Tulsa PAC Unveils New Long-Range Plan for Facility Improvements

[Rattle Trap]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/tulsa-pac-unveils-new-long-range-plan-for-facility-improvements/article_1b9ae2d6-3f50-51e8-b248-39d20d70d1de.amp.html

$320 million?? With any luck the scope of this plan will be greatly reduced to a $10 million renovation and implemented 10 years from now. Anyways...thoughts?

[SXSW]

I like it, this is the kind of BOLD vision that will set us apart from our regional peer cities.  Tulsa is an arts town and should have a premier performing arts center downtown. 

[ELG4America]

I'm glad to see they're thinking big.

I like the design. The current build lacks transparency, leaving it looking dead and foreboding. However its hard to determine if the East and North sides are adequately activated to bring some street side interest. If in fact a new theater could be constructed for less then perhaps a very large new theater, parking garage, and apartments with street side retail could be constructed on the PAC east lot (assuming the Flarehty and Collins deal fell/falls through.) Then the old PAC could be demolished and replaced with a new mixed-use tower on one of the most desirable lots in downtown.

I'd be fine with either one. But I'm going to disagree with Rattle Trap. A small renovation sounds good on the surface but if it doesn't help us bring in big new things, its not worth it. The BOK center was a huge expense but it has put Tulsa on the map for a lot of people who never considered us before.

[Rattle Trap]

I was just being sarcastic. I think a renovation of this scale would be great for Tulsa. I just don't believe it would happen any time soon given the $320 million preliminary price tag.

[DowntownDan]

Might as well build new on the lot next door, surrounded by a mixed-use development. A fantastic PAC is going up at the OSU campus in Stillwater, surely Tulsa can find a way to fund a transformative new facility. The current PAC spot can also be mixed use, or Williams Green can be expanded into an arts related green space with outdoor staging, etc. This whole area could thrive.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

I'm glad to see they're thinking big.

I like the design. The current build lacks transparency, leaving it looking dead and foreboding. However its hard to determine if the East and North sides are adequately activated to bring some street side interest. If in fact a new theater could be constructed for less then perhaps a very large new theater, parking garage, and apartments with street side retail could be constructed on the PAC east lot (assuming the Flarehty and Collins deal fell/falls through.) Then the old PAC could be demolished and replaced with a new mixed-use tower on one of the most desirable lots in downtown.

I'd be fine with either one. But I'm going to disagree with Rattle Trap. A small renovation sounds good on the surface but if it doesn't help us bring in big new things, its not worth it. The BOK center was a huge expense but it has put Tulsa on the map for a lot of people who never considered us before.

In this case, it looks like building a new facility would be the far better option:

Beck said building a new facility would save about $60 million. "It would be a more efficient process because we would not be working around a working theater," he said.

That is ridiculous to spend $60 million more and still have the same old main theater. $260 million is plenty ambitious enough. There are plenty of empty parking lots. I agree with you that making it part of the new development across the street would be ideal.

[SXSW]

In this case, it looks like building a new facility would be the far better option:

That is ridiculous to spend $60 million more and still have the same old main theater. $260 million is plenty ambitious enough. There are plenty of empty parking lots. I agree with you that making it part of the new development across the street would be ideal.

The article mentions a new theater at 3rd & Cincinnati, not sure if that is the SW, NE or NW corner? 

[DTowner]

At 40+ years old, I assume the PAC will soon need a major renovation or replacement.  But wow, $320 million seems more than just dream-like, that is delusional.  Wouldn't that make it the second most expensive civic project in Tulsa's history?  And first place (The Gathering Place) was mostly privately funded.

[DowntownDan]

I think that's the going rate for world class PACs these days.  The Winspear Opera House in Dallas cost $320 million ten years ago.

[SXSW]

Definitely eye-catching

[ELG4America]

Regarding the expense, I'd say its an investment worth making. The arts is one of Tulsa's largest industries and perhaps the largest tourist draw we have. If $320 Million is what it takes to make a big splash, lets do it. http://www.artsimpacttulsa.org/

However, the more I think about this, the more I think it should probably be a new theater.

Imagine glass store fronts on 2nd street fronting a new multi-level parking garage. Above, a park plaza that connects by sky bridge over Cincinnati through the location of the current PAC to an expanded William's Green. Fronting 3rd a new PAC with a larger capacity main theater and larger secondary and tertiary theaters. A mixed use tower built on the corner of 2nd and Detroit and a mixed use tower on the remainder of the old PAC site not taken up by the expanded William's Green.

[ELG4America]

I did a little digging on some of the big architecturally significant concert halls constructed recently. The costs are all over the place. This leaves me thinking that if we're going to spend some sizable fraction of a Billion dollars on this project we should get something that architecture nerds around the world make a pilgrimage to see and everyone who comes to visit us wants to take a selfie in front. That much money should buy a landmark. The more I look at it the less I think the proposal is that.


Philharmonie de Paris - main hall seats 2400 - construction 2006 - 2015 - final cost $488 million

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles - m.h. seats 2265 - const. 1994 - 2003 - $274 million

Oslo Opera House - m.h. seats 1358 - const. 2000 - 2008 - $560 million

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Valencia - m.h. seats ~1400 (2 main halls?) - const. 1997(?) - 2005 - $134 million (part of ~$1 billion development)

Guangzhou Opera House - m.h. seats 1804 - const. 2005 - 2010 - $200 million

National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing - m.h. (x2) seats 2416, 2017 - const. 2001 - 2007 - $300 million

[DowntownDan]

The costs are all over the place. This leaves me thinking that if we're going to spend some sizable fraction of a Billion dollars on this project we should get something that architecture nerds around the world make a pilgrimage to see and everyone who comes to visit us wants to take a selfie in front. That much money should buy a landmark.

Just don't hire a famous architect who will give you a smushed roll of duct tape.

[swake]

I don't see the merit in keeping the current building at a cost of $60 million. The current building, while fine, has zero architectural style and nothing really worth saving, especially at that price.

Why not build new in the Arts District? Trade the current site with BOK for their lot across the street from AHHA, where the OKPOP museum was originally going to go.

[swake]

Just don't hire a famous architect who will give you a smushed roll of duct tape.

Really? I like the BOK Center and I don't like this concept as is, it looks like an airport terminal.