(PROJECT) A Gathering Place For Tulsa

[TheArtist]

  I thought I read somewhere that they were moving the house.  And my impression is that this project will start within about 2 years.

[Conan71]

Not for the remainder of his life, but for awhile.

If I were him I wouldn't be drinking the well water these days.

[Teatownclown]

  I thought I read somewhere that they were moving the house.  And my impression is that this project will start within about 2 years.

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=18720.msg229367#msg229367

Stava was on tonight's news (many here are indulging for Fat Tuesday) and said that the home owner (Bruford?) was going to be moving the mansion off the Blair property to one of his properties.

Also, neighbor's along the border of the Blair property received a notification/mailing over the weekend. The first step in rezoning is to survey the adjacent owners to find out the level of resistance.

I'd guess this project is 5-20 years off into the future.

here?

[swake]

On NPR they said that construction was planned to start in 2014. Two years from now to allow for planning (and zoning).

[LandArchPoke]

I thought this was an interesting read:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=334&articleid=20120304_11_A15_CUTLIN901630

Not sure if i'm allowed to copy paste article on here or not so I didn't.

http://vimeo.com/35333724
^ This is a video of an interview with the Landscape Architect picked to design our new "Central Park"

Michael Van Valkenburgh
http://www.mvvainc.com/



Tentative Timeline

May: Creative concepts are revealed and more input is received to refine the project

September: Full project plan unveiled

October 2012 to October 2013: Work on design, technical issues and construction documents

November 2013 to January 2014: Bidding process for construction

Early 2014: Break ground

Construction: Between two and four years.

[bacjz00]

Curious if anyone went to the first open forum tonight?? What was the turnout like and what was the general reaction?

[RecycleMichael]

I went. There were about 120 people when I was there. They had lots of maps and pretty pictures with explanantions of the assets, challenges, etc. There were people with clipboards writing down your comments as well as flipboards for you to write down your own. I thought it was well done.

[Townsend]

Went last night.

What a great thing from GKFF.  They plan on fully funding the project and stated last night they are thinking in the $100 to 150 million range.

There must've been a larger turnout last night than the first.  The room was pretty packed.

I saw some great ideas written down.

I really look forward to what comes of this.



Modified to remind anyone to go to www.agatheringplacefortulsa.com to give their ideas.

[sgrizzle]

I was there as well. They explained repeatedly that they own the blair property but not the house, they have no control over the house, and the person who does own the house is moving it. Yet, for several, their only feedback was "leave the house alone"

Was interested in the comment that they were not interested in plans to radically change riverside, although I get the impression that it will change some. I also think the berm between the blair property and the 31st street parking lot is on the outs.

I also got the distinct impression that while the project maps only show the GKFF owned land, the actual project will include some changes to riverparks. Creating direct river access and shallower riverbanks came up more than once on the posters.

It was also mentioned that all parking lot access will be from riverside, with no changes to neighborhood streets (although 31st was not mentioned)

They didn't mention Tulsa Children's Museum by name but did give a vague description of something like that.

Coffee/dining was also mentioned specifically.

[TheArtist]

  I wasn't able to make either meeting but sent them my one idea online.



 

One general thought... A high point with steps all around where people can view the park, and the people and activities within it.

I would love for Tulsa to have a spot with some of the essence of say the "Spanish Steps" in Rome, the steps on the hillside of the Sacre-Coeur in Paris, the grand steps leading down to the pond in NYC's central park, the steps in front of the Central Library in NYC. People like to sit on steps and have a view, not just a view of scenery, but also of people. Often in classical parks there is a high point that contains a "folly", think the Castle in NYC's Central Park or, or it may have a gazebo, a monument or sculpture. When your sitting on steps leading up to something like that where there is a great view, even when there are lots of people around, it can somehow have a romantic, intimate feel to it.

These spots also act as easily identifiable gathering and meeting places "everyone meet at the...".

  Imagine, just for an example for I am not concerned with the particulars, more the general concept and feel,,, a high point with steps on all four sides, on top of the high point a sculpture, structure or viewing platform of some sort. Whatever side you wish to sit on offers different viewing possibilities. Perhaps to one side there is a playground with children playing, on another side you can see the river, on another people walking through garden trails amongst the trees, on another possibly a water feature. 

  And, often these new parks with their patterns of curving trails, gardens, etc. look quite nice from a birds eye view. Why not let some of that be seen?

  Again, a high point, with steps all around where people can view the park, other people and activities.  Acts as an easily identifiable meeting point, adds another "interesting thing to see and do" in the park, adds to the parks variations of height and depth. But, don't mistake what I am trying to get across as the usual, "steps leading down to the river" thing. That is indeed nice mind you, but it's not the same.

  Steps like I have described have the wonderful ability to somehow be a romantic place in which you can BOTH, step away from it all, yet still be in the middle of it all.       

  Thank you for the opportunity to share my idea.

William The Artist

[Okie2]

While browsing the web I came across a photo of the Bok tower in Florida. I thought a tower along these lines could be an iconic focal point for the Gathering Place. I believe it could be built in an Art Deco style with stylized floral and ivy designs and zigzag motifs that echo Tulsa's Art Deco heritage. Plus with stairs people could climb to the top and would provide great views of the river and downtown. So long as it's not built too close to the residential areas I think it would be well accepted by people and would become a popular photographed landmark for Tulsa.

[TheArtist]

  While I love art deco, I don't think creating something of an older style is in the cards.  Architects and designers appreciate the older styles, but are absolutely loath to recreate it unless pushed to do so.  They want to create something new reflecting their own style.  Having said that, all architecture, especially modern of any stripe, can be imparted with an art deco "soul" or ethos if you will, so something new and of that nature would perhaps be the best hoped for outcome. 

[sauerkraut]

 While I love art deco, I don't think creating something of an older style is in the cards.  Architects and designers appreciate the older styles, but are absolutely loath to recreate it unless pushed to do so.  They want to create something new reflecting their own style.  Having said that, all architecture, especially modern of any stripe, can be imparted with an art deco "soul" or ethos if you will, so something new and of that nature would perhaps be the best hoped for outcome.  

Building an modern building to look "old" or as if it was from the "art deco" era makes it look phoney IMO -just as remodling an old building from the 1930's to try and make it look like a new 1930's building, (only updated) - much of the origonal feeling is lost, replacing old classic light fixtures with new light fixtures built to look like the old one is not the same thing. BTW the old 1980 movie "Xanadu" was  filmed on location of an old building from the art deco era called the "Pacific building" (or some such name)  I think that structure really had a great classic art deco  look to it,  and they latter knocked that building down. So much for historic preserving of old structures...

[sgrizzle]

Phase 2 update:

Public meetings at 6pm May 23rd and 24th at the TCC Creativity Center.  Updated plans that include landscape components of the over 1,000 individual comments received back in February.

[swake]

Building an modern building to look "old" or as if it was from the "art deco" era makes it look phoney IMO -just as remodling an old building from the 1930's to try and make it look like a new 1930's building, (only updated) - much of the origonal feeling is lost, replacing old classic light fixtures with new light fixtures built to look like the old one is not the same thing. BTW the old 1980 movie "Xanadu" was  filmed on location of an old building from the art deco era called the "Pacific building" (or some such name)  I think that structure really had a great classic art deco  look to it,  and they latter knocked that building down. So much for historic preserving of old structures...

A shockingly coherent, reasoned and salient post by Saur, and then he takes the sharp left turn at Xanadu.