Rumor has it OK Pop is also considering the lot across from 46 Bar, directly south of the Brady Theater. That would serve as a neat bookend to Brady and bring the surrounding empty/under used buildings under pressure to develop sooner rather than later. The lot across from the Ballpark is already under pressure to develop sooner.
I have no strong opinion on any of the three sites for the OK Pop, but I think the original BOK location would be best for the reasons mentioned above. Let commercial interests take advantage of the Ballpark traffic. The museum is a draw unto itself.
I think the BOK parking lot location is the best (of the three you mentioned). According to the
Tulsa World, the Oklahoma Historical Society and the George Kaiser Family Foundation want to avoid creating "legal and political difficulties" with a land-for-dedicated-parking swap.
My suggestion: BOK could split its parking lot and sell a portion on the east side to OKPOP while retaining a portion on the west side for BOK parking and for future mixed-use development. A simple 60-40 split would provide 54,000 sq ft for OKPOP (which is 28% more land than the TDA Elgin Avenue site). 36,000 square feet would be reserved for BOK parking and future development.
Assuming, for the sake of this discussion, that the Tulsa County Assessor's fair market values are truly "fair" and proportional, the value of 60% of BOK's parking lot would be $687,000 (or $194,000 less than the value of TDA's Elgin site). 28% more land for $194,000 less sounds like a good deal to me (for a public museum operated by the financially pinched State of Oklahoma).
The Artist mentioned that museums require generous expanses of blank wall space for displays. That's correct, and the BOK parking lot site would allow opportunities for blank walls and a parking garage to face the railroad tracks and the Cincinnati bridge abutment. More active and open facades could face the streets. With a simple 60-40 split, OKPOP would have 180 feet of frontage along Archer and 300 feet along Cincinnati. I think the slope of Cincinnati would provide fairly easy access to more than one level of a parking garage. Any vehicular entries/exits along Cincinnati would work well with the one-way traffic as it is now, and access points wouldn't be affected very much if the City wanted to convert to two-way traffic in the future (because the west lanes adjacent to the garage still would be south-bound lanes).
Housing would fit nicely on BOK's 40% of the block, along Boston, perhaps with some retail space at the corner of Archer. Depending on how much parking BOK wants/needs, it could be in a garage below and behind the housing. It would make sense for BOK to share its parking garage with the housing above, because BOK's workforce demand will peak during the daytime Mon-Fri, when the demand for residential parking is lowest. Housing would fit nicely along Archer, on the upper stories of OKPOP, as well. Apartments would provide "eyes on the street" and help utilize the OKPOP parking garage more efficiently. Some OKPOP employees might choose to live there, walk a few feet to work, walk a few feet to restaurants, and walk four blocks to Reasor's in the PAC development on Third Street. Who knows?
