Myriad Gardens

[David]

The Twitter account for the gardens posted a thread with some in-progress pictures of the renovation work: https://twitter.com/myriadgardens/st...73492137009153











Some more pictures and a video are in the thread.

[Pete]

Pumpkinville kicks off this Friday

The pumpkin mural has been installed on the water stage of the Myriad Gardens and the annual Pumpkinville will start Friday and run until October 23rd.

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Pumpkinville is the garden's largest annual festival and features displays of over 30,000 pumpkins, gourds, haystacks and mums.

Also crafts, face painting, classes, a dog parade, and other activities.

[Pete]

Crystal Bridge to reopen after $11 million renovation

After an $11 million complete renovation, the Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Gardens will reopen on Friday, November 18th.

The indoor botanical garden first opened in 1988 and is now completely transformed with all types of tropical plants, including pineapples, mangos and limes.

The Crystal Bridge Conservatory is 224 feet long, 70 feet in diameter, and is covered by 3,028 sections of translucent, double-layered acrylic panels. The Conservatory includes 13,000 square feet of plant display area in two distinct climates: Tropical Wet Zone and the Tropical Dry Zone at the north end.

There is also a two-level waterfall at the entrance and a staircase that provides views from the 2nd level and a renovated sky bridge that spans the length of the structure.

Other features include a multi-purpose classroom and a new gift shop.

The Crystal Bridge will be open Monday through Saturday, 9 AM to 5 PM and Sunday 11 AM to 5 PM.

Admission is Adult: $10.50, Senior: $ 4, Student: $7, Youth (5-17 years): $5.50. There are also annual memberships and group discounts available.

[bombermwc]

With all the newer plants, the whole thing looks so empty now. I wonder how many years it will take for everything to grow and fill back in.

[DoctorTaco]

With all the newer plants, the whole thing looks so empty now. I wonder how many years it will take for everything to grow and fill back in.

I agree. One of my favorite things about this place was the feeling you could vanish inside it, even if there were other people around.

[Plutonic Panda]

Article from VeloCity: https://www.velocityokc.com/blog/ins...ack=super_blog

[Pete]

Pumpkinville starts today (Friday) and runs through 10/22. Open daily 10am to 5pm.

It's the gardens' largest festival.

[Qwo]

The garden looks so good up against Sheridan. Can't wait for the lots to the south to be put to better use

[Laramie]

Outstanding picks Pete, thanks for sharing.

[HOT ROD]

centre stage needs more events, it is very underutilized in my opinion.

[Pete]

[Decious]

Wow!!! Amazing pic, Pete!

Thank you!

[Pete]

I was all over downtown on Saturday night starting about 4:30.

There were people everywhere... Lines out the Bricktown restaurants, tons of people in both parks, high school kids going to Christmas formals, FNC was so jammed you could barely walk through.

If you ever want to feel how far OKC has come (or just get into the Holiday spirit), talk a long walk through downtown this time of year. It's particularly beautiful at dusk.

[TheTravellers]

I was all over downtown on Saturday night starting about 4:30.

There were people everywhere... Lines out the Bricktown restaurants, tons of people in both parks, high school kids going to Christmas formals, FNC was so jammed you could barely walk through.

If you ever want to feel how far OKC has come (or just get into the Holiday spirit), talk a long walk through downtown this time of year. It's particularly beautiful at dusk.

Midtown pop-ups were also pretty full Sat afternoon, first time we'd been there in a while, had no idea it had gotten so much bigger, very nice!

[king183]

I had approximately 40 people from my company fly in from all around the country and stay for a week at First National. For 99% of them, it was their first time in OKC. They were blown away by First National ("the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in") and were equally impressed by the Myriad Gardens ("had no idea OKC had things like this"). They also went to a Thunder game and absolutely loved it. A few decided to stay an extra day to go see more of the city (i.e., outside of downtown). The biggest question I received was, "How do you guys keep the city so clean?"

[Tyson]

I had approximately 40 people from my company fly in from all around the country and stay for a week at First National. For 99% of them, it was their first time in OKC. They were blown away by First National ("the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in") and were equally impressed by the Myriad Gardens ("had no idea OKC had things like this"). They also went to a Thunder game and absolutely loved it. A few decided to stay an extra day to go see more of the city (i.e., outside of downtown). The biggest question I received was, "How do you guys keep the city so clean?"

Love hearing stuff like this. Thank you for sharing that! Also the more I travel around the U.S. the more I understand why people are impressed (especially about the cleanliness of the city lol)

[HOT ROD]

I was all over downtown on Saturday night starting about 4:30.

There were people everywhere... Lines out the Bricktown restaurants, tons of people in both parks, high school kids going to Christmas formals, FNC was so jammed you could barely walk through.

If you ever want to feel how far OKC has come (or just get into the Holiday spirit), talk a long walk through downtown this time of year. It's particularly beautiful at dusk.

Oh, I would LOVE if someone would take pics or film through downtown. ...

[Pete]

I had approximately 40 people from my company fly in from all around the country and stay for a week at First National. For 99% of them, it was their first time in OKC. They were blown away by First National ("the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in") and were equally impressed by the Myriad Gardens ("had no idea OKC had things like this"). They also went to a Thunder game and absolutely loved it. A few decided to stay an extra day to go see more of the city (i.e., outside of downtown). The biggest question I received was, "How do you guys keep the city so clean?"

That's fantastic to hear.

For those that don't know, Downtown OKC pays for the Green Team that focuses on the central districts and that's the reason our downtown area always looks considerably better than everywhere else.

I am usually DT on Sunday mornings for photography and you always see these hard-working people out there making sure downtown is ready for another day of thousands of people. The mess left behind after a big night in Bricktown or the CBD is considerable and yet few people ever see it.


I urge everyone to make it a point to go downtown during the holidays. It's like all the great things accomplished here are on display all at once and it's also fantastic to get out and rub shoulders with each other as a community.

[Pete]

I've mentioned I organize my HS class reunion and every five years I try to choose a venue in or near downtown that shows off the best of OKC.

We've done Vast on the 50th floor of Devon (one of the very first events there), the Bricktown Events Center (before OK Ranch), and last summer was the Park House Event Center in the MBG. For an after-party, we had most of the patio at the Colcord reserved; an incredibly underrated spot especially on a warm summer's night. Already thinking about the next one... Maybe the Dream Hotel or Union Station??


Because we graduated in 1978, right when we were finishing college the roof fell in on the oil business and many people left, including yours truly. So, about half the people that attend now live out-of-state and we always get blocks of rooms: this past summer at The National and the Omni but in the past, the Colcord and 21c. A lot of the locals do stay-cations and make a weekend out of it. So many people comment, 'Wow. OKC is cool now.'

Contrast that to when we had our senior prom at the Skirvin in the spring of 1978. One of only two hotels downtown (and even it would close not long after) and the entire area was dead as a doornail.

I said this last year about this time, but spending a day down there during the holidays and walking and walking... It's like a personal victory lap where I can take everything in its entirety and just marvel.


I absolutely love showing off the best of our city to others and then experiencing it through their eyes because it's easy to take what we have for granted.