Tower Theatre

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Do we have a general idea what the capacity of the Tower would be as a music venue?

I think it is around a thousand depending on how the main floor is set up. There's 250 original seats in the balcony which is going to be restored as is but the main floor is going to get flattened into three or four sections with one step down between them and they can be set up theater style or with table seating. I'll verify the capacity with the owners and post the correct figure if this is very far off. Also, the size of the stage will be increased to improve it as a music and theatrical venue.

It would be a great spot for an updated murder mystery dinner theater concept utilizing modern urban themes . . . Tatooed to death or pierced and hung out to dry comes to mind.

I was up in the second floor office space above the 23rd Street facing retail spaces west of the marquee and it has lots very nice granite or marble wall panels and terazzo stairs and corridor floor that is fabulous. A lot of the original oak flooring can be cleaned up and refinished. The ceilings are about 9' . . . maybe 9'-6" and the 12" square supporting columns have a nice little flair detail at the ceiling. It will make great office space. There are nice windows overlooking the street with some nice urban views. The plans include a Green Room and community conference room up there as well. Anyone interested in talking about leasing some of this retail or office space can talk to Marty Dillon at 409.6907. They are also looking for a solid restaurant tenant and there is space set aside for a good size catering kitchen. Now is the time to get in on the ground floor as they say . . . or the second floor for that matter.

Now that the roofing work has been completed, I anticipate that some other work will get going over the next couple of months . . . . Yeah baby, I'm feelin' it . . . 2009 . . . mighty fine!

Michael

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on

[trison]

I talked to Marty and he said that they were gearing this project up. He told me that he has hired Greg Banta to handle the redevelopment and marketing of the project.

[jbrown84]

Banta's a great person to bring on. Thanks for all the details michael.

[redcup]

I am glad, it is a sad eyesore of a once beautiful facility

[lasomeday]

WOW, I am really excited about this project. Banta will do an incredible job!

[wsucougz]

Is Banta a partner now or just the GC? I kind of thought this project was dead in the water and he had previously made comments about getting involved with other urban projects after leaving the Midtown partnership.

Either way, this is a big big deal and I am very excited.

[trison]

Saw guys cleaning up inside just now. It even looked like Banta was in there cleaning. Wish I had a camera with me.

[Steve]

Don't worry Trison. I had my camera....

[trison]

So Steve what's the scoop? What's Banta doing?

[MikeOKC]

If Banta's involved in the redevelopment now, that is nothing but good news. Good businessman, good person.

[metro]

Steve's got an article in today's Oklahoman.

[jbrown84]

Interesting discussion over there. Naysayers as usual.

[soonerguru]

Man, the people who comment on Oklahoman stories make me frightened to live here. If I were an advertiser, I would question buying media to reach that audience: angry, racist morons. Of course, they're probably just the people who spend their lives responding to articles. Still, it's pretty scary.

[BDP]

Guru, they're the same people that bitch about parking downtown, yet frequent Quail Springs and Memorial Road every weekend.



Besides, it's not like the Tower is going to be a mass market venue. Whether it's a music venue, art house theater, or dinner theater, I doubt its offerings are going to be geared towards the people who are for some reason scared of it, anyway. It more than likely will fill the smaller, but still present, entertainment demand that isn't currently being served by megaplexes and Chili's derivatives.

As far any racist sentiments, it just means that when it's open you can hang out there and not have to worry about the racists showing up and ruining the fun.

[bluedogok]

Man, the people who comment on Oklahoman stories make me frightened to live here. If I were an advertiser, I would question buying media to reach that audience: angry, racist morons. Of course, they're probably just the people who spend their lives responding to articles. Still, it's pretty scary.

I have found that the majority of people commenting on newspaper websites (in any city) to be the lowest of the low when it comes to intelligence and attitude. I pretty much never read them as 99.9% of them are utter trash responses.

[bombermwc]

Taking the tower to platform seating instead of standard auditorim style will definitely give the place an edge that doesn't really exist right now. The possibility for dinner theatre is extremely exciting! It would have been great as regular seating as well, but I think this opens up a whole new world of options for the old girl.

There's a growing theater presence in the area, believe it or not. OCU has a large impact on that. The department of theater has increased it's enrollment by almost 4 times over. With that many students, you know they are going to want outlets to perform on the side. Heck, they already did with OCTC among other known groups. There are other dinner theatres out there in OK, just very many around in town. It would be awesome!

[jbrown84]

Yeah OKC has a tremendous impact on our theatre scene. In the last year we've had 2 new theatre companies launch in OKC and none have closed.

[RSA]

As a business owner on 23rd street, I am very happy to hear that the Tower is geared up for progress. We would be willing to help out in any way possible to help with the progress of tthe Tower Theater and the surrounding neighborhood.
Shortly after the group purchased the Tower Theater we had gotten involved and the Tower became our original location for Prohibition Room. We were real excited about the renovation. Problem is, they just were not ready for the development. Roughly 9 locations and 3 years later, we located in the Gold Dome.
Fife, Dillon and the Goads are all really nice people and we wish them the best of luck on the project.

Rich

[OKCitizen]

How soon will the mangled marquee be replaced?

[JakeZula]

I can't wait to see that neon sign in all its art deco glory.

[USG '60]

As a business owner on 23rd street, I am very happy to hear that the Tower is geared up for progress. We would be willing to help out in any way possible to help with the progress of tthe Tower Theater and the surrounding neighborhood.
Shortly after the group purchased the Tower Theater we had gotten involved and the Tower became our original location for Prohibition Room. We were real excited about the renovation. Problem is, they just were not ready for the development. Roughly 9 locations and 3 years later, we located in the Gold Dome.
Fife, Dillon and the Goads are all really nice people and we wish them the best of luck on the project.

Rich

Is the Goad involved by any chance Ron?

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Is the Goad involved by any chance Ron?

Matt Goad.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Is the Goad involved by any chance Ron?

here's the link to Matt Goad's site. I think the first one I entered took you to a "Legalize Marajuna" site or something.

#!+

[windowphobe]

Is that the Starlight Mints/American Boyfriends Matt Goad?

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Is that the Starlight Mints/American Boyfriends Matt Goad?

They did the Mints album cover. It's on their site. #!+

Michael

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on