I an on board with the rowing and Boathouse row. It's the best thing that has ever happened to the river. I have been thinking of ways to stimulate visitors to the area. The park and Santa Monica Ferris wheel are all great ideas. Wonder what the chances are of having dancing waters, especially at night to draw visitors to the river. I think it would also increase riders on the boats. You could do theme nights e.g. OSU, OU nights and highlight the school colors. Holidays like Valentines Day, St Patricks Day and July 4th. The first video shows classical music, Imagine The OKC symphony at the river. The musians and the attendees on the North band and the fountains on the South bank. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Regatta would be out of this world. What are you thoughts on this idea?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrQgcXw7nrk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FgScPq4SIM

Your ideas sound okay, but the name of the river needs to be changed to the North Canadian River.

It's not going to happen... and the new name has proved to be one of the best marketing ideas ever for the river.

Like the idea. Next question is, how much does something like that cost and where do you get the money? When we don't have the money for the fixing the State Fair Speedway (but could afford to pay more to tear it down)...don't have the money for the Grand Prix...don't have the money for the SkyDancer bridge, etc etc.

Maybe build a shopping center along the river like Branson Landing in Missouri. My family and I were just there yesterday. It was really fun!! They have boat tours kind of like the Devon cruises except the boats at Branson Landing are actual yachts. Also, every 30 minutes they have a water show like the one in las Vegas except extremely scaled down. Something like this would do really well in OKC imo.

I think an upscale theme park would be awesome down there.

I think it would be great to have some kind of multi-use restaurant/bar with a large outdoor patio and place for musicians to play right off the river. Not sure exactly where it would go, but there would be positives and negatives to the north and south side of the river.

Are they going to have any triathlons at the river anymore? I know they had one a few years ago and a bunch of athletes got sick, but it seems like they should try again. It's a great way to draw people to the river.

The North Canadian River...located just South of Downtown Oklahoma City.

I think an upscale theme park would be awesome down there.

What is an upscale theme park? I'm not trying to be facetious but does that mean better than Celebration Station or what?

What is an upscale theme park? I'm not trying to be facetious but does that mean better than Celebration Station or what?
Well I meant something larger, better funded and different than we have in OKC right now.

Well I meant something larger, better funded and different than we have in OKC right now.

Since something like that would require acres and acres of parking, I doubt it's feasible or desireable. At least not on the river in the downtown area.

There are plenty of land south of the river capable of supporting a multi-complex theme park with hotels. As for parking, ljbab728, this is very easy to solve with parking garages. However, OKC is not smart enough to make it all happen. :-(

And the river is not even done yet. Near the I-40/I-35 junction, it is basically pathetically empty. They are slow to build more dams. >_<

Why does everyone want a behemouth amusement park with a sea of parking at the river? We should want higher, better and more dense uses for this prime real estate.

I want to know what land is readily available to built on adjacent to the river. Boathouse Row area, Meridian, Western Avenue, and? It seems to me there's too much dedicated park land to even begin to build a cohesive flow of development. There has to be a better way for them to incorporate parkland with development along the river, otherwise it's just going to occur in chunks.

And no, I'm not saying that the open air parks aren't nice and needed, but they span the entire length of the river!

You could always go to the OCURA website and find out the land that can and can not be developed.

Oh wait, OCURA hasn't ever heard of the internet or much less having a website.

if only we could pick up bass pro and set it next to the river

I want to know what land is readily available to built on adjacent to the river. Boathouse Row area, Meridian, Western Avenue, and? It seems to me there's too much dedicated park land to even begin to build a cohesive flow of development. There has to be a better way for them to incorporate parkland with development along the river, otherwise it's just going to occur in chunks.

And no, I'm not saying that the open air parks aren't nice and needed, but they span the entire length of the river!

I totally agree with Architect2010. We need different segments along the river housing, parks, trails, some commercial, shopping and cultural museums or such. Isn't it about seven miles from Meridian to I35 I40 junction? That is a lot of park.

if only we could pick up bass pro and set it next to the river

I would rather it be dumped into the river.

I used the whole river trails system today (both sides of the river). I'm convinced the reason we have a park along the entire segment is to give users of the trails a continuous system and at least some buffer from the industrial or otherwise unattractive sites which are near the trails. I don't fault Pull-a-part, but even with the park, it is barely separated visually from the bike trail by relatively sparse and small trees. City would probably be willing to sacrifice some of the park buffer for a sufficiently attractive and compatible development which preserves a continuous trail. Dell's facility has a fence just a few feet off the trail, and the boathouses are also quite close.

I used the whole river trails system today (both sides of the river). I'm convinced the reason we have a park along the entire segment is to give users of the trails a continuous system and at least some buffer from the industrial or otherwise unattractive sites which are near the trails. As an example, I don't fault Pull-a-part, but even with the park, it is barely separated visually from the bike trail by relatively sparse and small trees. Our riverfront authorities would probably be willing to sacrifice some of the park buffer for a sufficiently attractive and compatible development which preserves a continuous trail. Already, Dell's facility has a fence just a few feet off the trail, and the boathouses are also quite close.

There are plenty of land south of the river capable of supporting a multi-complex theme park with hotels. As for parking, ljbab728, this is very easy to solve with parking garages. However, OKC is not smart enough to make it all happen. :-(

And the river is not even done yet. Near the I-40/I-35 junction, it is basically pathetically empty. They are slow to build more dams. >_<

Oh Thunder! Why do you continue to down our city with ridiculous comments like "OKC is not smart enough to make it all happen."? And by the way, the river is completed, therefore they are not "slow to build more dams." I advise you educate yourself next time before making these sort of ignorant comments.:bright_id

Oh Thunder! Why do you continue to down our city with ridiculous comments like "OKC is not smart enough to make it all happen."? And by the way, the river is completed, therefore they are not "slow to build more dams." I advise you educate yourself next time before making these sort of ignorant comments.:bright_id

If you cross the river on Eastern, you will see one side filled and the other side empty. That is not complete. There is more work to be done. And yes, OKC has been lacking brain cells for so many years. Just look at many other states attracting major Six Flags parks, major theme parks, and the list just goes on and on. OKC is slowly improving, but not fast enough.

Curious but what new "major" Six Flags parks have been built in recent memory? Most of the ones I know of have been there for decades. Don't forget that lowly Frontier City owned Six Flags for a few years and Six Flags headquarters was here in OKC (they also had headquarters in New York). Unfortunately, Frontier City was too small to get the Six Flags branding. Also have to be careful what you wish for as after Frontier City sold Six Flags it has been in/out(?) of bankruptcy.

About the only place I can think of where new theme parks are going in, have been in Florida and California. Mainly due to year-round weather and successful businesses seem to attract other and on and on and on.

Think you are talking about 2 different things when it comes to the incomplete dams. As pointed out, they have built all of the dams that they are going to (under the original MAPS). Now if you are talking about the development along the damed portion of the river being incomplete, no argument there. The question goes back to is there no development because the City isn't allowing it? Or restricting it to fit into the Core to Shore master plan. If that is the case, it could well be several decades before you see anything happen.

If you cross the river on Eastern, you will see one side filled and the other side empty. That is not complete. There is more work to be done. And yes, OKC has been lacking brain cells for so many years. Just look at many other states attracting major Six Flags parks, major theme parks, and the list just goes on and on. OKC is slowly improving, but not fast enough.

Thunder... that side of Eastern is Del City... not OKC.... everything we were going to do with the dams is done... call Dell City if you want them to do the same thing on their side. Should OKC dam the ricer all the way to New Mexico?

River Port Amphitheater. Need an area that can hold 20-25 k for concerts with seating for at least 10k.

River Port Amphitheater. Need an area that can hold 20-25 k for concerts with seating for at least 10k.

That would be awesome!

That would be awesome!

It probably won't be that large but it has been proposed. See in the map shown on the south side of the river.

http://www.okc.gov/planning/coretoshore/visuals/September07_Land_Use.jpg

So i was just thinking after watching some videos that we should , at some point in the future, try to rebuild or beautify the bridges that cross the river. I was thinking something along the lines of what downtown Wichita has done.
http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Culture/PublicArt/Bridges.htm

So i was just thinking after watching some videos that we should , at some point in the future, try to rebuild or beautify the bridges that cross the river. I was thinking something along the lines of what downtown Wichita has done.
http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Culture/PublicArt/Bridges.htm

I have been hoping we would beautify some of our bridges, it would make our City feel cleaner and nicer, I think anyway.

Totally agree with you circuitboard. Our bridges are really plain vanilla and bland. I know it would be expensve to rebuild, but I think we could figure out some way to, at the very least, beautify them or possibly add to them in some way? Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on how this could be done?

Totally agree with you circuitboard. Our bridges are really plain vanilla and bland. I know it would be expensve to rebuild, but I think we could figure out some way to, at the very least, beautify them or possibly add to them in some way? Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on how this could be done?

LED lighting like what they have done at the Byers bridge.

I agree with the person that said we need something like Branson Landing. Except maybe a little more upscale. But, I think a complex of mixed retail, housing, and restaurants with a central amphitheater with dancing fountains like Branson Landing would be nice to have along the river near downtown, as part of Core to Shore. Not wanting a mall, but instead an outdoor lifestyle center with upscale stores and a mix of tenants including housing. Branson did it right with Branson Landing, only it could be a little more upscale.

Totally agree with you circuitboard. Our bridges are really plain vanilla and bland. I know it would be expensve to rebuild, but I think we could figure out some way to, at the very least, beautify them or possibly add to them in some way? Anyone have any thoughts or ideas on how this could be done?

THis has been one of the things that has been on my mind also and I mentioned the same in the Skydance Bridge thread. I would absolutely love if they would make it a design competition with one of the constraints being what could be done while retaining the structure as is to avoid a complete rebuilding of the bridges. That said there are some that are of significant importance near down town over the river that I think should have much more significant impact and may require replacement. Since a project like that is so expensive, it is probably much more feasible to do some add on aesthetic improvements. Yoiu could clad them with stone, and incorporate lighting and other decorative elements fairly inexpensively and without compromising the structural integrity thus making a dramatic visual improvement. I would love to see this type of competition take place. Of course to realize will take a some serious money to be donated or set asside for the purpose. Could be a MAPS 4 type item... That said I would love to see MAPS 4 be heavily fixed rail oriented with some other infrastructure improvements such as a bridge or two being dramatically re constructed, such as the I-35 Bridge over the river. Just imagine the impact of a bridge that has real visual preseance as people come up and over the River and see the downtown skyline in the distance with the impact of the Boathouse row off to the right and the Native american cultural center. The bridge if done with some really strong vertical elements could really have a significant impact on the skyline shots from that whole side of town as well as the traffic along that critical north south route. This is the stuff of dreams and has the potential to have a very public image impact on how the city is viewed. As you can tell I am all for it!

An iconic suspension bridge replacing the current I-35 bridges would be the final piece of the puzzle for creating world class river sports venue. While MAPS 3 will really elevate the river with tremendous enhancements, a uniquely designed suspension bridge would be the icing on the cake. It would serve as a tremendous gateway into the downtown area and be a fitting complement to the world class modern attractions being built in the Boathouse District and the American Indian Cultural Center. It could also provide an excellent pedestrian link between the American Indian Cultural Center and the Boathouse District/ Bricktown areas. And functionally, it would remove the bridge columns from the river's racing lanes (the only impediment to our excellent river venue). While certainly expensive, it would certainly make a significant impact, both functionally and aesthetically. With a location at the heaviest travelled crossroads in the nation, a suspension bridge could really make an impact. May be a dream for now - but the current bridges will have to be replaced some day- or there is always the possibility of a MAPS 4 down the road!

An iconic suspension bridge replacing the current I-35 bridges would be the final piece of the puzzle for creating world class river sports venue. While MAPS 3 will really elevate the river with tremendous enhancements, a uniquely designed suspension bridge would be the icing on the cake. It would serve as a tremendous gateway into the downtown area and be a fitting complement to the world class modern attractions being built in the Boathouse District and the American Indian Cultural Center. It could also provide an excellent pedestrian link between the American Indian Cultural Center and the Boathouse District/ Bricktown areas. And functionally, it would remove the bridge columns from the river's racing lanes (the only impediment to our excellent river venue). While certainly expensive, it would certainly make a significant impact, both functionally and aesthetically. With a location at the heaviest travelled crossroads in the nation, a suspension bridge could really make an impact. May be a dream for now - but the current bridges will have to be replaced some day- or there is always the possibility of a MAPS 4 down the road!


awesome idea!