State Fairgrounds

[Pete]

cost=$54 million


Information & Latest News

The MAPS 3 Fairground Improvement projects will consist of a new Expo Building, which will replace aging event buildings that are used year round, along with additional parking and relocation of a portion of the carnival/midway area. The proposed projects will be constructed in two phases, Phase 1 – Parking and Site Improvements and Phase 2 – New Expo Building. The budget for Phase 1 is $4,716,000 and the budget for Phase 2 is $53,974,000 for a total Fairgrounds budget of $58,690,000.
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[HangryHippo]

When are they going to do something about the grounds of the area? There are some simple things they could do that would help to clean up that area a ton, but it's pretty run down looking in its current state.

[SoonerDave]

Pete, this is going to sound like a stupid question, but is the building layout you're describing in the photos above something recently released, or has this been in the offing for some time?

I'd be less than forthright if I didn't confess I've all but given up on the fair and the way its been destroyed over the last decade, and it looks to me TPTB are wanting to put the nail in the coffin by blowing away the bulk of the midway. So I guess I'm curious as to the state of this layout.

[Pete]

Dave, the MAPS 3 funds were allocated for this project and the MAPS Fairgrounds Subcommittee paid a design firm to come up with a master plan and general placement of the proposed Expo building.

The study was just presented a week ago. Once accepted, they will start moving forward with Phase I (largely parking) then ultimately Phase II (new building).


300,000 s.f. is a huge building! Will be 4-5 times the size of Cox Pavilion which replaced the old International Building.

[Pete]

Here's a video visualization of the proposed improvements:

[LakeEffect]

The same firm that is doing the convention center (Populous) has been selected to be a partner on this project as well...

[Spartan]

The same firm that is doing the convention center (Populous) has been selected to be a partner on this project as well...

Pays to play the game.

[Pete]

Here are some conceptual renderings:

[LakeEffect]

Pays to play the game.

Pays. Interesting word.

[SoonerDave]

The Event Center is impressive looking, to be sure, but I guess I just can't help but wonder where we're going to have a fair. We've built a ton of horse barns and now we're covering up another chunk w/this new facility.

As I said, though, we've kinda bailed on the fair, and it may be the powerbroker types are trying to quietly get rid of the fair anyway, so the whole issue may be moot.

Interesting to see how it unfolds.

[Pete]

The second rendering in the original post shows the new proposed carnival area in red; this is the latest proposal which differs somewhat from the renderings and video I posted, which are now over a year old.

Don't forget they recently demolished the old speedway so that adds lots of space.

[CaptDave]

If we are building a 300,000 sq ft Exhibition Hall at the Fairgrounds, why do we "need" 200,000+ sq ft of convention center in the middle of downtown? Seems like one or the other is a pretty sizable waste of taxpayer dollars........

[HangryHippo]

If we are building a 300,000 sq ft Exhibition Hall at the Fairgrounds, why do we "need" 200,000+ sq ft of convention center in the middle of downtown? Seems like one or the other is a pretty sizable waste of taxpayer dollars........

THIS! I have this exact question. We sure as hell aren't hosting enough things that we need 500,000 + square feet of space in the middle of downtown.

[SoonerDave]

I just wish they'd fix the space needle.

[Roger S]

THIS! I have this exact question. We sure as hell aren't hosting enough things that we need 500,000 + square feet of space in the middle of downtown.

Maybe the reason we don't have that many events to host is because we don't have 500,000 sf of space to host with.

[Plutonic Panda]

Maybe the reason we don't have that many events to host is because we don't have 500,000 sf of space to host with.

Aha, I know your secret agenda to have a 500,000 sf BBQ showcase. jk

[Pete]

I think the two facilities would serve somewhat different purposes, as they do in most cities.

The Convention Center will be for more regional/national types of events and the fairgrounds has always been about more local/statewide with a lot of horse/livestock/agri-business.

[Plutonic Panda]

I think the two facilities would serve somewhat different purposes, as they do in most cities.

The Convention Center will be for more regional/national types of events and the fairgrounds has always been about more local/statewide with a lot of horse/livestock/agri-business.

Do you think we could get better quality car shows with this?

[Roger S]

Aha, I know your secret agenda to have a 500,000 sf BBQ showcase. jk

LOL.... I'm not sure 500,000 sf is big enough to hold my BBQ showcase.

[CaptDave]

I think the two facilities would serve somewhat different purposes, as they do in most cities.

The Convention Center will be for more regional/national types of events and the fairgrounds has always been about more local/statewide with a lot of horse/livestock/agri-business.

I can accept that explanation - IF - we only built a nice 200,000 - 250,000 sq ft convention center downtown. I think it is very difficult to justify a phase 2 to the CC that adds another 200,000 sq ft to it especially with this facility at the Fairgrounds. Honestly though, I think the Cox CC has more local/state events than regional and the justification for an extremely large CC is weak at best.

But hopefully this building at the fairgrounds will turn out well and be a nice venue for events there - and maybe put the downtown CC in better perspective.

[ljbab728]

The Event Center is impressive looking, to be sure, but I guess I just can't help but wonder where we're going to have a fair. We've built a ton of horse barns and now we're covering up another chunk w/this new facility.

As I said, though, we've kinda bailed on the fair, and it may be the powerbroker types are trying to quietly get rid of the fair anyway, so the whole issue may be moot.

Interesting to see how it unfolds.

I have no idea what you mean by this. What do you consider a fair to be? Exhibition areas are certainly one of the main focuses of any fair and that's always the principal reason I ever went to the fair. If you're talking about the midway, it appears that the location is just being moved.

[SoonerDave]

I have no idea what you mean by this. What do you consider a fair to be? Exhibition areas are certainly one of the main focuses of any fair and that's always the principal reason I ever went to the fair. If you're talking about the midway, it appears that the location is just being moved.

Well, perhaps my characterization was too harsh, but I guess part of me thinks of at least a good portion of the fair to be outside. You enclose that volume of space and you're just losing a lot of that outside venue opportunity. I could be wrong, but it looks like the midway area isn't as large in these new renderings.

C'est la vie. As I said, our family kinda gave up on the fair when the Wegner regime came in and implemented his scorched-earth policy, tore the place up and kicked (well, squeezed) out a lot of great traditional vendors, so the newer folks have their own vision of what it should be. What I hoped for, which meant an upgrade with an homage to tradition, apparently puts me in a decided minority, so I just have to be among those who takes a step back and sees how it unfolds.

I expect there to be at least some discussion (as has been started here) about the relative merit of building 200-300K sq ft convention space at the fairgrounds in the midst of the fight over building a similar scale of space downtown. Realize there's merit in both, but understand if it raises questions, so I'm not sure how I feel about it. Either way, it should result in the drawing of some fairly interesting battle lines/alliances in the weeks ahead. While I realize it was all part of the same general ballot,

While I realize it was all on the same ballot, I don't think most folks truly realized they were signing up to build two convention centers (especially when the polling data pre-MAPS3 showed there was not sufficient general public support for one new downtown convention center on its own, hence the melting pot of projects that MAPS3 became)...

[BoulderSooner]

I can accept that explanation - IF - we only built a nice 200,000 - 250,000 sq ft convention center downtown. I think it is very difficult to justify a phase 2 to the CC that adds another 200,000 sq ft to it especially with this facility at the Fairgrounds. Honestly though, I think the Cox CC has more local/state events than regional and the justification for an extremely large CC is weak at best.

But hopefully this building at the fairgrounds will turn out well and be a nice venue for events there - and maybe put the downtown CC in better perspective.

they serve 2 entirely different purposes and 2 different client bases ... there is very little to no overlap

[CaptDave]

they serve 2 entirely different purposes and 2 different client bases ... there is very little to no overlap

That may be 100% true - all I am saying is we need to seriously consider the need for a final price tag of around $1 billion (a guesstimate that includes CC Phase 1, Fairgrounds Building, CC Hotel, and CC Phase 2) of convention/exhibition space in comparison to other projects that are much higher on the list of preferences for the people that are funding MAPS. I think the new fairgrounds building will benefit the city as will a nice, reasonably sized new CC. But should we spend another several hundred million when transit, public safety, and other basic city services are more important to most citizens of OKC?

I hope this fairgounds project will include refurbishing the transportation exhibits in the courtyard of the Transportation Building that have been neglected. As many have stated, we need to do a better job blending the new and old at the fairgrounds. We have built a pretty nice equine facility and several other improvements but seemed to discard some of the features many people enjoyed without much thought.

[SoonerDave]

That may be 100% true - all I am saying is we need to seriously consider the need for a final price tag of around $1 billion (a guesstimate that includes CC Phase 1, Fairgrounds Building, CC Hotel, and CC Phase 2) of convention/exhibition space in comparison to other projects that are much higher on the list of preferences for the people that are funding MAPS. I think the new fairgrounds building will benefit the city as will a nice, reasonably sized new CC. But should we spend another several hundred million when transit, public safety, and other basic city services are more important to most citizens of OKC?

Well said, CaptDave.

If there were really a close tune to what was most important to the broadest cross section of OKC residents, I'm not convinced we'd be building a downtown convention center. Sorry to be so cynical about it, because I generally support its development (and recognize the age/utility of the Myriad), but the downtown convention center was, if ever there was one, an "agenda" item blended in with "popular" balm to get it passed/funded. As I noted above, the notion of a CC never polled well, and TPTB knew a CC-based MAPS3 would not succeed. So they threw in lots of "goodies" that may or may not ever see the light of day, but were enough of a carrot to get the vote out and pass it. But you can bet your bottom $$ we're going to get a CC. At least one.

I hope this fairgounds project will include refurbishing the transportation exhibits in the courtyard of the Transportation Building that have been neglected. As many have stated, we need to do a better job blending the new and old at the fairgrounds. We have built a pretty nice equine facility and several other improvements but seemed to discard some of the features many people enjoyed without much thought.

Unless I'm misinterpreting the photo Pete posted, that entire building (and presumably the exhibits therein) will be razed. No rehab -- which would be consistent with the fairgrounds plans to date - scorched earth. I tend to think the current leaders of the fair would be just as happy if the fair quietly disappeared entirely. If I'm misinterpreting that photo, Pete (or anyone else), please advise accordingly.