Bridge Event Center

[catch22]

Maybe the Panera Bread that's been rumored? About the right size and has a patio....

Would help to make Bricktown a little more mixed use. Housing nearby (DD and the new development on E Sheridan), the new hotels. Reasonably close to the business district and some of the office space in Bricktown.

[HangryHippo]

Maybe the Panera Bread that's been rumored? About the right size and has a patio....

This was my exact thought. Did the article give a timeline for when he hopes to have this deal announced?

[catch22]

Regardless, it will be good to have a little more national presence in Bricktown/downtown. Too much is bad, but it helps to have a little. Sometimes, as a visitor, you need to see things you recognize and national chains have tight quality control. So, having a "safe bet" for visitors is always a good thing. I know when I am traveling, I do look for national brands if I am not feeling too adventurous with the local offerings or am unsure of exactly what local restaurants are good. Until I get a feel for the area I am in or have had a chance to talk to a local who can give a recommendation for a local joint, I feel better spending my money in a chain because I am familiar with what I will be ordering and receiving.

[onthestrip]

That's not the Panera location. Look for panera to be adjacent to I235

[Pete]

That's not the Panera location. Look for panera to be adjacent to I235

Perhaps the OCURA land on Reno / Lincoln / I-235?

[Mr. Cotter]

Regardless, it will be good to have a little more national presence in Bricktown/downtown. Too much is bad, but it helps to have a little. Sometimes, as a visitor, you need to see things you recognize and national chains have tight quality control. So, having a "safe bet" for visitors is always a good thing. I know when I am traveling, I do look for national brands if I am not feeling too adventurous with the local offerings or am unsure of exactly what local restaurants are good. Until I get a feel for the area I am in or have had a chance to talk to a local who can give a recommendation for a local joint, I feel better spending my money in a chain because I am familiar with what I will be ordering and receiving.

I've successfully avoided chains while traveling since the introduction of Urban Spoon. Before that, I used my grandfather's trick (he owns a BBQ place in Texas): look for phone company trucks and police cars in the parking lot.

[onthestrip]

Perhaps the OCURA land on Reno / Lincoln / I-235?

No, not on ocura land.

Anything that goes on ocura land has to go through a request for proposal and then selected by ocura.

[HangryHippo]

No, not on ocura land.

Can we get a closer approximation of where along 235? Please.

[Just the facts]

Regardless, it will be good to have a little more national presence in Bricktown/downtown. Too much is bad, but it helps to have a little. Sometimes, as a visitor, you need to see things you recognize and national chains have tight quality control. So, having a "safe bet" for visitors is always a good thing. I know when I am traveling, I do look for national brands if I am not feeling too adventurous with the local offerings or am unsure of exactly what local restaurants are good. Until I get a feel for the area I am in or have had a chance to talk to a local who can give a recommendation for a local joint, I feel better spending my money in a chain because I am familiar with what I will be ordering and receiving.

When I travel to a new city or area and I am not sure what the area around hotel is like I do a search for the nearest Starbucks. If one is near by then the area should be nice. If there isn't a Starbucks I keep looking. I don't frequent Starbucks, I just use them to gauge the area.

[onthestrip]

Can we get a closer approximation of where along 235? Please.

Eh, let's just say its west of 235, not bricktown.

[HangryHippo]

Eh, let's just say its west of 235, not bricktown.

Thanks. Are we going to see it start soon?

[betts]

I smell a Deep Deuce. Wait, that doesn't sound right..

We do have a Jimmy Johns. I don't know if there's empty space in that building. That's not a location I would pick but it is just west of 235. Surely it's not going to go into LEVEL or the Aloft. That would be a disappointment.

[Pete]

This project was to be heard at the Nov. 14th design review meeting but the owners have asked for a 30-day continuance.

[Fantastic]

It's been a while... any new news on this???

[Pete]

They were hung up with the design review committee until a couple of weeks ago and I'm not sure if they got everything worked out or not.

Some small details about encroaching on the sidewalk, creating parking on the side street, etc.

[metro]

I kinda prefer the original buildings, they have more character and urban grit to them. The new renderings look to "faux Bricktown".

[LakeEffect]

I kinda prefer the original buildings, they have more character and urban grit to them. The new renderings look to "faux Bricktown".

But that's what the current Bricktown Urban Design Committee wants.

NOT AN ENDORSEMENT on my part, only making that statement based on recent design review decisions.

[Urbanized]

Agreed. Faux Bricktown is a good term for what they seem to want.

[Just the facts]

Once again - I don't get the whole faux thing. Are they using fake bricks?

[Pete]

They are planning to tack on a new front vestibule and paint the original brick to match.

[Just the facts]

They are planning to tack on a new front vestibule and paint the original brick to match.

So what is fake about that?

[metro]

Once again - I don't get the whole faux thing. Are they using fake bricks?

If having bricks alone is the new standard, by your definition wouldn't half of OKC and Edmond be considered Bricktown?

[Pete]

So what is fake about that?

I think the issue is moving away from the genuine warehouse look and feel in favor of a false front and painting the original surfaces.

[Just the facts]

If having bricks alone is the new standard, by your definition wouldn't half of OKC and Edmond be considered Bricktown?

Maybe, but so what. 90% of Bricktown didn't exist in its current form 20 years ago. Heck, for one there is a giant canal where California St was and a movie theater where some railroad tracks used to be. And don't get me started on restaurants and bars where industrial work used to take place. Adaptive re-use and expansion is not fake. Plastic walls molded to look like stone work is fake (Disneyland).

[Rover]

While I don't care for painting the bricks and the mortar, I guess I don't see the real fuss in the changes. If the idea is to keep Bricktown as a historically accurate neighborhood, then hardly any of the buildings down there now would pass, except the ones that are run down and don't have anything happening in them.

Do the posters who object to this re-do propose to keep the garage doors as the access area and have no outdoor patio? Is it the new windows on the sides? Is any updating permissible or advisable? Just curious how authentic is "authentic" and what the objecting posters think is faux.