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

[heironymouspasparagus]

OKC opens 40 acres of 70 acre Scissortail Park.


[/size]
Mexican grass covers one of many hills within the park

Oh, no...!!   Not Mexican grass...!!    Weren't they afraid of the 'evil Mexican' grass murdering and raping the bermuda  and  fescue...??

[Laramie]

Oh, no...!!   Not Mexican grass...!!    Weren't they afraid of the 'evil Mexican' grass murdering and raping the bermuda  and  fescue...??

You guys are hilarious.

Well for the record.  Bermuda grass has been waiting on the Mexican feather grass to provide some cover.   

Just want to take this time to compliment Tulsa on its recent development 'The Gathering Place,'  it's really making the headlines--No. 1 New Attraction In America Is Tulsa's Gathering Place;  https://www.newson6.com/story/40692792/no-1-new-attraction-in-america-is-tulsas-gathering-place.

The Gathering Place is making a splash here in OKC:  https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=34209&page=10

[heironymouspasparagus]

You guys are hilarious.

Well for the record.  Bermuda grass has been waiting on the Mexican feather grass to provide some cover.    

Just want to take this time to compliment Tulsa on its recent development 'The Gathering Place,'  it's really making the headlines--No. 1 New Attraction In America Is Tulsa's Gathering Place;  https://www.newson6.com/story/40692792/no-1-new-attraction-in-america-is-tulsas-gathering-place.

The Gathering Place is making a splash here in OKC:  https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=34209&page=10

Well, I don't know about the rest of them, but I certainly am!

We are looking forward to getting to spend a couple days over there without work getting in the way!   There is a list of stuff we are gonna do....

[Laramie]

OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium is located inside the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex



Live construction cam: https://youtu.be/h4LdF2PgbGQ

"Teams and fans flood local hotels, restaurants and shops during each tournament and their direct economic impact is more than $15 million," said Mike Carrier, president of the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Every game is broadcast on ESPN and, as a result, Oklahoma City is mentioned multiple times during each game to a national audience, in addition to broadcasting shots of the Adventure District, the downtown skyline, the city's many amenities and other images indicative of OKC's renaissance. According to Carrier, "You can't buy that kind of positive exposure." 

OKC hits it out of the park with Women's College World Series:  https://www.velocityokc.com/blog/development/okc-hits-it-out-of-the-park-with-women-s-college-world-series/

[Laramie]

Interesting to see the placement (Live construction cam) of construction pieces involved in the upper deck.  It should look very similar to the expansion model.

[Laramie]

                                   Airport on record pace

                                        William Crum, Oklahoman, October 10, 2019

Will Rogers World Airport had counted nearly 1.5 million boarding passengers through August, up 3% from the same time last year and on pace to set a third consecutive annual record. May, June and July have been the busiest, with passenger counts topping 200,000 each month. The number of boarding passengers is up about 30% since 2009.

[Laramie]

 Oklahoma City 2020


Monday, October 7, city officials unveiled the MAPS III logo for the convention center's new brand revealing a colorful logo for a new community landmark.

The new convention center logo complements the color scheme of the adjacent Scissortail Park logo

The convention center complex occupies frontage on the new Oklahoma City Boulevard. Convention-goers will have a short walk to the Oklahoma City Streetcar line and Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Convention center under construction, pic posted by OKC Talk forum on August 28, 2019

The new convention center's target date for opening is October-November 2020

[Laramie]

405 area code nearing exhaustion

[/center]

By Janelle Stecklein | CNHI State Reporter Oct 1, 2019
Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Start saying goodbye to the 405.

With growing demand for phone numbers in central Oklahoma, the area code again is nearing exhaustion, according to the North American Numbering Plan Administrator. The integrated telephone number plan serves 20 North American countries.

The 405 won't become extinct, but there will soon be two area codes in use across the central Oklahoma region, experts say. Current holders could still keep their existing prefixes if regulators adopt a proposed overlay plan.


The plan would allow new consumers to be issued the new area code so that existing customers can keep their original number instead of splitting the central region into two parts.

Elizabeth Sprague, director of the numbering plan, said Oklahoma's newest area code has been set in stone for a decade, but it won't be publicly disclosed until the Oklahoma Corporation Commission issues an order approving the overlay. She said the policy prevents lobbying against pre-selected prefixes.

And even when it is released, implementation could take a while depending on how Oklahoma officials decide to proceed, Sprague said.

The Corporation Commission, which regulates the telecommunications industry, has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Nov. 20 in Oklahoma City. At that hearing, an administrative law judge will hear about the overlay plan and has until Jan. 7 to make a recommendation. The Corporation Commission will then consider the recommendation and issue an order.

It could be early 2020 before that order is issued, said Sarah Terry-Cobo, a spokeswoman for the state agency.

State officials are currently expecting the eventual exhaustion of the 405 around the end of 2021, but it all depends on how many people sign up for new phones, Terry-Cobo said.

The biggest impact current consumers can expect is a mandatory switch to 10-digit dialing, she said. Rather than pressing seven digits, callers will soon have to start dialing 405 before a number, she said. Long-distance calling will not be impacted.

Ron Comingdeer, an Oklahoma City attorney who represents several telephone companies affected by the change, said the industry agreed that the overlay plan would make the most sense in this situation.

Otherwise, they'd have to divvy up the 405 and decide which communities get to keep their current numbers, he said.

The plan also is designed to make the area codes last longer so companies don't have to add new area codes every five or 10 years, Comingdeer said.

It will take about a year to make the final switch after the Corporation Commission hands out its order.

The industry has six months to get everything ready to go, he said. Then customers have six months to get used to dialing 10 digits where phone companies will remind them about 10-digit dialing.

"After six months, it will be mandatory that you dial 10 digits even if you're dialing an old number," Comingdeer said.

Oklahoma's growing population and new businesses are contributing to the exhaustion of existing area codes, he said.

This will mark the third time in recent years that the state has expanded its area codes.

More than a decade ago, the 405 again reached the point of exhaustion. Rather than using the overlay plan, officials implemented a 580 area code for those living outside the Oklahoma City metro area, he said. That impacted customers in areas like Woodward and Broken Bow.

Then a few years ago, the state exhausted its 918 area code, which serves parts of eastern Oklahoma and Tulsa.

Some new consumers in that part of the state are now being issued numbers with the 539 prefix.

Previous area code switches have been known to cause frustration, he said.

"From my experience, generally, particularly older generations don't like change," he said. "It is frustrating for some."

But he's hopeful the change will be easy to accept.

405 area code nearing exhaustion:  https://www.news9.com/story/41141788/405-exhausted-okc-metro-to-get-new-area-code

[Laramie]

                      

                                       More renovations for Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark

              More upgrades for Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark; city sent out bids  to replace all seats in the ballpark to the tune of $1.7 million.  City plans to remove the tarps,
              restore the right field line upper deck seats to reflect its original design.

                                 

                   

Renovation to the right field line upper deck will restore the park to its original seats.  The Brick seating capacity will exceed 13,000.

                                                 

[Laramie]

These are the Easiest and Hardest Places to Do Business in North America,
Study Finds

Oklahoma City Tops the Best List


Oklahoma City's tallest building, Devon Energy Center, anchors the downtown skyline. (CoStar)

Link:  https://product.costar.com/home/news/shared/2116409908?

Oklahoma City sits at the top of North America's cities and major counties as the easiest place to do business for small- and medium-sized firms, according to Arizona State University's Center for the Study of Economic Liberty.

Oklahoma's state capital earned the top spot through an accumulated score from categories such as ease of starting a business, paying taxes, employing people, registering property and obtaining electricity. The study looked at regulations in 115 cities and counties across 92 states, provinces and districts in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The categories for starting a business, employing workers and paying taxes made up 80% of the score for each area. . .

[Laramie]

OKC Mayor David Holt to join Rother shrine groundbreaking



(pic, Oklahoman 10-26-19 Saturday edition)

         Mayor David Holt will participant in the groundbreaking for the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine set for 3 p.m. Nov. 3 at SE 89, between Shields Boulevard and Interstate 35.

         The ceremonial groundbreaking by the Oklahoma Roman Catholic leaders will signal the construction of the Blessed Father Stanley Rother Shine & the 2,000 seat Roman        
         Catholic Church Basilica planned for Oklahoma City.

          "It will be a place of pilgrimage where the faithful will come from near and far to honor Blessed Stanley at his final resting place and to seek his intercession for their many   
            needs. It will be a place of welcome, serving all people," Archbishop Coakley said.

         Link:  http://digital.newsok.com/Olive/ODN/Oklahoman/default.aspx

[Laramie]

Construction update on BankFirst Tower

The $63 million makeover of BancFirst Tower, originally home to Liberty Bank, will include an all new blue-tinted glass exterior as part of amended plans being submitted to the Downtown Design Review Committee. [RENDERING BY BOCKUS-PAYNE ARCHITECTS]

The exterior work is expected to take about 18 months. Harlow said work on the lobby, plaza and concourse along with the exterior skin will start this fall.

"We are going to redo the skin," Harlow said. "We weren't certain we were going to do it. It is 50-year-old single pane glass, and you can do all the work you can on the HVAC, but it's still 50-year-old single pane glass. We'll basically have a brand-new building when we are done."

Other exterior changes will include the building's rooftop, dark for the past couple of years, that will be re-lit with a new illuminated BancFirst logo.

The lobby, meanwhile, will include new entrances, new flooring, ceiling and lighting, renovated Petroleum Deli space on the building's northeast corner, new elevator cab interiors, a new security desk, bank tellers on the west side and a glass curtain wall.--Oklahoman

[Laramie]

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – As state leaders get ready for the REAL ID Act to go into effect next year, they are releasing what the state's compliant driver's licenses will look like in the future.

                             

According to the latest timeline given to the Department of Public Safety by the vendor, the project maintains its progression toward the estimated target date of April 2020 for initial rollout. Additionally, full statewide implementation will be completed by September 2020," the state's latest extension request read.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City proposed MAPS 4 Initiative will present 16 projects totaling $978 million to be placed on the December 10th ballot to go to the voters for approval.

                                   


Top 4 projects (25% of MAPS 4 represents $452 million):

Park enhancements - The MAPS 4 parks package allocates $140 million toward the city's parks system.

About $63 million is to upgrade every municipal neighborhood and community park outside the central business district. Improvements potentially include bathrooms, playground equipment, shade structures, splashpads, furnishings, trees, paths, activity facilities and signage.

                   

Chesapeake Energy Arena - An allocation of $115 million would fund capital maintenance and provide fan and tenant enhancements to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

                   

Youth centers - A $110 million package would be for the construction of four new youth centers. The centers would include programs such as athletics, arts, family, health and education.

                     

Sidewalks, trails, bike lanes - MAPS 4 would provide $87 million for sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and streetlights.

First, $55 million is for the construction of sidewalks, sidewalk amenities and placemaking, including trees, sustainable infrastructure, landscaping, drainage and public art.

                     

Buses and transit - There is a proposed $87 million in MAPS 4 for transit improvements.

$10 million would improve existing bus stops with lighting at every stop and about 500 new ADA-accessible shelters.

$12 million is for additional buses and signal prioritization to help frequency and reliability of services

[buffalodan]

How does Chesapeake already need another $100mil in it? That would pay for a ton of sidewalks. Like you can upgrade one arena, or provide 7,500 nicer bus stops?

I know that this is fairly typical, but the taxpayers have been pumping $100mil every 10 years into it.