My main concern is about that east end area being a quality walkable district. Doing it right can make us heads and shoulders above other cities, and it doesnt have to be hard or expensive to do. I want and hope for Tulsas downtown to be of superior quality. And that can indeed include a baseball stadium. But what KIND of baseball stadium is more important to me. Those renderings I showed of the kind of designs I liked were for stadium that were around the size 7-11 thousand people, and price range 30 mill that we are talking about for our downtown. We are a small city and that huge Petco stadium or Denver stadium arent exactly in the same types of areas and realm we are talking about for Tulsas downtown.
A lot of people have been pushing real hard for that area of our downtown to have a specific quality to it. A baseball stadium there, depending purely on its design, can be a stunning start down that road, or it can stand in the way of that direction and impede it. Though it may spur growth and "improve" the area. I, and a lot of other people, just dont want any old growth for growths sake. Especially when with just a bit of extra effort something really wonderful and above average can happen there. You may think OKC or those other cities you mention have good things going... but, let me tell you, there are some really clever people in this town who have looked long and hard at how to do things, who have some great ideas. And if we dare to listen to them and what they have learned, we can create something better than what you can envision because you may just have not had that exposure and experience.
I try explain how we can do something great, people show me examples of things that dont fit or arent nearly as nice as what I am trying to get at. We can pretty much be first and one of a kind. We can be what OTHERS point to as a good example and even regret that they didnt do. And in comparison, those places you once thought were great, will seem as pitiful as how I see them compared to what I can see that we CAN really do.
I believe one of those small stadiums that I showed they said it could be done for about 30 mill, INCLUDING the buildings and shops that wrapped around it. Actually the article I read said just over 20 mill.
These are all around the price and size range we would likely be talking about for Tulsa. Some, imo, are more superior than others. But you can get an idea of whats possible and what a baseball park with buldings wrapped around or incorporated into it can look like.
This last one is my least favorite. But even here, with a bit of tweaking to make a more dramatic and enjoyable front entrance and having nice looking 2 or even 3 story shops around it, it could be quite nice.
Here is a little video I found that has some info about "public spaces" in general. First few minutes are a bit dry but there are some good points in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ZeXnmDZMQ