State Fairgrounds

[HOT ROD]

yes you're right. I did see that in the reports.

My apologies - I didn't mean any harm only that I had thought Clay was a little young and probably has much more to contribute to OKC. But yes, he has been integral to the fair (better or worse) and for that yes, does deserve the recognition.

I just hope he does continue to build OKC and this isn't his last hurrah. ...

[Laramie]

Many new structures will have glitches to work out upon opening of which the fairgrounds is no stranger.

I remember as a child attending the CHL Oklahoma City Blazers opening game vs. Houston Apollos at the Fairgrounds arena, the ice looks like a frozen dirty ponds. They eventually had to encase the pipes beneath the arena floor in concrete instead of sand.

The Bennett Events Center will have some initial concerns they will have to work out. As far as when those glitches will have to be addressed, it could happen on the first event or some event down the line. You just never know or can you predict about these things.

[Pete]

The Bennett Center is officially open so I decided to go check it out during this weekend's Home & Garden show.

Well, it's big.

But it's also unimaginably plain.

You can see from the photos it's the most bare-bones type of facility possible. Hate to be negative but I found the place depressing. Not one tree or bit of landscaping and it already seems dated.

Reminder that they made a bunch of cuts once the construction bids came in.

And I must say, for all the money that has been poured into the fairgrounds over the last few decades, the entire area is just so run-down. The Cox Pavilion (the next biggest building) is really ugly and has a rusty roof, the rest of the buildings are as bad and the grounds have broken pavement and are poorly maintained.

Why oh why do they let people park in grass fields along 10th Street when there is now oceans of parking where the old grandstand and ballpark used to be? So incredibly trashy and there is no reason for this.

Also, they have interior roads blocked off so the north half of the grounds (near the old ballpark) and the south part (arena, main buildings and now the Bennett Center) are completely cut off from each other. There is actually a dedicated on-ramp to I-44 that goes under 10th but you can't get to it unless you park at the old ballpark area, which few people do other than for horse shows.

Just goes to show how incredibly bad things were before all the more recent improvements were made.

[Pete]

After looking at the fairgrounds a bit further I believe I can answer why the north part of the complex -- and all direct freeway access -- is completely cutoff from the main facilities.

The parking area on the site of the old ballpark seems to be blocked off for horse trailers. There are barricades all around that lot and the two road blocks do not allow ingress / egress from the rest of the site.

So what seems to happen is that people turn off into the north area of the fairgrounds (the first entrances you see as you come off of I-44, which is likely the majority) find the paved parking area is blocked off and then park in the muddy fields. The only other option is to go completely back out to 10th, go right on May and then find the new parking areas near the Bennett Center and where the old grandstand stood. And absolutely nobody is going to do that.

So, not only is that north paved parking not available to the public, people can't even drive through there from the south / main fairgrounds to get out to the interstate or access the main parking areas.


They seem to have created this protected area for horse trailers and completely jacked up the traffic flow and caused people to needlessly park in muddy fields that are further away than the thousands of newly paved spaces to the south.

So yesterday when those lots right near the Bennett Center were only about 1/4 full, I noticed tons of people still parked in those fields off 10th Street.

[bradh]

Sounds like some signage is in order, simple fix.

[Pete]

They would also have to close off those fields to parking.

[SOONER8693]

They would also have to close off those fields to parking.

I agree with you 100% about parking and driving on grass. It looks cheap, trashy, and classless. However, most Oklahomans and Texans consider it a God given right to park and drive on grass and off road. That way they can get "a little mud on the tires".

[stratosphere]

I went to the Bennett Event Center yesterday with my Mom and we thought the facility was fairly nice. I could tell it was new but had no idea that this was it's grand opening to the public.

I do agree with the comments about all of the grass parking, and that has always bothered me about the fair. Looking forward to the auto show.

[jn1780]

Were they utilizing the other buildings also for the home and garden show? People are use to going to those other buildings which were closer to those grass fields that they park in. Its also hard to break that habit when the free parking is in the fields during the State Fair.The fair would need to block off the north entrance to just horse trailers so that people come from May.

[stratosphere]

Were they utilizing the other buildings also for the home and garden show? People are use to going to those other buildings which were closer to those grass fields that they park in. Its also hard to break that habit when the free parking is in the fields during the State Fair.The fair would need to block off the north entrance to just horse trailers so that people come from May.

Supposedly they were using 3 different buildings for the H&G show, also there was a gun show going on somewhere so that may be why parking was so full.

[Pete]

The parking wasn't full.

The two massive lots nearest all the buildings were at most 1/4 full and there were still tons of people parking on the grass.

[stratosphere]

The parking wasn't full.

The two massive lots nearest all the buildings were at most 1/4 full and there were still tons of people parking on the grass.

I didn't drive through the entire parking lot(s) to see if they were full or not, so perhaps they weren't.

[HangryHippo]

The parking wasn't full.

The two massive lots nearest all the buildings were at most 1/4 full and there were still tons of people parking on the grass.

I'm with you. I just do not understand the parking situation at the fairgrounds.

[Zuplar]

I'm with you. I just do not understand the parking situation at the fairgrounds.

Me too. Glad I'm not the only one.

[baralheia]

That may very well be why, and that makes a lot of sense. Permanent signage for the concession areas would be cool too - and along that line, I'd love to see OnCue borrow QuickTrip's idea and have a temporary location inside the Event Center like QT has (had?) at Expo Square in Tulsa, or like the QT in the Sprint Center in KC. I've always thought having a mini convenience store on the premises of the Fairgrounds would make a killing during events there; of course, it'd have to only be operational during events there.

[HangryHippo]

That may very well be why, and that makes a lot of sense. Permanent signage for the concession areas would be cool too - and along that line, I'd love to see OnCue borrow QuickTrip's idea and have a temporary location inside the Event Center like QT has (had?) at Expo Square in Tulsa, or like the QT in the Sprint Center in KC. I've always thought having a mini convenience store on the premises of the Fairgrounds would make a killing during events there; of course, it'd have to only be operational during events there.

I love that idea!

[shawnw]

You should go at night as well, the lighting effects are decent enough check out once.

[ljbab728]

I don't know what people were expecting about the new building, but it looks basically like I exactly expected.

[baralheia]

I visited the Home and Garden Show this weekend, partially to check out the new expo center as well. Honestly, aside from the lack of any sort of landscaping, any complaints I have about the building are minor - it's pretty much exactly what I expected we were getting. My only real complaints would be that there's no landscaping at all and the knockoff Dyson Airblade-style hand dryers in the bathrooms are nowhere near as good as the real thing. Also, the columns in the lobby are clad with what appears to be folded sheet steel, and the installation has the appearance of being very rushed and sloppy; the panels aren't even at all. But really, that's all pretty minor in the scale of things. The interior of the building was clean, well-lit, and comfortable, and the color changing lights behind the frosted glass up front look neat.

[Pete]

I saw there is a contract to put LED lighting on columns at the Bennett Center, so that may be why they looked unfinished.

Also, there will be permanent signs installed for the concession areas.

[stratosphere]

One note about the concession areas, they all need more tables! Nearly everyone there gets a bite to eat and there was plenty of people sitting on the floor eating because of the lack of tables. That's my only gripe.

[macfoucin]

The arch has fallen.
http://www.news9.com/category/116601...lipId=13288396

[Pete]

Holy cow.

Lucky nobody was hurt.

[Trisha]

so sad to see that the Iconic Arch fell in the storms last nite!
Does anybody know the history of it?
I couldn't find anything on it in a basic search

[rezman]

so sad to see that the Iconic Arch fell in the storms last nite!
Does anybody know the history of it?
I couldn't find anything on it in a basic search

It's been there since the mid 70's IIRC. There's one vintage fixture that the fair board won't have to worry about tearing down.