BOK Park Plaza

[jccouger]

I hate to be that guy, but I feel like all the guys trumpeting the "urban design" horn are ignoring the white elephant in the room.

Some of you may not remember but OKC experienced the worst terrorist attack in American history (at the time) with the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. I think from that time on, OKC has no choice but to build "away" from the street in at least some capacity with major projects. Safety has to be first, & I know for a fact this played a giant part in the designs of the Devon tower. Since the company who is designing this building, and the same company who will be occupying this building, are the ones who also were behind the Devon tower you have to expect similar design standards. I'll sacrifice a little street activity for an increase in security.

[bchris02]

I hate to be that guy, but I feel like all the guys trumpeting the "urban design" horn are ignoring the white elephant in the room.

Some of you may not remember but OKC experienced the worst terrorist attack in American history (at the time) with the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. I think from that time on, OKC has no choice but to build "away" from the street in at least some capacity with major projects. Safety has to be first, & I know for a fact this played a giant part in the designs of the Devon tower. Since the company who is designing this building, and the same company who will be occupying this building, are the ones who also were behind the Devon tower you have to expect similar design standards. I'll sacrifice a little street activity for an increase in security.

You definitely have a point. I think about that every time I see the new federal building in Midtown. It's deplorable in terms of urban design but I know it was built that way for security reasons.