A few years ago I heard about a proposition to make the Little Saigon area of OKC more tourist friendly, to make it more akin to the look of San Francisco's Chinatown complete with asian facades, streetlamps, decor, etc.

anyone know what happened, and why this attempt didnt see the light of day?

Uhh... are you talking about the Asian District on Classen? If so, Phase III of construction is going on right now.