Thu May 31, 2007
Tourism agency plans move to tourist siteRelated Information

By John Greiner
Capitol Bureau
The day before the Legislature went home last week, legislators authorized a $9 million bond issue for the Tourism and Recreation Department to buy half of the Journal Record Building near the Oklahoma City bombing memorial.

The agency has been looking for a new home for more than a year, spokesman Mike Fina said Wednesday. It now occupies the sixth floor and a coffee shop on the fifth floor of the First National Building in Oklahoma City.

State Rep. Susan Winchester, who is on the board of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation, suggested the agency look at the Journal Record Building, Fina said. After officials toured the building, legislation was introduced to obtain authorization for a bond issue to buy the east half of the building and refurbish it, Fina said.

If the sale goes through, the agency will own 80,000 square feet of space, he said.

The Journal Record Building is a great location to house the agency because it's near the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Fina said.

"One of the selling points is the memorial is the No. 1 visited tourist site in Oklahoma,” he said.

The agency had some preliminary negotiations with the City of Oklahoma City, which owns the building, and now will begin negotiations in earnest, Fina said.

The building at 621 N Robinson was damaged in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

The federal building had to be razed, but the Journal Record Building survived.

"It's is such a sturdy old building. They didn't have to do a lot of structural changes,” Fina said. "It's a testament to what a great building it is.”

The Tourism and Recreation Department also will try to buy a 120-space parking lot across the street, he said.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum occupies the west side of the Journal Record Building.

The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism is in the part of the building the tourism agency wants to buy, he said.

If the deal closes, the institute will remain in its current location and will lease the space from the Tourism Department, Fina said.

Does this make anyone else a little uncomfortable?

I mean, I know the reality of the memorial being a "tourist" attraction, but it does always feel a little weird to treat it like that. Putting the Tourism and Recreation Department right next to it may make us look a little shameless about using the tragedy and its memorial as a way to generate tourism.

I really don't think that a big problem actually exists in this area. I think we've done well to balance the desire of people to visit the memorial (which is really part of the reason one builds memorials in the first place) with its place as sacred land. However, it might just give the wrong impression to some, imo...

Well, I don't see a problem as long as there's not a huge sign for it overlooking the memorial.

I agree. It can be executed with consideration. In the end it's really just about real estate and the reality that the memorial is Oklahoma's #1 tourist attraction, even if the tourism board isn't actively seeking that distinction for the the memorial. But it's still a pretty big matzah ball hanging out there and I don't think anyone wants to be seen as making the memorial's primary role one of economic generation, which could happen by placing the tourism office next to the memorial if not done with the utmost respect and consideration.

And really, if no survivor has a problem with it, then i've got no problem with it.

I can see your point, but what does the location of the tourism office have to do with the goals of the Memorial? As long as they don't put in a visitors center or something like that, I don't see how it would affect the memorial at all.

Who is occupant of the JR building now??

I could be wrong but I don't think there is another occupant other than Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation. The Tourism Dept. would be purchasing the unused portion of the JR building.

The museum occupies the west end. The east end is empty except for the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. The Tourism dept. will occupy the rest of the east end, and the MIPT's lease will now be to the Tourism department.