Thought I'd start this thread for amazing, underpublicized or forgotten fascinating facts about Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Did you know that Penn Square Bank was one of the nation's most powerful banks?

Braniff was once based in Oklahoma City before relocating to Dallas and going bankrupt?

A brewery in the 1960's by the name of Progress Brewing Company made bottles of Progress beer, before being bought out by a brewing company in San Antonio and having its name changed to Lone Star beer.

Disney wanted to build an entertainment park in Pauls Valley in 1986, then considered Shawnee in the 1990's.

David Spade hung out with a friend in Oklahoma City and regularly went to the Samurai Saki House to play pool. He visited Jokers Comedy club when the club was open on May and 59th.

Edmond was the world's tallest water tower near I-35. It was constructed in 1987 and holds a capacity of 200,000 gallons, I believe.

Oklahoma, "Buckle of the Bible Belt", has changed more laws than most states across the country. Other states changed gradually overtime, but in less than 5 years, Oklahoma overhauled its auto-registraion fees, banned cockfighting, allowed local wineries to sell directly to a licensed retail liquor store and in festivals, legalized the lottery, Class III tribal gaming, cut state income tax rates, became a right-to-work state, will soon legalize tattooing, raise teachers' salaries and banned Sudafed due to widespread meth labs.

Oklahoma City was the No. 2 destination in the 1950's for conventions because of the central location.

Oklahoma City was the first city in the nation to use the Brifen cable barrier along the Lake Hefner Parkway.

Oklahoma City was the first city in the nation to host a publcized sit-in by the African-American community at Katz drug store.

The term "going postal" was actually coined after the murder of 16 post office employees including himself.

Frontier City was going to be razed and turned into a shopping plaza along I-35 until Gary Story took over.

Anybody have anything interesting to add to this thread? This is how an ambassaor of Oklahoma City and a citizen with pride master the shortcomings of a community, by throwing fascinating facts into the tour. That raises the excitement for visitors.

Great thread, Pulse.

"Frontier City was going to be razed and turned into a shopping plaza along I-35 until Gary Story took over."

Actually it was saved by Tierco Properties which was headed up by Brad Swickey and another guy whose name escapes me. When they bought the park in the early eighties it was run down and on its last shallow breath of air. Swickey hired Gary Story from Six Flags Over Texas to "save Frontier City." The rest is history. Story went on to become President and CEO of Six Flags, Inc. after Tierco became Premier Parks and Premier purchased Six Flags. Had it not been for the last gasp efforts of a few visionaries at Tierco, who were determined to save Frontier City as a theme park, it would be as Pulse correctly wrote, a strip center. Swickey was a banker at heart and went back to his first love to (I think) Local Federal. Today, he is a founder and president of Valliance Bank. Quite a story that I heard recited not too long ago at a Chamber function. It shows brilliantly that it sometimes just takes one or two to see something different, and turn certain failure into huge success. Frontier City is still a part of our city (and it became much more than that) because a couple of guys sat in an office and saw possibilities. Their decision to bring the then little-known Gary Story to Oklahoma City changed everything - and is a chapter in itself of Oklahoma City history.

i've been hearing recently that there are plans in the works to purchase some farmland next to FC and expand it into an actual six flags quality park. The reason they are holding out is because some old lady wants her land and wont sell it or whatever. none of this is from respected sources by any means, just heard it through the grapevine. anyone know if there is any truth to it?

Actually, TheImmortal, Frontier City already owns 80 acres just west of the park for expansion. Plans for expansion have been temporarily put on hold because of Six Flags' current financial position, and I have been told that managers at Frontier City are waiting for Oklahoma's centennial to get closer before they begin park expansion. Whether that is true remains to be seen, however the land is already in Frontier City's hands, as was reported in The Journal Record in 2003.

Don't forget they also own the acreage to the north where the haunted house used to be.

i've been hearing recently that there are plans in the works to purchase some farmland next to FC and expand it into an actual six flags quality park. The reason they are holding out is because some old lady wants her land and wont sell it or whatever. none of this is from respected sources by any means, just heard it through the grapevine. anyone know if there is any truth to it?


That couldn't occur. Frontier City could easily force the woman to sell the land. Imminent Domain actions allow the government to force land sales when a better use for land becomes available.

That couldn't occur. Frontier City could easily force the woman to sell the land. Imminent Domain actions allow the government to force land sales when a better use for land becomes available.

We'll have to see how the Supreme Court rules on this issue. In my opinion, it's an outrage to allow land grabs for private use. The American Conservative Union's Bill Sizemore wrote an excellent column on this issue:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/21/scotus.eminent.domain/

SCOTUS heard arguments on the constitutionality of imminent domain last month:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/21/scotus.eminent.domain/

Let's hope they rule in favor of individual property rights and the right to be left alone.

I don't know how much clout FC would have - can you imagine the headlines?
"Frontier City forces elderly woman out of her lifetime home"?

Besides, I don't think an amusement park should fall under government jurisdiction in dictacting when and where people should be forced to sell their land - where do they draw the line on better use rules? A pizza parlor? A bowling alley? An amusement park?

But hey, stranger things have happened.

That couldn't occur. Frontier City could easily force the woman to sell the land. Imminent Domain actions allow the government to force land sales when a better use for land becomes available.

Midtowner,

while this is true, ED usually does not occur for private ventures like Frontier City. Private citizens or businesses can not use ED, only government and special NGOs can. OKC would not be allowed to claim ED on private land so a private organization could materialize, that just would not fly (usually).

Of course, if the original private landowner did settle - they would be subject to due consideration - typically in the form of mucho dinero $$$; which usually diminishes the profitability of such ventures.

[much of the mucho dinero usually ends up going to high payed lawyers conducting the transaction, not the original private landowner by the way]

The Emminent Domain you are referring to (I presume the I-40 relocation) happened because the I-40 relocation is a PUBLIC venture taken by the government(s). Even then, land owners are duly compensated for their consideration but the funds they receive are substantially lower!

The more I think about it,

What could happen, is the city could declare the property dilapidated or otherwise in distress - but these declarations require facts and always give the landowner time to comply. If the owner did not comply within the timeframe (plus more time), then the city could declare the property, seize it by ED, and then place it on URA. URA could "recover" those costs by then selling to Frontier City, at a huge discount compared to the private transaction.

Of course, the landowner could counter with her own lawsuit against the city, asking for a stay (and retribution) on the grounds of revealing the city's true plans.

Also, such a seizure by the city would definitely make national news and the courts might step in, as many of you have quoted earlier in this thread. But the fact is, ED does not pertain to private (except in weird circumstances, that I do not think would apply here).

Midtowner,

while this is true, ED usually does not occur for private ventures like Frontier City. Private citizens or businesses can not use ED, only government and special NGOs can. OKC would not be allowed to claim ED on private land so a private organization could materialize, that just would not fly (usually).

Of course, if the original private landowner did settle - they would be subject to due consideration - typically in the form of mucho dinero $$$; which usually diminishes the profitability of such ventures.

[much of the mucho dinero usually ends up going to high payed lawyers conducting the transaction, not the original private landowner by the way]

The Emminent Domain you are referring to (I presume the I-40 relocation) happened because the I-40 relocation is a PUBLIC venture taken by the government(s). Even then, land owners are duly compensated for their consideration but the funds they receive are substantially lower!

Hot Rod,

Read the articles I linked to above. Land grabs by government who then hands them over to private business happens all of the time. It is wrong and that's why I think SCOTUS will soon bring this to a halt.

By the way, there's not a chance that Six Flags would try to force a lady to move to expand the park. At any rate, all of these actions are on hold everywhere until a SCOTUS ruling.

.

This is really beside the point, because the comment TheImmortal made wasn't a true rumor. Six Flags already owns 80 acres west of the current park, as okcpulse mentioned.

This is really beside the point, because the comment TheImmortal made wasn't a true rumor. Six Flags already owns 80 acres west of the current park, as okcpulse mentioned.

True.

Wow, what an excellant thread! I need to move this information over to Wikipedia real quick. Wanna make us look real good to the people that come in and check us out.