Downtown OKC Got a Lot of Rave Reviews
This past week, over 2,000 environmental and development professionals attended the EPA's National Brownfields Conference at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. The Brownfields Conference is the only national conference put on by the EPA. Traditionally, it has been held every odd numbered year. It was supposed to be here last year, but was pushed back to this year because of Covid. The attendees were from every state in the country. The conference started unofficially on Monday with an Environmental Justice conference, and then had its official start on Tuesday. There were a number of major keynote speakers, including EPA Director Michael Regan. There was also a Mayor's Roundtable event with several mayors from around the country, including our own former Mayor Mick C.
In addition to dozens of different educational sessions each day, the conference hosted field trips to visit several of our successful Brownfield revitalizations. Tours were given of Bricktown, with a focus on the Steelyards, the Bricktown Fire Station, and the AC and Hyatt Suites, the Canal, the Landrun Monument, the Oklahoma River, Page Woodson, The Skirvin, EastPoint, Scissortail Park, First National Center, Film Row, West Village, the 23rd Street Armory, State Capitol, the Capitol Hill District, and the Wheeler District.
As I stated in the FAM thread, the highlight of Wednesday night was the National Phoenix Awards Ceremony. At each Brownfields conference, the Phoenix Awards are the highlight. Brownfield revitalizations are nominated for the awards. There are 10 EPA Regions across America. A Regional Award is given for the top Brownfield project in each region. Then from those 10, the grand prize winner is named. There were dozens of entrants in each region. A committee made up of representatives from each Region then vote. Oklahoma is in EPA Region 6. The winner of Region 6 was the First American's Museum. Also, FAM was selected as the top, Grand Prize winner. That is a huge honor in the Brownfields community.
I was commissioned to photograph the conference all week. During that time, I had the opportunity to meet and visit with environmental professionals, developers and others involved in Brownfields programs from all across the country. From Connecticut to Hawaii. From Texas, Florida, California, Oregon and Washington. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Chicago, and points in between. Montana, Arizona and the Gulf Coast. And all across the Midwest. What I heard from every one of those folks was how impressed and blown away they all were by OKC and what we have to offer. Most had never been to Oklahoma and they were shocked. They could not believe how "wonderful" it was here in OKC. They were also impressed by the people. They told me that everyone they had encountered was kind and helpful. These are folks who live and work in the development and redevelopment fields and they were highly impressed with all the things they saw. Most all said they plan on returning in the future for leisure to explore more of what OKC and the rest of Oklahoma has to offer. Many also said they wanted to come back and spend more time enjoying places like FAM, the Riverfront Sports complex and more. One gentleman I was visiting with stated he was going to be back here in December to bring his daughter to an internship at a local hospital. I told him about "December in Downtown" and he seemed very excited. Folks were also impressed with the relatively low cost of housing, entertainment and dining compared to where they lived. They also were impressed with the '"wide open" feel of a major city.
In the end, I walked away yesterday afternoon as folks were leaving for flights to far away places across the nation, with a feeling of pride for our great City. As the song says...we're "doing fine Oklahoma" City. The future is bright.
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