Skirvin renovations approved to begin By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

A Dallas development team was granted permission Tuesday to begin renovation of Oklahoma City's Skirvin Hotel -- even though a final sale of the property isn't expected until January.
Oklahoma City Council members unanimously agreed to let Skirvin Partners begin asbestos removal in the downtown landmark and pledged to pay for the work if the sale falls through.

The agreement allows Skirvin Partners to have early entry and to spend up to $1,002,342 on environmental remediation. The funding, backed with a "brownfields" environmental cleanup loan from the Environmental Protection Agency, was previously pledged by the city as part of an $18 million financing package.

"We're just guaranteeing we'll have the money for them up front," City Manager Jim Couch said. "So if the deal falls through, we're on the line to make it happen. But we would have to do this for any future deal if this fell through."

Excellent. I can't wait until that hotel is back up to its past glory. I think it has the potential to become a real destination hotel like the Hyatt Regency Union Central in St. Louis.

This is great news. The sooner renovations can begin, the sooner the Skirvin can be opened. I can't wait until the day this hotel re-opens. I want to be one of the first to spend the night there after it re-opens.

My husband and I would like to spend the night there the first day of re-opening too!!

We were fortunate to walk through the Skirvin three years ago as potential buyers and were very impressed with how well she has withstood her previous owners abuse and lack of taking care of her. I would have loved to have bought her....but my credit line does not extend into the multiple millions. Maybe next life!

lol! She definitely is a beauty and I'm glad a solid buyer came through for her. I'll be married when she re-opens, so I, like you, definitely plan on being one of the first ones to book a weekend room there.

Just out of curiousity, I had heard that a lot of the old fixtures were sold off. Also, previous owners started pulling up the floor in the old coffee room. Proactive, were you able to see those areas?

The fixtures that we saw lying on the floors, begging people to take, were from the 1970's renovation. So yes, many of the fixtures earlier than the 1970's renovation are gone. However, the chandeliers are still there, the gargoyles of Mr. Skirvin and a couple of others on the beautiful pillars in the lobby are still there, the beautiful carved grape design doors are intact and the marble is in great condition.

The coffee room....if I am remembering correctly, I think there was carpet on the floors. And remember, the colors of the 1970's...harvest gold, avacado green...get the picture?!? These colors are the carpets and curtains! Rough the first time around and so glad they are going to be replaced.

I hope the new owners look outside of the box when they look at the roof, and design the poshest 5 star garden restaurant on the roof!! This would be an awesome attraction for this georgous building!!

Wow Proactive...you have an excellent idea with the garden restaurant.

Anyways, I'm so glad to hear that the Skirvin is in such good shape.

Did you get a chance to view some of the guest rooms? How were they? Will all of the fixtures need replacing? How large were the rooms?

Anyways, if all of the chandeliers are still there, we're in good shape. The other fixtures can be replaced and updated. Hopefully the new owners will preserve as much as they can...it sounds like they will. Previous owners had considered pulling up the carpet in the coffee room and restoring the old tile floor. I hope that's still in the works. Did you have a chance to see what was under the carpet in the Coffee Room?

I'm really curious to see some renderings of what they imagine for this place. I hope it's 5 star, but from what I understand they're shooting for 4 star.

I think five star is pushing it. I know of no city this size with a five star hotel and/or eating establishment.

We will be lucky to get three star.

OK....so I sometimes think big!! As long as it will be a destination point....I will be happy!

It does sound from the plans, that it will be a good place to hold an event. I hope we will be able to hold an Empowerment Zone Honor Awards dinner during the first year she is re-opened. For that matter, I hope to be able to recommend the Skirvin for many events with groups I am active with!

I did not take a look at the flooring beneath the carpet in the coffee shop area. I did notice some awesome tile in the kitchen area that is original.

I looked into guest rooms on every floor. Most were actually in pretty good shape, other than needing an update. Some plumbing issues, fixture updates and of course it needs all new electrical. But overall...not in as bad of shape as one would think.

Most of the graffiti was from Capitol Hill High School and Casady students! Looked like at one time may have been a party place.

Overall...not as bad of shape as it could have been.

I can hardly wait!!

Thanks for the update Proactive. I'm glad to hear that the Skirvin is in such good shape. This should make the job easier on the new developers. Obviously, isnce it is a historic building, replacing HVAC units, electrical wiring, plumbing, etc. will be expensive, but the project won't be as difficult as I once thought. Once the asbstos is removed, everything should flow smoothly after that.

Call me crazy, but isn’t the current condition irrelevant if there is an asbestos problem? I think that generally requires stripping the building the superstructure, that’s what happened to the Mayo, and why it happened too.

I believe the City Council approved EPA Brownfield Grant money at the November 2nd City Council meeting to clean up the asbestos.

My point was more that the current conditions of the rooms and fixtures of a building that is about to be gutted is irrelevant.

For the most part, I agree with you that the current conditions on the inside don't matter and that it will be gutted.

Except for the historical and cool architectural elements. The chandeliers, great tile and marble and the awesome woodwork.

For the developer to comply to Federal and State Historical Preservation tax credits, they will have to preserve the historical architectural elements in the renovation and have to be very careful with renovation guide lines or they will not be able to take the tax credits.

Carpet, paint, wallpaper, plumbing and the like....I agree with you. All of this will be gutted and replaced. Thank goodness. Could you imagine 1970's colors in the beautiful 1912 hotel renovation?

For what it's worth, the Renaissance Hotel and the Waterford by Marriott are both four star hotels. They're the only four star hotels in Oklahoma City. From what I remember Hilton's goal will be to make the Skirvin a four star. That will be 3 four star hotels in OKC. Compared to just one in Tulsa, their Renaissance Hotel.

A little braggin'

Mmmmmm....but I have to admit, that Renaissance in Tulsa beats any we have here. I took a look inside this past summer when I was in Tulsa.....that's a mighty fine hotel Hammons put together. It reminds me of th eone he built in Branson.

But, anyways, yeah, you're right.....the Skirvin will become a 4 star hotel......what a great addition to our list of hotels in OKC.

We're planning on staying at either the Renaissance or Waterford for our first honeymoon night.....I'll have to give everyone a report.

I've never been in the Tulsa Renaissance. Patrick, have you been to the downtown OKC one? It is very nice.

Yup, I've been to both...in fact, I was at the OKC Renaissance in OKC. And you're right....the OKC one is nice, in fact in my opinion, it's the nicest hotel in OKC. But, I will give Hammons one thing...he really went the extra mile on the Tulsa Renaissance.....I'm not downplaying ours in any way, but I'd give it an edge over ours. So with ours being as nice as it is, you can only imagine what Tulsa's is like. Of course Tulsa doesn't have the surrounding downtown area and convention center to complement it, but the hotel makes up for what it's missing around it.

Anyways, I will be staying in our Renaissance in May 2005. For a honeymoon first night, I wouldn't pick anywhere else.

"Anyways, I will be staying in our Renaissance in May 2005. For a honeymoon first night, I wouldn't pick anywhere else."

Film at eleven. (just could not resist. LOL)

Eleven....you think I'm going to wait that long? lol!

"Eleven....you think I'm going to wait that long? lol!"

I guess I could call Cherokee and have her tell the guys at KOCO to get the live truck ready for a live remote.

You said May? That is sweeps week. Perfect timing.

Hmmmm. Well, we won't be too far from the News 9 Bricktown Studio......mranderson how about getting Amy Mcree out there instead?

Only if she will go out with me.

What's the latest with the Skirvin? I drove by the hotel a couple days ago and saw no signs of any kind of progress from the outside. I suppose they're still working with paperwork and stuff? When are they supposed to get in and start this thing? This is one of those projects that I'm very excited about seeing complete.