Oklahoma City Developments, Real Estates and Updates

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City's Omni Convention Center Hotel



LED lighting tests on the 605-room OMNI are being conducted in what will be an illuminated convention center complex.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Southside Senior Wellness Center.

Oklahoma City voters approved the MAPS 3 Initiative December 8, 2009, the $777 million package included four centers proposed as facilities to improve the health and wellness of metro citizens over 50.  
The initiative set aside $55.5 million to invest in construction four unique centers to be strategically built throughout the city.  The City has sought sponsors to run these centers to improve the health of an aging population.   Some of these centers will serve all citizens with separate areas for its most venerable and fragile citizens.  Each center will take on a unique design for the population areas served.

The MAPS 3 Senior Health and Wellness Centers will connect Oklahoma City's seniors with important services, and also with each other.  The centers, which will be located in different parts of the City, will have operating partners experienced in providing services seniors need and will provide social and recreational settings for a wide range of uses. Access to exercise equipment and programs is also an
important part of the MAPS 3 senior centers.

The first center at 11501 N Rockwell Avenue opened to members in February of 2018 and is operated by Healthy Living and Fitness.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City's Civic Center Music Hall Minor Renovations

Civic Center Music Hall will soon undergo another round of renovations; the Freede Little Theatre reveal plans for a new entrance and lobby.  Plans reveal a new entrance and lobby for the Freede Little Theatre has been on Oklahoma's City's radar since the first Metropolitan Area Projects initiative were unveiled back in 1993.

The Freede (much smaller theater) is used by performing arts groups such as Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre, OKC Theatre Company and the Painted Sky Opera.

The 2017 General Obligation Bond package included $9 million budget for the addition, as well as the updates in the rest of the building.  In the Thelma Gaylord lobby, the renovation plans call to remove the ticket booth, the glass walls and the bar, creating a more open space. The stairs near the theater, donned in red, are being removed as well to create more space.

A new central bar is being built closer to the theater's exterior wall; it will serve coffee and spirits for the VIP section.  

The main entrance will include a new security system capable of scanning 3,000 people in one hour.  

Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2021 with a targeted completion date in the fall of 2022.

Theater goers view the stage from the massive Performing Arts Hall.

The Original MAPS Initiative passed in 1993 included $50 million renovation total with new interior theatrical seats and some reinforcement to the building's exterior.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Archdiocese Basilica and Rother Shrine Update.



Construction crews are seen laying the foundation for the new Basilica style structure.

The $40 million project includes a 2,000-seat Spanish colonial-style Basilica and Shrine devoted to the Blessed Father Stanley Rother, the first Catholic Priest from Oklahoma who was murdered in Guatemala .  Upon its 2022 completion date, it will be the largest Roman Catholic church in Oklahoma expected to host numerous large archdiocese events and help accommodate the growing Hispanic population whose parishes in South Oklahoma City are currently overcrowded.

Rother, who was assassinated by pro-government gunmen July 28, 1981, worked in Guatemala's rural highlands from 1968 until his death. He worked alongside the indigenous people of the area, farmers, the poor and the children who worshipped at the Santiago Atitlan, parish in Guatemala. Father Stanley as he was called expressed  acts of kindness and charity allowed the beloved Priest to the endeared by the Guatemalan people.

Ministry Building

In addition to the church, the Shrine complex will feature a two-story ministry building to respond to the religious education needs of the growing Catholic Community. This building will provide much-needed classroom and gathering space, administrative offices, and an event hall to host large archdiocesan gatherings, receptions, and retreats for pilgrims visiting the Shrine.

The remains of Father Stanley Rother will be entombed in the Basilica and Shrine complex (TBD) as a final resting place--his remains are temporarily stored in a   mausoleum at Resurrection Cemetery in northwest Oklahoma City.   Father Rother's last full assignment in Oklahoma was at Corpus Christi Catholic Church 1616 North Kelley Avenue in Oklahoma City near the University of Oklahoma's Health Science Center.

The pilgrim center will welcome thousands of visitors and tourists each year to experience Rother's life, witness and martyrdom. The new church also will host many large Archdiocesan events. 


Blessed Stanley Rother was declared a martyr by Pope Francis in 2016 and beatified a year later by the Catholic Church during a large-scale ceremony that attracted 20,000 worshippers in Oklahoma City's Cox Convention Center in which an estimated 3,000 people were turned away.

Updated video renderings of the Blessed Father Stanley Francis Rother Shrine:  https://youtu.be/uk9OT2Zdt0E


Cause for Canonization of Blessed Stanley Rother

    Blessed Stanley Rother Beatified

On Sept. 23, 2017, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, celebrated the Rite of Beatification for Blessed Stanley Rother during a Beatification Mass in downtown Oklahoma City. Blessed Stanley is the first martyr born in the United States and the first U.S. priest to be beatified.


Blessed Stanley Rother was an Oklahoma priest killed in Guatemala on July 28, 1981, in his rectory. The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City opened a Cause of Canonization for Blessed Stanley on Oct. 5, 2007.  The archdiocesan phase of the Cause was closed on July 20, 2010.

On Sept. 3, 2014, Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, presented the Positio of Father Rother to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome.  On June 14, 2015, the Theology Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted to formally recognize Oklahoma's Servant of God a martyr.

Process of Canonization

Making of a Saint

Compiled by Msgr. Robert J. Sarno, Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Rome, Italy

All souls in heaven are saints. Formerly, the Catholic Church declared "saints" as people who were outstanding in holiness either because they died as witnesses for the faith (martyrs) or they lived a life of heroic virtue (confessors). The exact number of canonized saints is unknown because not all recognized as saints have been canonized officially. For the first half of the Catholic Church's history, saints were canonized in various ways. Today, the process of canonization is very complex and thorough. A record number of saints have been canonized in the past 30 years, and about 2,000 candidates are being evaluated today.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City (WWRA) Airport ($90 million) Terminal Expansion Update

News 9 Terminal Expansion video:  https://www.news9.com/story/5ec5a1322ac80d591f261779/wrwa-officials-say-terminal-expansion-ahead-of-schedule  

[Laramie]

Three Oklahoma City Towers Undergo Renovations.

The top of First National Center (formerly FN Bank) is undergoing exterior renovation on the main 33 story tower.   The 89-year-old bank building at Robinson and Park will house 193 apartments and 146 hotel rooms as a Marriott Autograph property in a massive $275 million revamp.

SandRidge Energy vacated the property in June 2020.  The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department (85 tourism employees), Oklahoma Tax Commission (500 employees) and Oklahoma Department of Health (700 employees) already have begun moving into the Tower.

BancFirst Tower is undergoing $70 million in exterior & interior upgrades.  "We plan to start moving people in January 2021 at this point," said David Harlow, BancFirst Corporation CEO. "We've been able to continue construction through the coronavirus pandemic."   The building is being done in phases, with Phase 1 consisting of the concourse, 80% of the plaza and the first floor. By December 2021, the rest of the building will be complete. When the north side of the plaza gets finished, then the south entrance will be closed so the renovation can continue there.

Besides the new glass, another notable difference already made to the building is the removal of some exterior columns. Bockus Payne Architect Collin Fleck said one of the main goals was to create a better view from the exterior into the lobby.

[Laramie]

Tesla Prepares Old Volvo Dealership for Oklahoma City Market

Early preparations for a Tesla service center in Oklahoma City's Automobile Alley.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Convention Center Garage Updates.




OKCTalk.com released these updates of the 1,100 space Convention Center Garage




An artist's rendering of the finished $25 million parking structure.

Pics via OKCTalk.com

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City's Lower Scissortail Park Construction



Ceremony kicks off lower park construction

Press release:

***********

Oklahoma City leaders break ground on Scissortail Park's Lower Park
11/06/2020

Construction is under way on Scissortail Park's 30-acre Lower Park in the heart of Oklahoma City, as civic leaders broke ground on the project Friday.

"Scissortail Park attracts thousands of residents and visitors alike to enjoy concerts, festivals, farmer's markets and even roller skating. It's been an outdoor oasis during a challenging year," said Mayor David Holt. "And now we get to break ground on phase two, which will serve as an ideal companion to our bustling Upper Park with athletic fields and courts, an extension of the promenade and nature play elements."

The Upper Park opened in 2019. Construction is scheduled to finish on the Lower Park in 2022. The total project budget for Scissortail Park is $132 million, funded debt-free by MAPS 3.

About the Lower Park
The Lower Park is intended to have more open and natural spaces than the Upper Park. There will be a focus on space for athletic events and pickup sports, with a soccer field, sports pavilion, pickleball courts, futsal court and two basketball courts.

Paths with pavers and furniture will be consistent with the Upper Park, dotting the promenade alongside whispering pines, native gardens, a hollow, an overlook hill and a plaza. There will also be a play area for children.

The 40-acre Upper Park extends south from Oklahoma City Boulevard to Interstate 40. The Skydance Bridge connects it to the 30-acre Lower Park, which extends to SW 15th Street on the north shore of an original MAPS project, the Oklahoma River.

The Upper Park is served by MAPS 3's OKC Streetcar and is across the street from MAPS 3's Oklahoma City Convention Center. It's also near the new protected bike lanes on S Walker Avenue and other bike, pedestrian and street improvement projects funded by the Better Streets, Safer City program.

HargreavesJones is the park architect, and Wynn Construction is the general contractor for Lower Park construction.


The nonprofit Scissortail Park Foundation operates the park on behalf of the City of Oklahoma City.

[Laramie]

Omni Oklahoma City Update...


LED Lighting adds more external appeal

Via courtesy OKCTalk.com

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City BancFirst Tower Renovation Update



Two of OKC's tallest structures are undergoing exterior & interior major upgrades.

The renovations will be highlighted by LED Lighting to the crowns of both towers.


First National (upper left) $275 million renovation now moves to below its exterior spire level.

Below:  New wider replacement columns are being added to BancFirst Tower's base.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Private Developments



A sampling $100 million of OKC area private developments that have continued throughout the Pandemic.

Illustration courtesy OKCTalk.com

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Bricktown Marriott Update Pics.







First full-service hotel in Bricktown, 10 stories, 182 rooms, $10 million project
Tallest structure in Bricktown, Tulsa Developer, Andy Patel - Courtesy OKCTalk.com

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City's Big Friendly Brewery



Oklahoma City AKA 'The Big Friendly."



Big Friendly brewery, taproom to open at Wheeler:  https://youtu.be/6jVS0p9DX3U

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Convention Center Update


The modern complex will have state of the art wifi and cyber technologies.

The dock will allow trucks and distributors to enter the complex from the east end (Shields Boulevard side); whereas the west faces Scissortail Park.

In addition to the 550 surface parking spaces, the convention center garage will offer 1,100 garage enclosed spaces on 5 levels.

Pics via OKCTalk.com