Well, it's all pure speculation whether or not this thing will become reality. I will say that it most likely would look much better than what the initial design is showing. It's basically just a cheap drawing of an oil derrick to give us an IDEA of what it might look like. If it is built, I'm sure it will involve some sort of world class architect and builder to make it look awesome. As for being a "laughingstock"....that's a bit of a negative attitude. Not to be rude, but it will be a structure that will bring tourism because no other city has anything like it and we need a landmark that sets us apart from the other cities with monuments. What other landmark could we possibly build other than something that shows our past, present and future? OKC is an oil city and will always be, even though our economy is diversifying all the time. Oil is what built OKC, so it only makes sense to have a giant oil derrick with modern amenities and a place for tourists to have a bird's eye view of our great city. There was a time during the early days of this city where the goal was to make OKC the largest city between New York and LA. Our city leaders and business community back then were much like the leaders of our city today.....they all had a vision to make this city grand. There should be no stopping this city and we should ALWAYS reach for the stars if we are ever to become internationally known as a great city. Look what happened when we became complacent.....Dallas took all of our growth opportunities and we've been trying to compete with them ever since. In fact, Will Rogers airport had a chance to become as large as DFW, but the city leaders at the time didn't think we needed it. Just look at what taking a chance did for the DFW area. I truly believe that if the city leaders back in the 60's had taken the same approach as the leaders of today, OKC would be at least twice the size it is today and that is taking into account that the oil bust happened in the 1980's.
So, with all that, I say go for it! What better time in OKC history than now to change the world perception of OKC being a REAL city.