MAPS 4 Stadium

[aDark]

I also don't understand all the animosity towards the Funks. If anybody thinks the Funks need this to make their lives complete or fruitful, or even if they think they will actually make money on it, they are pretty unaware. Soccer in OKC is never going to be a big profit item. This stadium doesn't get them big money or big crowds. They will have to spend 100s of millions of $ to even have a chance to put OKC on the soccer big stage.

^^^^^ This! I wish Funk could eloquently say this without coming off pompous and pessimistic about the future of soccer in OKC. It's true. It's got to be difficult to sell the city on the stadium and the future of soccer in OKC while also keeping quiet as to Funk's future expected costs they will suffer.

Also, this particular thread's tendency to revert into anecdotal thoughts on soccer v. other sports is... silly. I wish I could find old threads from pre-Chesapeake days to hear the naysayers discuss the stupidity in building an arena without an NBA/NHL team lined out.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

Can the proposed stadium also be cross-purposed for track and field? Special Olympics currently uses UCO, and USATF seems to enjoy having events in middle America. No big revenue stream but families likely to stay in hotels, eat out, etc.

[SEMIweather]

Can the proposed stadium also be cross-purposed for track and field? Special Olympics currently uses UCO, and USATF seems to enjoy having events in middle America. No big revenue stream but families likely to stay in hotels, eat out, etc.

Not unless you want to make the sightlines awful for the soccer games there.

[Rover]

Can the proposed stadium also be cross-purposed for track and field? Special Olympics currently uses UCO, and USATF seems to enjoy having events in middle America. No big revenue stream but families likely to stay in hotels, eat out, etc.

The trouble with making venues purposed for everything is they become substandard for anything.

[bombermwc]

OU's track and field stadium is large and nice. If they aren't happy with UCO, then they should talk to OU. of course, it probably cost more too because they dont run for free. If they can't afford OU, i bet they wouldn't be able to afford this stadium either.

[warreng88]

I wish I could find old threads from pre-Chesapeake days to hear the naysayers discuss the stupidity in building an arena without an NBA/NHL team lined out.

I remember driving down the old I-40 with my college roommate and driving by the "Ford Center" being completed. He went off about how big of a waste of money it was, OKC will never have a pro sports team, we might get bull riding a few concerts a year, but then it will just be used for high school basketball and maybe first round of the tourney. To this day, he denies ever saying it, but I remember.

[Jake]

Do we have a general idea where this is supposed to go yet?

[Pete]

Do we have a general idea where this is supposed to go yet?

No.

The MAPS4 committees are just getting started and I'm sure at the very least there will be a prioritization because the sales tax revenue is way down.

I'm sure they'll choose which projects come first (you can bet on the State Fair arena) and then move to extend this MAPS past the original expiration date, which would require a vote.

[Plutonic Panda]

A vote from the people or the committee?

[Pete]

A vote from the people or the committee?

To extend MAPS, it would have to be a public vote.

[amocore]

As much as I would like a stadium, I am afraid the embarrassing result le of the Energy doesn’t help to put that on top of the priority list.

[mugofbeer]

Should it be a south side location?

[SEMIweather]

It feels like Producers Coop or Strawberry Hill is inevitable for this stadium site. If there was a good location south of the river that's what I'd like to see, but I've looked over Google Maps probably a dozen times and haven't found anything.

[gopokes88]

No.

The MAPS4 committees are just getting started and I'm sure at the very least there will be a prioritization because the sales tax revenue is way down.

I'm sure they'll choose which projects come first (you can bet on the State Fair arena) and then move to extend this MAPS past the original expiration date, which would require a vote.

I thought they were pretty confident that by the time the 10 years is up sales tax revenues will have hit projections.

[Pete]

I thought they were pretty confident that by the time the 10 years is up sales tax revenues will have hit projections.

I just know this year -- the first -- is way below. They'll have to make it up down the road and then make a decision if they don't.

Also, MAPS is pay-as-you-collect. Since sales tax is down, it will at least slow up some projects.

I've yet to see a prioritization plan.

[SouthSide]

Should it be a south side location?

The consultants hired by the city have determined that everything should be close together which as far is the city is concerned means north of the river. After decades of Maps, it is very clear that the area south of the river has been redlined for any significant Maps investments.

[theanvil]

The consultants hired by the city have determined that everything should be close together which as far is the city is concerned means north of the river. After decades of Maps, it is very clear that the area south of the river has been redlined for any significant Maps investments.

I don’t understand your point. If you say the southside has been ignored by MAPS, then the northside can say the same thing. The majority of the large MAPS developments have been in the CBD. Downtown is downtown. It isn’t northside, and it isn’t southside.

[stlokc]

The “north side” extends so much farther to the north and west than the “Southside” does to the south that it can be argued a higher percentage of Southside residents live closer to the improvements in the CBD than their north side counterparts.

[Pete]

This is a presentation to the MAPS4 board. The stadium advocacy group is saying the facility needs to be downtown and near other entertainment. I suspect they are going to push hard for the Producers Coop site.

[Jake]

Is "Option One" the one being built?

[Plutonic Panda]

Hopefully option two is chosen but I’m pretty concerned about the surface parking for 2,700+ cars. Knowing OKC I feel like we’ll get some “down the road proposal” for a mixed use urban village with structured parking but in the mean time(10 + years) a massive parking lot surrounding this thing given how much land is available in the COOP site. I hope I’m wrong.

[OKCretro]

Acting like there is a possibility of getting a MLS team with a 10k seat stadium is laughable.

[Pete]

Acting like there is a possibility of getting a MLS team with a 10k seat stadium is laughable.

That is why they are showing an expanded stadium in the last slide.

[OKCretro]

That is why they are showing an expanded stadium in the last slide.

without the price tag. It will cost at least 240 million to build that.

Also why did they limit "potential uses" to that list.
They should have included
-easter egg hunts
- grass growing contests
- tractor pulls
- demolition derbys
- large games of "tag"
-tug of war contests

Clearly the marketing wasn't thinking big picture.

[Pete]

MAPS 4 Stadium considering 3 sites

As part of the on-going process of refining and prioritizing the many projects slated for MAPS 4, Bob Funk Jr. of the OKC Energy soccer club delivered a presentation this week to the MAPS Board.

Funk presented two desired stadium options, each expandable if Oklahoma City was in a position to pursue a top-tier Major League Soccer franchise in the future.

Funk also mentioned that land costs have yet to be determined while they have looked at 3 possible locations:

• Farmers Market. Land west of Classen and just north of I-40.
• Wheeler Park. Currently owned by the city.
• Producers Coop. Just south of Bricktown.

The desire is to have the stadium near the entertainment and attractions of downtown.

No final decisions have been made on any of the MAPS 4 projects as advocates continue to make presentations to the board.