Are there any plans at all for the top floors of Spaghetti Warehouse to get renovated and opened up? It seems like slowly but surely several are at least looking occupied, not completely bricked up. The area above Brix is going to opened up, above Melting Pot, and the other ones mentioned in this story. I looked at the building online and there are holes for 128 windows just on the south and west side alone.

Developers breathe new life into historic Bricktown buildings
by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record March 17, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY – Renovating hundred-year-old buildings that have been neglected for decades is no easy task.

Just ask Chuck Ainsworth, who is in the process of taking a dilapidated building in Bricktown and turning it into office and retail space. Fortunately for Ainsworth, renovation of the building, which was built between 1912 and 1919, held few surprises.Fellow re-developers recently have had similar fortune in Bricktown, where buildings designed for industrial use continue to find new life as retail and office space.
Ainsworth has spent a year renovating the abandoned building at 1 E. Sheridan Ave., which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally home to Stanford Furniture Co. and later Bunte Candy.

The building, called the Candy Factory, has been gutted and redone, with new windows and a glassed-in elevator tower on the north side.

“The project is going extremely well,” Ainsworth said. “We’re right on budget and right on target.”

Leasing has also gone well. Ainsworth said he would announce tenants within 30 days.
“Those industrial buildings were not built to be office buildings and nightclubs,” Ainsworth said. “They present some unique challenges.”

Several buildings in the district are on the National Register, and most do not comply with ADA standards. Doors and ceilings first built to accommodate manufacturing also have to be delicately altered to serve a new purpose and meet historic standards.

A block south of the Candy Factory is another renovation project that is just beginning.
Overlooking the Bricktown Canal at 2 E. California Ave. and 12 E. California are adjoined buildings, one of which is the old J.I. Case Plow Works Building. Plans call for renovating the long-ailing structures as restaurant, retail and office space. The east side of the building is occupied by Zio’s Italian Kitchen.

That effort is led by Martin Goldstein of Venture Architecture. The properties are owned by Diversified Historic Properties, which includes Harding & Shelton LLC.

An iconic water tower that once carried a Red Ball Transfer Storage logo was restored and replaced atop the building.

The project has received approval for historic tax credits to help fund the renovations. As income-producing properties, the buildings are eligible for a 20-percent federal income tax credit and a 20-percent state income tax credit. To obtain those, the project had to be approved by the state, the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Plow Works Building was added to the National Register in 1983.

Goldstein said the owners are looking at costs and testing the local market before work begins. Plans for an LED sign for the tower must also be approved by the Bricktown Urban Design Committee. That item is expected to be on the committee’s April agenda.
Goldstein said there were no real surprises in the building.

“There were little things, nothing huge,” he said. “The building’s in great shape. Those buildings are built far more durably than anything today.”

Ainsworth said with his project near completion, nothing unexpected in the structure seriously delayed the renovation efforts.

“We didn’t really encounter many surprises, which is unusual,” he said. “On most old projects you will find a surprise.”

The Journal Record - Article

I think it would be very cool to see real time Thunder scores on this, as well as have it used as a general event and welcome marquee.

check out Venture Architecture's website, they have some really great picture of all they have planned
http://www.venturearchitecture.com/

I really think the key to getting the canal going is to make sure every canal level and street level property has al fresco access. I know Oklahoma City's climate isn't sunny and 75 degress 300 days a year, but, really, the canal experience is all about being outside, right?

Right now it seems only Bourbon Street and Chelino's offer real al fresco dining. Every bar and every restaurant in that area should have outdoor seating, imo. It should be THE street people think about when they think outdoor dining in OKC, yet it doesn't even look like it was designed that way. I almost think it should be a zone ordinance that at least 15% of your seating should be outside on California Street. Doing so would really bring more energy and ambiance to the area in a way that maybe we'd see a little less turnover just from the fact that the novelty would sell itself.

I just can't see the chain food model working without some added value, and having easy access to eat or have cocktails by or above the canal would seem to increase the attraction and viability of that area immensely. In fact, I can't believe that anyone would want it any other way. Otherwise, what was the point?

I'm not sure you could pay me enough to try to eat outside in OKC. Heat.........Cold.........Wind. Sorry, but this ain't Paris.

On days like this i'd sure sit outside. And also, even in the summer months it can cool down quite a bit by nighttime.

Zio's, Mickey Mantle's, and the Biting Sow all have outdoor seating areas along California Street (in addition to Chelino's and Bourbon Street). In Lower Bricktown, Falcone's, Redpin, Bolero, In the Raw, Starbucks, and Toby Keiths all have patio seats along the canal frontage. Most of the places offer outdoor seating, it's just a question of whether people use it (and on a nice day like the ones we've been having, they are full chairs.)

Chicago is full of outdoor dining areas. They may not have the heat, but they've got a lock on cold and wind. We've got a lot more outdoor days than they do.

We were in BT on sunday afternoon and wanted to eat at Toby Keiths outside but they were not offering outside seating. A bummer on such a nice afternoon. It really irks me when the places that do have outside seating do not use it!

After a look at Venture Architecture's website it almost looks like they have planned enclosed patio seating. This could be a good idea for BT for year round seating. Maybe on the very hot days and very cold days it could be enclosed and heated/cooled, and when the weather is nice the windows could be fully opened (maybe garage door style large windows that can be fully lifted or sliding windows that can be tucked back into a wall) making it outdoor seating.

And don't forget the flies.

> And don't forget the flies.

Shhhhhh, don't give it up, or everyone is gonna want free flies

I don't think you have to worry about that.

You guys are probably right. It's just not in the culture to go outside here, even though markets much hotter do it.

Maybe the canal was just a bad idea in Oklahoma. I can't really figure out what it's for it people don't ever want to hang out on it...

You can ride the little yellow boats......

But, again, you're outside. Who would want to do that?