Outdoor makeover BOK Plaza's new owners plan to make $3M in upgrades to courtyard this year | NewsOK.com (http://newsok.com/article/3222547/1206760031)

good to see more and more money go into downtown ...

I'm glad to see something is happening with that area, especially with the Skirvin so close by.

someone please post the pics, I saw them in the print version

I'll have pictures tomorrow.

http://olive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/2008/03/29/21/Img/Pc0210500.jpg

http://olive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/2008/03/29/26/Img/Pc0260600.jpg

It's really amazing to think how badly most of downtown had fallen until the last few years:

- The Underground was a worn-out and dated mess
- The Skirvin was completely boarded up
- First National Center seemed to be on the verge of failure
- There was almost no housing other than the aging Recency Tower
- Kerr McGee complex had gone dark
- BOK Plaza & Fountain a neglected eyesore
- Dowell Center completely boarded up without any forward movement

Now, all this and much more has either been addressed or is in progress of being rectified. While that's great, it's also a little scary that things had sunk so incredibly low.

I disagree that BOK Plaza had fallen into "eyesore" status. The parking garage, yes, but the building is and has been one of the more attractive properties in the area. The trees on the plaza look great, and I never realized that the sculpure was supposed to be a fountain. The "Braniff Towers" buildings across the street, as well as AT&T, Dowell Center, etc, all look and still look much worse.

I walked by there about a month ago and was completely shocked with how shabby that area had become.

I used to belong to the former Whitehall Club that was on the top two floors of that building up until the late 80's, and worked in Leadership Square and parked in the BOK parking garage. So, I used to walk across that plaza all the time and it's current state is very far from what it once was. I don't think anything had been done to that space in 30 years.

There are worse properties but anyone that had seen the original Fidelity Building & Plaza would be pretty taken aback by it's current condition, which is no doubt why BOK demanded something be done.

Anyway, glad that it will soon be addressed.

http://olive.newsok.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=DOK/2008/03/29/21/Img/Pc0210700.jpg