metro
06-12-2007, 08:11 AM
Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman
Sitting along the grassy knoll at NW 3 and E.K. Gaylord Saturday night, I saw the past, present and future of downtown all at one moment.
The swath of land itself is a throwback to the heyday of Urban Renewal — an odd triangle-shaped block formed 40 years ago when architect and planner I.M. Pei blazed a path for the boulevard as a new major corridor through downtown.
The empty lot's gentle slope toward the wall of the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railway tracks has, for the past couple years, provided a perfect outdoor viewing venue for the annual Dead Center Film Festival.
About 1,000 people, perhaps the biggest crowd yet for the festival's outdoor screenings, gathered on the grass Saturday night to watch short films and a documentary on hometown band the Flaming Lips.
The Untitled ArtsSpace Gallery sets just on the other side of the tracks. And immediately to the east of the gallery, the imposing rooflines of the new Brownstones at Maywood Park are making their mark on the skyline.
This stretch of NW 3 was an oversight by Pei — and yet it's allowed a glimpse at how a slight burst of creativity can spur on development in the most unlikely of locales.
After all, NE 3 was for 20 years a desolate forgotten stretch on the wrong side of the tracks.
But that's the past. Looking ahead, one can only wonder what the relocation of Shakespeare in the Park will mean for properties surrounding the Myriad Gardens.
The first performance on the garden's renovated water stage is Thursday night. The gardens have long held the promise of providing the perfect backdrop for high-rise residential development, but to date downtown's botanic jewel has yet to reach its full potential as a year-around draw.
The arts are often seen as a nonprofit affair — unrelated to business.
But as downtown development trends continue, evidence may soon back arguments by the "creative class” that they may be a key inducement for inner-city redevelopment.
While downtown Saturday, I also witnessed a packed Bricktown — an entertainment district seemingly free of some of the "thug” element that scared visitors this time last year. Live music played on each corner, and the crowd mix seemed to reflect an increasingly diverse population.
The Bricktown Canal Water Taxis were also full — and manager Chad Huntington is expecting his one millionth ticketed customer sometime within the next 10 days.
Downtown's past, present and future glimpsed
To celebrate, Water Taxi of Oklahoma will shower the one millionth ticketed passenger with a gift package that Huntington promises will keep a local resident busy exploring metro-area attractions for months, or be enough to convince an out-of-towner to make a return visit to Oklahoma City.
The winner will receive free lodging at a downtown hotel, passes to area restaurants and museums, and a chance to throw out the first pitch at an Oklahoma RedHawks baseball game.
As of Sunday night, the passenger count since the canal opened on July 2, 1999, stood at 993,015.
Not bad for a 45-minute cruise that was described by city leaders as a "boat ride to nowhere.”
More Stories By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman
Sitting along the grassy knoll at NW 3 and E.K. Gaylord Saturday night, I saw the past, present and future of downtown all at one moment.
The swath of land itself is a throwback to the heyday of Urban Renewal — an odd triangle-shaped block formed 40 years ago when architect and planner I.M. Pei blazed a path for the boulevard as a new major corridor through downtown.
The empty lot's gentle slope toward the wall of the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railway tracks has, for the past couple years, provided a perfect outdoor viewing venue for the annual Dead Center Film Festival.
About 1,000 people, perhaps the biggest crowd yet for the festival's outdoor screenings, gathered on the grass Saturday night to watch short films and a documentary on hometown band the Flaming Lips.
The Untitled ArtsSpace Gallery sets just on the other side of the tracks. And immediately to the east of the gallery, the imposing rooflines of the new Brownstones at Maywood Park are making their mark on the skyline.
This stretch of NW 3 was an oversight by Pei — and yet it's allowed a glimpse at how a slight burst of creativity can spur on development in the most unlikely of locales.
After all, NE 3 was for 20 years a desolate forgotten stretch on the wrong side of the tracks.
But that's the past. Looking ahead, one can only wonder what the relocation of Shakespeare in the Park will mean for properties surrounding the Myriad Gardens.
The first performance on the garden's renovated water stage is Thursday night. The gardens have long held the promise of providing the perfect backdrop for high-rise residential development, but to date downtown's botanic jewel has yet to reach its full potential as a year-around draw.
The arts are often seen as a nonprofit affair — unrelated to business.
But as downtown development trends continue, evidence may soon back arguments by the "creative class” that they may be a key inducement for inner-city redevelopment.
While downtown Saturday, I also witnessed a packed Bricktown — an entertainment district seemingly free of some of the "thug” element that scared visitors this time last year. Live music played on each corner, and the crowd mix seemed to reflect an increasingly diverse population.
The Bricktown Canal Water Taxis were also full — and manager Chad Huntington is expecting his one millionth ticketed customer sometime within the next 10 days.
Downtown's past, present and future glimpsed
To celebrate, Water Taxi of Oklahoma will shower the one millionth ticketed passenger with a gift package that Huntington promises will keep a local resident busy exploring metro-area attractions for months, or be enough to convince an out-of-towner to make a return visit to Oklahoma City.
The winner will receive free lodging at a downtown hotel, passes to area restaurants and museums, and a chance to throw out the first pitch at an Oklahoma RedHawks baseball game.
As of Sunday night, the passenger count since the canal opened on July 2, 1999, stood at 993,015.
Not bad for a 45-minute cruise that was described by city leaders as a "boat ride to nowhere.”
More Stories By Steve Lackmeyer