Attention! If you plan to apply for our OK County small biz/nonprofit COVID relief funding I recommend you do it TODAY or TOMORROW. We have had an extremely high number of applications and they are awarded to those who qualify on a first come basis.

The City of OKC is requesting approval from City Council on Tuesday to move forward demolishing this building located at 200 N Shartel. I plan to speak against this request.

This building is the PWA Police Headquarters, built in 1936 as part of the “Civic Center”, a complex that included the Municipal Auditorium (now Civic Center), City Hall and the County Courthouse.

What is the city going to replace this with? A surface parking lot. Keep in mind, they are already getting 130 surface parking spaces from the demo of the muni courts building next door. We definitely don’t need more.

I also don’t think that it’s a fiscally responsible decision by the City. This building has remediation required whether it is demolished or redeveloped. It will cost the city $1,300,000+ to remediate, demo and pave parking for… a net gain of approx. 20 spaces.

The alternative to demo is to sell the building to a developer that has responded to the City’s RFP for redevelopment. Yes, there is an experienced, interested buyer that wants to acquire the building & put it back into use, but the city wants to proceed with demo anyway.

What else can the building be? I believe that this building should be considered to be a part of the city’s first Arts and Culture Building Trust. Other cities are doing it and we should too. nextcity.org/daily/entry/pe…

I roll on as Arts Commission Chair in January and I plan to form an ad hoc committee to investigate this concept. I would like for the building to still be standing to be considered as a potential asset for the trust.

It’s location immediately behind the Civic Center and in the Arts District will be difficult for another building to replicate. The responding developer has agreed to work with the Trust committee to see if this asset would be a good fit. But, we need time to do this.

Please contact your City Councilor and request that they deny the city’s request for demolition and instead instruct City staff to continue good faith negotiations to sell the building.

And, if you want to hear more about the potential Arts and Culture Building Trust, watch the Arts Commission meeting on January 25th. I will be giving a presentation on the idea.

Pretty rendering of the original Civic Center:

1940 photo of the building:

The most powerful photo that I’ve seen of the building, Clara Luper and others departing the building following a sit-in.

BREAKING: The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole board voted 3-1 to recommend clemency and to commute Julius’s sentence to life with the possibility of parole. #JusticeforJulius

Woo hoo! 🙌

In Oklahoma, why is the election of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a partisan race?

The story of First National will be written about for a very long time. Thanks to Urban Land Institute for this coverage. Love seeing the project & Gary Brooks recognized on the national stage. 👏🏽 urbanland.uli.org/planning-desig… Steve's OKC Central @adgokc Flick Mars EverGreene_Arch_Arts

Come see me in Texas next week!

Come try the OK C Cream Ale and enjoy the beautiful view of the OKC Skyline and the Bricktown Canal. Oklahoma Craft pint glass are available for purchase in the Oklahoma Craft Store. oklacraft.com