Architectural award goes beyond Oklahoma City's MAPS 3

MAPS 3? It's not even close to being implemented.

Bogle wanted to see Oklahoma City's efforts acknowledged — and believed no other city was more worthy of such recognition.

“Architecture has the power to transform cities,” Bogle explained when the award was announced. “We know no better example of a city that has used the tool of architecture design and construction to literally transform itself over a period of a few short years.”

Show of confidence

The Riley award, however, is for a sitting mayor, and is named after the highly acclaimed 10-term mayor of Charleston, S.C. Riley is a longtime member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, once served as its chairman, and is a founder of the Mayors' Institute on City Design.

The award was established in 2010 by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the American Architectural Foundation.

For Oklahoma City to be honored with such an award, the man to receive it has to be the sitting mayor — Mick Cornett. And by most accounts, his legacy will be the luring of the NBA to Oklahoma City, and MAPS 3.

“We're confident, because of the quality of the work completed through now, that MAPS 3 will equal or exceed that quality when done,” Bogle explained Monday. “Oklahoma City has established a commitment to excellence in design.”

The technicalities may limit the award to MAPS 3, but Bogle promises he's among those eager to tell and share the entire MAPS story, and hopes this award will spread the word about Oklahoma City's transformation. In Bogle's thinking, the recognition isn't just for Cornett — it's also for Norick, Humphreys and all of Oklahoma City.

“What makes this an extraordinary story is that it spans 20 years and three different mayors,” Bogle said. “You've had more time to do things than most mayors get. The baton is passed to Mick, and he is carrying forward with the legacy. It's a story I've not seen anywhere else.”