View Full Version : The "Pei Plan" for OKC - Here it is.



writerranger
05-04-2006, 03:42 PM
There's been some talk here about the Pei Plan developed by world-renowned architect I.M. Pei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei). It was a love-hate relationship from the start. While any mention of Pei today provokes anger by many (at the loss of old buildings), he was the visionary for much of what we see downtown today. The full-plan was not fully realized (some say thankfully) - but it was certainly bold.

What was the Pei Plan? It was a multi-developmental plan that included land-use planning as well as architectural plans. As we all know, it involved a lot of tearing down.

I have one of the first drafts of the plan for Oklahoma City.
Here was the first Land Use Plan Map as developed by I.M. Pei in 1966:
http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/45/13f5409d126fbbfd696d29da4db2be6c-.jpg
http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/45/e49d6a2af24b99f1a2db410a5641b897.jpg
By the way, photo-hosting is by Oklahoma City-based Zoto.com (http://www.zoto.com)! (They deserve the plug!)
Knowing that many of you will want to look at this in detail, I have uploaded a .pdf file that any of you may download. This is a very high-resolution .pdf and you can zoom in on anything you want. You may download the .pdf here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/1502696/4b770f65/peiplan.html (http://www.4shared.com/file/1502696/4b770f65/peiplan.html)
You will need to go all the way down to the bottom of the page to see the "download" button. You will need Adobe Reader or (better yet) the free Foxit PDF Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php) (it's ten times faster and much easier to use than Adobe).

Enjoy!

----------

Patrick
05-04-2006, 04:07 PM
So I guess the Galleria Shopping Mall wasn't part of the original plan, because it isn't in the map, in the project area.

So, did Pei's plan call to destory most of the current CBD? First National and the like?

The map doesn't really show what was staying and what was being bulldozed. It just shows designated uses for areas.

okcpulse
05-04-2006, 04:08 PM
Got the file downloaded successfully. Thanks, writerranger

Patrick
05-04-2006, 04:11 PM
What part of the plan didn't get completed?

writerranger
05-04-2006, 04:14 PM
Patrick,

That's the "land use" map. I am currently looking (feverishly) for my other Pei materials. I have his developmental proposals which did, in about 1967/68, include the Galleria Shopping Mall.

No, he never proposed tearing down the First National Bank, but seemingly everything else. Well, look at what's gone today! Of course, we have the Cox Convention Center, which of course was the Myriad (and as he calls it on the map the "community center"), and the Myriad Gardens and Botanical Tube - all part of Pei's development project.

I'm looking and will post as soon as I find the stuff. I'm a pack rat for nostalgia and keep much of it in a storage unit. I may have to go search there.

The land-use plan gives you a good idea as to what he proposed wiping out - and you can compare with what is actually gone today.

-------

writerranger
05-04-2006, 04:18 PM
What part of the plan didn't get completed?

Actually many things. The Galleria was his "anchor project" after getting on the board. The gardens, for example, was scaled back from his original projected use as a sort of "playground" complete with canals for boat rides. Imagine that! Thirty years later and we have them - but it's on "the other side of the tracks" which was ignored in the Pei Plan.

Patrick
05-04-2006, 04:19 PM
Thanks writerranger! You're awesome! I love reading about this stuff. Feel free to post al you'd like!

I looked at your Zoto site by the way, and noticed you had a magazine pic that did include the mall and the new Sheraton Hotel Century Center.

writerranger
05-04-2006, 04:22 PM
Thanks writerranger! You're awesome! I love reading about this stuff. Feel free to post al you'd like!

I looked at your Zoto site by the way, and noticed you had a magazine pic that did include the mall and the new Sheraton Hotel Century Center.

Yes! I am going to get higher-res pictures of those so they can actually be read. That was from The Daily Oklahoman's Orbit Magazine in 1972. The tabloid sized paper won't fit on my scanner, so I'm going to take high-def digital pix and see how that works. What you saw on Zoto was an experiment. I'll get better copies up so you can read the article - it's a fun read.

Update: Here's page one in a high resolution from my camera (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/e10c121dd34061d479d2bfe1ecab60d4.jpg). I think it's pretty readable. Now, my batteries died on me and I need to run up to the store for more Double A batteries!

The story, by the way, is a fictional account of "Grandpa" taking "Chris" to a yet-to-be-built Myriad Gardens in future Oklahoma City. The article was published in 1972. I'll get the rest of the pages up when I get back and can take the pictures!

------

Pete
05-04-2006, 05:12 PM
Very cool! Thanks so much for sharing.

I enjoyed researching this subject in the Oklahoman archives.

writerranger
05-04-2006, 05:30 PM
Okay.....

Here's the whole story from Orbit Magazine....July 2, 1972....

"Grandpa Takes Chris To Myriad Gardens"

Cover (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/50/8cbcccfaaa4ab692926055fbceef9242-.jpg)
Page One (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/e10c121dd34061d479d2bfe1ecab60d4.jpg)
Page Two (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/aaf9d496c6d4405bbb501923393fe7c9-.jpg)
Page Three (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/99d0154be417b06e28deb8e3eb2f003c-.jpg)
Page Four (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/6977c6c52fc29cf7c16c4dac6624b337-.jpg)
Page Five (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/3fa59499ba9b803262cd3a75bb7738fc-.jpg)
Page Six/Seven (Artist Spread) (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/30dfa78b02e030a25fe118be41685afa-.jpg)

-----------

writerranger
05-04-2006, 05:44 PM
Here's a bonus! Pei's "community center" opened as the Myriad Covention Center on November 5th of 1972. They had a big Grand Opening Performance and here was my ticket. I don't remember how I got it back, but I remember wanting to keep it thinking it might be "valuable" one day. I don't know about "valuable," but it's fun to have!

http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/45/3f7c8f7e78d1881d32968fbd730db448-.jpg

http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/45/ee9da55fa6f035db93e727192bbd4e77-.jpg

------

John
05-04-2006, 06:22 PM
Question from a young whippersnapper ;): Was Orbit the Gazette of its day?

..or was it an Oklahoman insert section?

Patrick
05-04-2006, 06:48 PM
writerranger, that is just too cool. Thanks so much for posting all of that.

Really, except for the mall not being completed, seems like most of the Pei Plan was completed. I suppose there was a parking structure planned for land to the south, and looks like the Myriad Gardens was supposed to stretch to the west over the land where Stage Center currently sits.

To be honest with you, we might be glad some of this didn't come about. Personally, I feel the Myriad Gardens is more than large enough. Plus, we have Meinder's Garden in the place where the Biltmore once sat (which was still standing in the illustrative picture). I know two smaller crystal tunnels were proposed, one with tropical plants and one with desert plant, but I personally like the one larger bridge just as well.
Plus we now have landscaping and boat rides in another part of downtown on the other side of the rail road tracks.

I really like Stage Center. I think it's incredibly unique. And it's helped tie our Arts District in with the rest of downtown.

And with the path many malls are now taking across the US (and with the path Century Center took), had the Galleria been built we may have been faced with the prospect of how to deal with a dying mall in the center of town today. Without the Galleria Mall, it gives us many more opportunities to try to attract free standing retail stores downtown, and possible on the lower levels of some of the office towers. I've never really thought having a mall in the middle of downtown was such a pleasant idea.

Doug Loudenback
05-04-2006, 06:51 PM
Question from a young whippersnapper ;): Was Orbit the Gazette of its day?

..or was it an Oklahoman insert section?
The latter.

Doug Loudenback
05-04-2006, 06:57 PM
Okay.....

Here's the whole story from Orbit Magazine....July 2, 1972....

"Grandpa Takes Chris To Myriad Gardens"

Cover (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/50/8cbcccfaaa4ab692926055fbceef9242-.jpg)
Page One (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/e10c121dd34061d479d2bfe1ecab60d4.jpg)
Page Two (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/aaf9d496c6d4405bbb501923393fe7c9-.jpg)
Page Three (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/99d0154be417b06e28deb8e3eb2f003c-.jpg)
Page Four (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/6977c6c52fc29cf7c16c4dac6624b337-.jpg)
Page Five (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/3fa59499ba9b803262cd3a75bb7738fc-.jpg)
Page Six/Seven (Artist Spread) (http://writerranger.zoto.com/img/1024x1280x1/30dfa78b02e030a25fe118be41685afa-.jpg)
-----------
Good stuff, writerranger!

John
05-04-2006, 07:30 PM
It would have been nice to have the Biltmore still standing on that block.

The proposed hotel looks a lot nicer than what we got with the Sheraton Century Center. :( It would have complemented Chase Tower nicely.

Thanks for posting that stuff, ranger!

Doug Loudenback
05-04-2006, 07:33 PM
Here's a piece of the "Pei Plan" development, as it ensued, concerning the Myriad Gardens area, from http://www.myriadgardens.com/about_history.html


History of the Gardens
The idea of cultivating a garden in downtown Oklahoma City began when world-renowned architect I.M. Pei was commissioned by city leaders, led by oil and gas pioneer Dean A. McGee (CEO of Kerr-McGee Corporation), in 1964 to create a revitalization plan for downtown Oklahoma City. The resulting Pei Plan incorporated parkland for the development of a cultural, recreational and commercial complex. The area that is now the Myriad Botanical Gardens was originally designed by I.M. Pei to model the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The development of the Pei Plan, and the gardens in particular, became the lifelong project of McGee. He even motivated a core group of civic leaders to travel to Tivoli Gardens and learn more about the success of the celebrated attraction.

On May 5, 1970, the name Myriad Gardens was officially adopted. Three months later, on August 11, 1970, the Oklahoma City Council established a 19-member Myriad Development Task Force. The principal responsibility of the task force was to assist the City in the successful planning, programming and implementation of the Myriad Gardens. After a national competition in 1971, the task force chose an architect for the Gardens, the New York firm of Conklin & Rossant.

The City of Oklahoma City purchased the site for the Myriad Gardens in 1975 for $900,000. Investment in the development phase, including initial site clearing and utility relocation, was approximately $1.2 million. Buildings that originally stood on the Myriad Gardens site included the Biltmore Hotel, City National Bank Building and the Oklahoma Club.

On September 16, 1975, the Myriad Gardens Authority, a public trust, was created and charged with developing the 17-acre property. McGee continued his leadership role at the Gardens and was appointed as the Trust Chairman. Work began on the Gardens on November 17, 1977 with a ceremonial groundbreaking.

writerranger
05-04-2006, 07:57 PM
I'm glad everyone has enjoyed the materials! I cannot find the rest of my Pei materials around the house, which means they are at the storage facility. I'll get over there real soon and get them. Thanks for the kind words!

Doug, I had forgotten about the Tivoli connection. That's interesting.

----------

Pete
05-05-2006, 06:52 AM
I had posted these on another thread, but here's a couple of old renderings from the Oklahoman archives that were presented as part of the original plan:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res17zef/peipicture1.jpg

http://mysite.verizon.net/res17zef/peipicture2.jpg

okcpulse
05-05-2006, 08:38 AM
Wonderful material, writerranger, and good research! We really have to ask ourselves this question: with all of the international style architecture that was so big in the 1960s and 1970s, would this have been better for us than MAPS had the Pei Plan been 100 percent successful? None of us really like Chase Tower being the signature tower of Oklahoma City, with its international style design. Many of us want to see that replaced by a new office tower with a modern or renaissance era design, perhaps even art deco.

There were a lot of fascinating proposals on the table that never came to fruition. I truly wish that the Myriad Gardens were never scaled back, but that doesn't mean we can't pick up where we left off. This is something Mick Cornett may want to look into deeply, especially with the green link proposal. But the old Galleria site... that is where we should also focus. At least half of the flat surface parking is gone with two new garages and the new library. Now it's time to focus on the bottom half of the four-square block site. A new 60-story tower and 20-story midrise residential should fill out that block. Downtown Oklahoma City did do one thing right with high-rise development... keep it dense. You don't see that in Tulsa. Each of its buildings, with the exception of a couple, are spread blocks apart.

Patrick
05-05-2006, 12:39 PM
Downtown Oklahoma City did do one thing right with high-rise development... keep it dense.

You can do that when you decide to destroy most of the older shorter buildings and replace them with skyscrapers.

okcpulse
05-05-2006, 03:36 PM
Good Point.