The "this has nothing to do with Tulsa" mega-post

[heironymouspasparagus]

Expo had to be big to house the International Petroleum Exposition it was built for.  Even then, it spilled out over most of the area to the north - it was as big as the State Fair for displays and stuff.   And I went to a few of those - couple before the Expo and two after the Expo was built.  

Then it went out of business...


https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=IN030

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Swake, you've had several renovations to the Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion.   The OKC State Fair Arena was thrown up with $2 million in 1963; a mini version of Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

You're not even close on that claim. Veterans Memorial in Phoenix, and OKC Fair arena opened with in weeks of each other in 1965. The Big House is not a smaller copy of Veterans Memorial.

Newspaper reports state that The Arizona State Fair Commission began planning for an "Arizona State Fairgrounds Exposition Center" as early as the fall of 1962. The Commission envisioned an indoor facility which could be used during the State Fair as well as year-round. In 1964, Phoenix architect Leslie Mahoney, of the Lescher and Mahoney firm (designers of the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix among others) presented the commission with the final plans, and construction began that summer. Tucson architect Lew Place (son of University of Arizona chief campus architect Roy Place, and who later took over his father's firm) was also involved in the design. The structural engineering firm was T. Y. Lin International.[3]

The unique saddle-shaped, tension-cable roof, supporting over 1,000 precast concrete panels, was considered innovative architectural engineering at the time. It may have been at least partially influenced by the equally innovative Dorton Arena at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, completed in 1952. Veterans Memorial Coliseum also contains a series of murals by Phoenix artist Paul Coze. The design influenced later arenas' architecture, including the now-defunct Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, and the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.

Broke ground   August 11, 1964[1]
Opened   November 3, 1965

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Veterans_Memorial_Coliseum

The Big House
Former names   Fairgrounds Arena
Address   333 Gordon Cooper Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73107
Location   Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Owner   City of Oklahoma City
Operator   Oklahoma State Fair Park
Capacity   10,944
Opened   1965

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Norick_Arena

Phoenix

https://goo.gl/maps/UyYfj4MYbD12

OKC

https://goo.gl/maps/FtBBZkaj7a52

You could take Jim Norick Arena and the Page Belcher Fed. Court House and use them for the back drop of a Soviet military base during the cold war.

[Laramie]

You're not even close on that claim. Veterans Memorial in Phoenix, and OKC Fair arena opened with in weeks of each other in 1965. The Big House is not a smaller copy of Veterans Memorial.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Veterans_Memorial_Coliseum



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Norick_Arena

Phoenix

https://goo.gl/maps/UyYfj4MYbD12

OKC

https://goo.gl/maps/FtBBZkaj7a52

You could take Jim Norick Arena and the Page Belcher Fed. Court House and use them for the back drop of a Soviet military base during the cold war

Good research dbacksfan 2.0,  Thanks for the correction.  Can't believe everything to hear out there.  Just so use to many of the projects and developments we construct in Oklahoma being smaller versions of things built it other states--I took the bait!  LMAO!

[Laramie]

Update pick on the construction at the State Capitol Building via OKCTalk

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City's downtown Scissortail Park progress via OKCTalk


Looking north over the old Union Station depot


Upper park development

[Laramie]

Now, this $465 million park of all parks in the U.S. makes all Oklahomans proud; including myself.   Thank you George Kaiser.

My son, who lives in Tulsa gives me great raves about the Gathering Place.  He is an OTR truck driver; he been all over the U. S., so I've got to take him at his word.

We a building a 70 plus acre park (Scissortail) with the 40 acres upper park, downtown & 30 acre of the park extends south beyond the Skydance Bridge.  Hope we can learn from 'The Gathering Place' where the word is spreading about how awesome this place is in Tulsa.

[Laramie]

Best of luck in the 1st round of the NBA playoffs to our Oklahoma City Thunder...

...opening against the Portland Trailblazers in 'The Rose City."

.

[Laramie]

  Boeing OKC secures $14.3 billion committment from Air Force

   
A B-52 makes a connection with a refueling boom during a practice refueling flight of an Air Force Reserve KC-135 Stratotanker out of Tinker Air Force Base in this photo from 2016. [The Oklahoman Archives]

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 | by Dale Denwalt

The Department of Defense has approved a $14.3 billion contract to Boeing Co. for work on B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft in Oklahoma City.

The contract will be for modification, modernization, engineering, sustainment and tests of the bombers' weapons systems. Funds can be allocated with separate task orders over the next 10 years.

Work will be done at Tinker Air Force Base, which is a significant part of the Air Force's maintenance, repair and overhaul network. Tinker already has been selected as the maintenance site for the long-range stealth bomber known as the B-21 Raider, which eventually will replace the B-1 and B-52. The Raider is expected to be delivered sometime in the mid 2020s.

Tinker is home to maintenance operations for several large military aircraft, including the new KC-46A Pegasus refueling tanker. Hangars for the Pegasus are now under construction at the base.

The contract that was announced last week will be a continuation of a similar contract awarded a decade ago to service the U.S. Air Force aircraft. A statement from the Pentagon noted the contract could include hardware and software development and integration, ground and flight testing, configuration management, studies and analyses and modernization.

"That's great news for our workforce here," Boeing spokeswoman Lori Rasmussen said. "Boeing's employment numbers in Oklahoma have been on an upward trend. They are expected to remain so. The bombers' modernization efforts will continue to play a significant role in the growth of the Oklahoma City site."

Boeing's first project under the new award will be for an advanced extremely high-frequency communications integration study costing an expected $1.2 million, Rasmussen said.

Boeing was the only company solicited for the contract because it is the original equipment manufacturer and owns all airframe and systems data, which limits the ability for competition, the Pentagon said.

[Laramie]

 

Oklahoma City new Convention Center Complex construction update


605 room 17 story Omni Hotel with convention center in the background.


Construction started on the 200,000 sq.,ft exhibition hall top left & below.


Above pics via OKCTalk forum

[Laramie]

    

Oklahoma City convention center parking garage complex

         Estimated costs: $27,979,172
         Floors: 6 plus basement
         Spaces available: 1,100 plus
         Total Square Feet: 412,645
         Bids:  Summer 2019

Garage will be built on the site of the gold facade building purchased by the City from OG&E

Pics via OKCTalk Forum

[heironymouspasparagus]

Now, this $465 million park of all parks in the U.S. makes all Oklahomans proud; including myself.   Thank you George Kaiser.

My son, who lives in Tulsa gives me great raves about the Gathering Place.  He is an OTR truck driver; he been all over the U. S., so I've got to take him at his word.

We a building a 70 plus acre park (Scissortail) with the 40 acres upper park, downtown & 30 acre of the park extends south beyond the Skydance Bridge.  Hope we can learn from 'The Gathering Place' where the word is spreading about how awesome this place is in Tulsa. [/center]

He should know!   He has seen a lot, no doubt.


Run this by him sometime and see if he says, "Amen!!"  Truck driver vlogger talking about the lies the company always tells you...  (If they are talking, they are lying!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Ct1LVVUTY

[Laramie]

 

Kratos will build 'wingman' drone in OKC

     Thursday, April 18, 2019 | by Dale Denwalt

At 30 feet long, the Valkyrie looks the part of a fighter jet and could be fitted with armament to support combat missions, and Kratos Defense officials said Wednesday it will be built in Oklahoma City.

The Valkyrie is a step up from the target drones now manufactured by the San Diego-based defense contractor, including the company's MQM-178 Firejet. The Firejet, also built in Oklahoma City, was on display Wednesday as Kratos celebrated the completion of the first unmanned aerial jets at its new manufacturing warehouse at Will Rogers Business Park.

Six Firejets already have been built here at the 101,000-square-foot warehouse, which remains sparsely furnished. Bare walls enclose a nearly empty office area. The production floor, at the moment, has much more space than Kratos can seemingly use.

However, Unmanned Systems Division President Steven Fendley said Kratos soon will need that space, and possibly more in the future.

"We'll be ramping that production capability up to as many as 350 (Firejets) per year in the short term," Fendley said. "As our production requirements go up, as our production contracts increase, we expect to need that space and we look forward to it."

Kratos' announcement that the Valkyrie will be built in Oklahoma earned a standing ovation from the crowd assembled inside the warehouse, which included employees, members of Congress and Gov. Kevin Stitt. Fendley declined to say when production would begin.

The Valkyrie had its maiden flight last month. It's capable of long-range flight at high sub-sonic speeds, the company said.

"It's basically a manned-aircraft size," Fendley said. "It has a bomb bay. It can carry ordnance. It can carry sensor systems that allow you to locate the enemy. It's intended to be a wing man."

While parts for the Firejet are manufactured in California, Kratos brings them to Oklahoma to integrate, assemble, test, crate and deliver them to its client, the U.S. Army. Once the company fills out its production facility in Oklahoma with machinery and an autoclave to manufacture composite materials, all of the small parts will be built here.

"For the most part, all the parts for the Firejet will be built here in this facility by the end of this calendar year," Fendley said.

Kratos has 20 employees in Oklahoma, but officials said they expect to grow the company's Oklahoma workforce to between 350 and 550 over the next three to five years.

[Laramie]

   

CannaCon event will be at Cox Convention Center in OKC on Thursday and Friday


Marijuana plants growing at a production facility, 1120 S. McKinley. Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman.

     Thursday, April 18, 2019 | by David Dishman

Nearly 200 exhibitors and thousands of visitors are expected to attend the CannaCon marijuana convention in Oklahoma City on Thursday and Friday.

Held at the Cox Convention Center, the event is designed for those in or thinking about joining the industry.

"Anything you could need to start or run a business in the cannabis industry you could find here," CannaCon Marketing Director Angela Grelle said.

The convention sold 3,000 tickets as of Wednesday afternoon, Grelle said, with more expected to be sold Thursday and Friday. She is expecting up to 5,000 visitors.

Tickets for the event range from $40 to $150, depending on number of days and seminars an individual plans on attending.

"I would tell people to come early if they are registering because there will be long lines," Grelle said.

Registration starts at 9 a.m., and the convention runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Seminars are scheduled throughout the conference, covering subjects such as laboratory testing, complying with regulations, payroll and human resources issues, THC extraction, grow strategies and more.

Oklahoma's implementation of medical marijuana has led to rapid growth for many companies, and many seminars are catered to providing assistance for the necessary tasks that accompany expanding companies.

The convention has other stops planned later this year in Detroit and Springfield, Massachusetts, before returning to Oklahoma City in September.

[Laramie]

    

Downtown Sheraton to take on more "contemporary" look


The next phase of ongoing renovations at the downtown Sheraton Hotel includes a new paint job on the exterior that will change the earth tones to a more contemporary gray and white. [PROVIDED]

The most recent phase of improvements included $1.9 million spent on a "refresh" of the hotel lobby, restaurants and meeting rooms. Other recent improvements included creation of an outdoor courtyard extending from its restaurant at the corner of Broadway and Sheridan avenues...

...Other upcoming improvements will include the outdoor pool deck, new furnishings and a cabana lounge. The final phase, a revamp of the hotel's 396 rooms, is expected to cost between $4 million and $5 million.

    Thursday, April 18, 2019 | by Steve Lackmeyer

Oklahoman link: https://www.oklahoman.com/downtown-sheraton-to-take-on-more-contemporary-look/article/5629033

[buffalodan]

"contemporary gray and white" makes me sad. You go to architecture school for years and come out and think "you know what the world needs, less pigment"

   

Downtown Sheraton to take on more "contemporary" look

The next phase of ongoing renovations at the downtown Sheraton Hotel includes a new paint job on the exterior that will change the earth tones to a more contemporary gray and white. [PROVIDED]

    Thursday, April 18, 2019 | by Steve Lackmeyer

Oklahoman link: https://www.oklahoman.com/downtown-sheraton-to-take-on-more-contemporary-look/article/5629033