust? Bueller?

[RecycleMichael]

It's my personal opinion that they settled for mediocrity in the design of the stadium, and now they're sitting on the development of the district.

I disagree with your assessment of the design of the stadium. I have been in 20 minor league parks and half of the major league parks. From a fan's perspective, this park is a home run.

[Hoss]

Fair enough.  It's a pleasant spot to catch a game but I have trouble imagining a more banal, uninspired design in terms of stadium architecture.  It's a rare feat to spend $40 million on a 6000 person stadium less noticeable than its predecessor.

Old and busted:



New hotness:

[rdj]

Fair enough.  It's a pleasant spot to catch a game but I have trouble imagining a more banal, uninspired design in terms of stadium architecture.  It's a rare feat to spend $40 million on a 6000 person stadium less noticeable than its predecessor.

No offense, but the stadium at the fairgrounds is an absolute dump with zero architectural interest.  Is ONEOK Field going to win a design award, probably not, but it is infinitely more pleasing to the eye than its predecessor.  I think it is a nice park and is very family friendly.

If you want to complain about the design of the ballpark, you should complain about the fact no local firms were given an opportunity to bid on the design.  It wasn't for lack of experience in the field.  As an example, Crafton Tull Sparks' Tulsa office has done work on athletic facilities at OSU & OU.  In addition, they designed QT Park in Grand Prairie, TX, which just happened to be voted the best ballpark in America in 2008.  Also, I don't work there, but have friends who do...

[swake]

Fair enough.  It's a pleasant spot to catch a game but I have trouble imagining a more banal, uninspired design in terms of stadium architecture.  It's a rare feat to spend $40 million on a 6000 person stadium less noticeable than its predecessor.

This is just plain wrong, the stadium is great and you are about the first person I have ever heard say otherwise.

[Red Arrow]

I finally drove around the stadium area a few weekends ago.  I was favorably impressed by the stadium.  If "they" could only make the rest of the area as nice there would be no turning back (good thing). 

[TheTed]

This is just plain wrong, the stadium is great and you are about the first person I have ever heard say otherwise.

All new minor league stadiums are great because they're miles better than the previous generation of MiLB stadiums. So ours is great in comparison to the old dump (and the old dump in just about every other city).

But in comparison to this new round of MiLB parks, it's nothing special. Pretty much follows the blueprint laid out by the dozens of other new parks built in the past 10-15 years. It's a great place to watch a game, but architecturally kind of meh. Plus the best parts of the park's flair are kind of buried where nobody sees them.

[SXSW]

I finally drove around the stadium area a few weekends ago.  I was favorably impressed by the stadium.  If "they" could only make the rest of the area as nice there would be no turning back (good thing).  

Agree.  The ballpark is just a few mixed-use developments (west and south of stadium) away from being one of the better minor-league parks, both the park itself and the area around it, in the country.  It is just a few blocks from dozens of restaurants and bars to the south in Blue Dome and west in Brady.  I think the "feel" of the park is pretty urban and more buildings around it will give it even more of that vibe, plus the skyline view is awesome.

[JCnOwasso]

So let me get this straight.  We have an updated stadium that is a great place to watch a game.  Which would lead me to believe that it will not cease to be a great place to watch a game.  But because it does not have an "on the edge" design it is nothing special?  The city tried to have something that was "not like the other" with the BOK and received nothing but criticism for it.

And it might have followed a blueprint laid out by dozens of other parks... because that blueprint works.  If they would have went off the deep end, tried their own thing and failed miserably, it would have been a huge failure.  Even if it had been a huge success, there is a good chance that about 20-35% of the populous would have still found things to say negatively.  Why take THAT chance when the risk vs reward is so uneven?  They produced a quality park.  People who would love to take the kids to the park and now have a place where they can run and play during the game.  It is a big change from having the kids climbing over the bleechers in searing heat.  

Also, OneOK has been open for approx 13 months... I think you all ask a little too much sometimes.  Heck, the BOK has been open for close to 4 years and they are just now getting to the area across the street from it.    

[erfalf]

Also, OneOK has been open for approx 13 months... I think you all ask a little too much sometimes.  Heck, the BOK has been open for close to 4 years and they are just now getting to the area across the street from it.    

I think everyone is so ready for something to happen because they are worried we are going to be asked to fund another stadium in 25 years or so.

Call me crazy, but I predict in the future there will be a push for a larger stadium to accommodate a higher profile team. OneOK will be deemed to small and we will not be able to add the necessary capacity, so we will be asked to fund a new bigger facility for say $100 million (with another $40 mil for the Stadium Trust).

[TheTed]

I think everyone is so ready for something to happen because they are worried we are going to be asked to fund another stadium in 25 years or so.

Call me crazy, but I predict in the future there will be a push for a larger stadium to accommodate a higher profile team. OneOK will be deemed to small and we will not be able to add the necessary capacity, so we will be asked to fund a new bigger facility for say $100 million (with another $40 mil for the Stadium Trust).

No way ONEOK will be deemed too small. They just built a new Triple-A park in suburban Omaha that has roughly the same amount of fixed seating as ONEOK. And I'm sure there's a not-too-difficult method of adding seats to ONEOK if they really wanted to. But the trend is fewer seats. So even if we went triple-A, I doubt we'd need many (or any) more seats.

[erfalf]

No way ONEOK will be deemed too small. They just built a new Triple-A park in suburban Omaha that has roughly the same amount of fixed seating as ONEOK. And I'm sure there's a not-too-difficult method of adding seats to ONEOK if they really wanted to. But the trend is fewer seats. So even if we went triple-A, I doubt we'd need many (or any) more seats.

I'm not advocating that we need more seeting, I'm just saying they will tell us "we need more seeting"

[swake]

The new owners of Bricktown Ballpark (now RedHawks Ballpark) just tarped off a bunch of their upper deck seating in order to bring capacity down from 13000 to 8900. 

And Oneok doesn't seat 6,000, it seats 7,833 and can hold over 9,000 with the grassy areas. 9400 were there for Bedlam.

[DowntownDan]

No way ONEOK will be deemed too small. They just built a new Triple-A park in suburban Omaha that has roughly the same amount of fixed seating as ONEOK. And I'm sure there's a not-too-difficult method of adding seats to ONEOK if they really wanted to. But the trend is fewer seats. So even if we went triple-A, I doubt we'd need many (or any) more seats.

I've always been disappointed that there has never even been a hint of trying to lure a Triple-A franchise.  There is no reason our market wouldn't support it.  My guess is that the ownership has some nostalgic ties to the Texas League, but I would really enjoy Triple-A baseball here. 

[SXSW]

I've always been disappointed that there has never even been a hint of trying to lure a Triple-A franchise.  There is no reason our market wouldn't support it.  My guess is that the ownership has some nostalgic ties to the Texas League, but I would really enjoy Triple-A baseball here. 

Too bad we can't just swap teams with Colorado Springs, which is the AAA affiliate of the Rockies.  2010 attendance for the AAA Colo. Springs Sky Sox: 305,168.  2010 attendance for the Drillers: 408,183.  Tulsa could easily support AAA baseball and then we would have series with regional cities like OKC, Omaha, San Antonio, Memphis, etc.

[sgrizzle]

It doesn't matter if no one else has shown an interest in developing.  It's literally the Trust's purpose, as set out in the Indenture, to develop the area itself--that's why the council created $60 million in funding for a $39.2 million stadium.  There's supposedly over $20 million set aside for development exclusively in the corner of the IDL set off by Detroit and the tracks.  And we've seen nothing--not even any pretty crayon drawings.

The $20M is also paying for all of the street sweeping, trash pickup, mowing, weedeating, weed spraying, downtown marketing, etc. etc.

The trust boundary also doesn't change the fact that while they intend to develop the surrounding blocks, they don't own them. You can't redevelop property you have no control over.