Pioneer Building

[shawnw]

Hopefully they at least move it

[Cam]

While I appreciate the idea of the O-K-C letters all over that fence, those letters when duplicated and scrambled around like that tend to spell something else, repeatedly.

I also cannot unsee this now. haha.

[yukong]

The other day, I saw a "for sale" sign on the north east corner of the old SW Bell Building. Any info on this? That building may be the most beautiful building in all downtown.

[Pete]

Glass is going in on the ground floor.

[Pete]

Work has started on Pioneer Park:

[shawnw]

[Pete]

Another closed road!

I'm sure they are digging a connection from Pioneer Park to the Pioneer Building, as the whole reason for the park re-do is the need for the building to have a place for a large transformer. Hence, the big circular screen in the middle of that mini-park.

[shawnw]

Also the entire sidewalk in front of Pioneer had been torn out. Not sure why since that was all brand new P180 sidewalk. Looked like they were about to re-pour the concrete though.

[Pete]

[baralheia]

Oh, love the windows on the ground level! I don't know how they compare to the historic windows before AT&T filled them in with granite, but I like the way they look and they seem to complement the building well.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^^
I haven't paid a lot of attention but assuming historic tax credit requirements have dictated a configuration and materials comparable to the historic windows, which were well-documented visually. They LOOK correct. I have a historic postcard of this building that is postmarked 1910 (with an arrow drawn pointing to a ground floor window and the note "this is the office where I work") that I need to pull out of its frame to scan and post, but I will look more closely at it and see how much these windows mimic the original. I suspect a spot-on match.

[soonerguru]

What a gorgeous building.

[Pete]

The transformer has been installed in Pioneer Park and that small section of Broadway has been reopened.

[Urbanized]

Pete, what is up with the adjacent building? Still owned by AT&T I am assuming, but haven't ever heard anything that I can recall about this building being in play. Wondering if it still has equipment and/or offices in use. I would think that technology would have shrunk their overall footprint dramatically, which is why the Pioneer Building became available. Not even sure I know the name of the blonde brick building, which is pretty remarkable. Those are two of a very few buildings downtown in which I've never set foot. It's a stunning building itself, and looks like a really good candidate for apartment and/or condo and/or boutique hotel conversion.

[Pete]

Pete, what is up with the adjacent building? Still owned by AT&T I am assuming, but haven't ever heard anything that I can recall about this building being in play.

It's been for sale for almost a year. Big For Sale sign on it.

[KayneMo]

The Oklahoma Historical Society calls the blonde brick building the Telephone Building.

http://www.okhistory.org/research/hm...&action=Search

[Urbanized]

It's been for sale for almost a year. Big For Sale sign on it.

Hahaha I missed that...and it's on my way to work!

[Urbanized]

The Oklahoma Historical Society calls the blonde brick building the Telephone Building.

http://www.okhistory.org/research/hm...&action=Search

Thanks! I probably should have known this from my Automobile Alley days, but I guess it's just such a nonspecific name that I assumed it wasn't the real name and didn't commit it to memory.

Also, the photo on that link is just fantastic (21412.B105.824, Z.P. Meyers/Barney Hillerman Photographic Collection, OHS [map #1I]):

[Pete]

Like the Pioneer Building, the Telephone Building has those blocked-in granite storefronts.

I've never been in any of those AT&T buildings. They all look like some sort of prison complex when you walk by.

I'm working on getting more info on the building from AT&T and will post it when I do.

[shawnw]

Yeah I'm pleased to see Pioneer reopened to the street and hope to see the same fate for both the Telephone and OG&E buildings someday. Not 100% sure OG&E had that, but it LOOKS like it could have in the past.

[baralheia]

Like the Pioneer Building, the Telephone Building has those blocked-in granite storefronts.

I've never been in any of those AT&T buildings. They all look like some sort of prison complex when you walk by.

I'm working on getting more info on the building from AT&T and will post it when I do.

Good luck; AT&T is notoriously tight-lipped about active facilities for network security reasons. That's much the same reason why virtually all of their older buildings with storefront windows on the ground level were blocked in. That said, if you're at all interested in the history of telecommunications, there's a really neat little museum inside that monolithic AT&T Annex / Toll building at 111 Dean A McGee called the Oklahoma Museum of Telephone History... Very limited hours (only open Monday and Wednesday from 10am to 2pm) but it's very cool. They even have a neat electromechanical telephone switch set up that you can make a call on between a couple of phones to see how it worked. It's run by former AT&T / Southwestern Bell employees. And that way you can say you've been inside one of the AT&T buildings too!

So, more on topic: I assume the last telephone switching operations in the Telephone Building were wound down and transferred to the Toll building next door around the time that AT&T removed the old microwave horn-reflector antennas from the roof back in 2015. This was also about the same time when they announced that they were moving employees into downtown from satellite offices. According to a NewsOK article from November 14, 2015, the antenna removal was part of a $1.1 million renovation project for the building. Maybe after they spent $2.4 million next door in the Toll building, they realized they didn't need the space in the Telephone building any longer?

[Pete]

[HangryHippo]

Lackmeyer recently commented (maybe in his chat?) about not knowing new electrical components were going in here and that may kill any chances of "fixing" this intersection. Were there ever plans to fix it? I recall a post (from Spartan?) a long time ago that showed what he would like to see, but I don't ever remember it being discussed in any official manner.

[Pete]

Lackmeyer recently commented (maybe in his chat?) about not knowing new electrical components were going in here and that may kill any chances of "fixing" this intersection. Were there ever plans to fix it? I recall a post (from Spartan?) a long time ago that showed what he would like to see, but I don't ever remember it being discussed in any official manner.

Yet, that same reporter published a story with quotes from Andy Burnett about how great this was for the city and failed to mention -- or obviously even recognize -- the entire reason for the park re-do was so the Pioneer Building would have a place for a huge new transformer.

This wasn't a gift to the city, it was something they pledged to do in order to have a home for their electrical equipment.

It's the danger of just running puff-piece PR without doing any research whatsoever. This was all in the plans filed with the city that I posted here some time ago.

And it also shows the importance of trying to get out in front of these public applications before they are approved and work has started. Way too late to do anything about this now.

[Johnb911]

Lackmeyer recently commented (maybe in his chat?) about not knowing new electrical components were going in here and that may kill any chances of "fixing" this intersection. Were there ever plans to fix it? I recall a post (from Spartan?) a long time ago that showed what he would like to see, but I don't ever remember it being discussed in any official manner.

I saw that too and was surprised he didn't know, since they put out the plans a while ago to redo this little park as it was necessary to install new electrical equipment.