Santa Fe Garage

[UnFrSaKn]

[soonerguru]

LOL, it looks like they've affixed a series of oversized paper clips to the garage.

[HangryHippo]

HAHA. How awful.

[UnFrSaKn]

This might look neat at night.. but when the sun comes up it's still an ugly mole on the face of downtown.

[OKCisOK4me]

This might look neat at night.. but when the sun comes up it's still an ugly mole on the face of downtown.

That's how I feel about the whole of downtown during the daytime...OKC shines at night!

[UnFrSaKn]

[Spartan]

I think the best solution to cleaning up the EKG frontage and making that a less depressing corridor would be just to wrap that side with some metal panels. There was an ugly garage in Cleveland's University Circle district that got a similar makeover:




You can see the original garage underneath the new metallic sheathing. It looks particularly stunning because it matches some newer buildings on the CWRU medical campus, but along EKG it would evoke a very cool vibe of going through a metal tube because it's a walled-in space.

[HangryHippo]

I think the best solution to cleaning up the EKG frontage and making that a less depressing corridor would be just to wrap that side with some metal panels. There was an ugly garage in Cleveland's University Circle district that got a similar makeover:




You can see the original garage underneath the new metallic sheathing. It looks particularly stunning because it matches some newer buildings on the CWRU medical campus, but along EKG it would evoke a very cool vibe of going through a metal tube because it's a walled-in space.

I've seen this garage in person and this would have been a stunning improvement. However, OKC doesn't do things like this well. We settle for the LED vomit that will cover the garage.

[Dustin]

You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd.

[Spartan]

All you need for a facade is a structure to attach it to.

[UnFrSaKn]

[Snowman]

I felt from the start it had a good chance to make it look worse, before it at least looked functional and forgettable, now it looks like it had a cheap remodel which does not go with it or look particularly modern and will be actively trying to draw attention to itself.

[bombermwc]

On one hand we have to remember that it is a parking garage and there's only so much you can do for it. But at the same time, we got crap. There are other examples downtown of how it could be done....as a renovation and doesn't have to be new. And that Cleveland garage is a great example of how some facade work can totally change the thing.

Instead, we turned ours into a childish tack board.

[SOONER8693]

On one hand we have to remember that it is a parking garage and there's only so much you can do for it. But at the same time, we got crap. There are other examples downtown of how it could be done....as a renovation and doesn't have to be new. And that Cleveland garage is a great example of how some facade work can totally change the thing.

Instead, we turned ours into a childish tack board.

Maybe all those complaining about this would like to step up and provide the funding to do this and other projects that are not done to suit them.

[bombermwc]

Maybe all those complaining about this would like to step up and provide the funding to do this and other projects that are not done to suit them.

If that were how we operated, then there would be no standards because no one would stand up and say "Hey, this sucks. You can do better". We don't have to be directly contributing financially to the project in order to want it to be the best it can be. It's not about complaining because it wasn't what " I wanted ". It's about nudging people to half do things, to go all the way and put a coat of paint to an actualy project.

I'm the first one to say (and have), it's a parking garage...what do you want out of it. Like so many others have posted here though, lipstick on a pig is still a pig with lipstick. The attachments on the side do nothing to alter the monolithic wall of concrete.

[Rover]

Has this remodel completed? Or does everybody pass judgement before it is half done?

[CaptDave]

I think I would have painted the darn thing before tacking on these "improvements". Maybe it will turn out nice, but it certainly could be worse I suppose.

[BDK]

I never thought the garage itself looked all that bad, and the improvements look pretty good to me. The problem -- and all of us are aware of this -- is that E.K. Gaylord with the elevated tracks on the other side is basically an open air tunnel. If the garage were near buildings, I don't think so many people would despise it as much as they do. I agree that Gaylord as a whole is really an ugly segment of downtown, though.

[soonerguru]

I never thought the garage itself looked all that bad, and the improvements look pretty good to me. The problem -- and all of us are aware of this -- is that E.K. Gaylord with the elevated tracks on the other side is basically an open air tunnel. If the garage were near buildings, I don't think so many people would despise it as much as they do. I agree that Gaylord as a whole is really an ugly segment of downtown, though.

Not a fan of the cheesy mural on the railroad wall either. Perhaps they should have added cows and covered wagons to the tableau.

[Bellaboo]

Not a fan of the cheesy mural on the railroad wall either. Perhaps they should have added cows and covered wagons to the tableau.

Cheesy or not, way better than a blank a$$ wall.

[warreng88]

If the garage were near buildings, I don't think so many people would despise it as much as they do.

Good point. A great example would be the Main Street Parking Garage. It is a terribly bland building and the only saving grace is it has a five businesses on the ground floor retail and it is completely surrounded by taller structures.

[Rover]

Face it, that stretch of street is not and will not be a warm and friendly pedestrian corridor. It is a transportation corridor only. Whether that is good or bad (cue JTF), it is what we have and is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. The city has limited funds to spend for cosmetic re-do's on parking garages when there are so many other infrastructure things that are of priority. While this project may not be to my aesthetic preferences, at least they are trying something within a budget to improve it. And, they aren't doing something so expensive that if we are flush with funds in 5 years we can't change it and improve it.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Save a few bucks and paint it. That is what it needs far more than LED garnish.

[OklahomaNick]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe there are plans to light up those colored panels they are installing. They are some type of reflective color material that changes color when light hits it. I saw them installing more today, and I did not see any infrastructure for wiring anywhere they are being installed.

[Anonymous.]

Why else would they include night renderings showing them visible, even with a moon? lol


But you are correct, I have yet to see any wiring evidence.