Steve Lackmeyer, OKC Development
Building survey to catalog Oklahoma City downtown's past
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Comments 
0
Published: October 6, 2009
Is there a "lost Bricktown”? You bet.
Lost in the hype over
Bricktown as a thriving urban entertainment venue is that the one-time wholesale district was once much bigger. A century ago one could find wholesale grocers, implement dealers and breweries in an area that is now home to the
Santa Fe garage, the
Cox Convention Center and
Ford Center.
The assortment of warehouses disappeared with the advent of Urban Renewal in the 1970s, but hidden in a forgotten area south of Ford Center one can still find the remnants of "lost Bricktown.”
Not all of the buildings are easy to identify. They include the once ornate but now blighted International Harvester and Film Exchange buildings, and some others that clearly date to the early 1900s but provide no hint of their heritage.
Current redevelopment plans call for these buildings to be razed, potentially within the next few years. But are they historically worth saving? Could this be another mistake for a city that saw hundreds of its historic downtown buildings torn down by Urban Renewal?
Maybe, or maybe not. A historical survey would help, and such an effort is being launched by the city, thanks to a federal grant. The survey, being administered by the
Oklahoma City Planning Department, will include more than 1,300 buildings in an area bordered by Interstate 235, NW 13, Classen Boulevard and the
Oklahoma River.
It’s a big job that is expected to take five years, and here’s the catch: The buildings that may be in most jeopardy of being razed, "lost Bricktown,” are scheduled to be the last to be surveyed.
Preservation architect
Catherine Montgomery and
Planning Director Russell Claus say the scheduling is a judgment call that could be changed. But they also add no such changes are being contemplated, though they admit the properties south of Ford Center could indeed disappear over the next decade.
Will "lost Bricktown” disappear without anyone noticing? The upcoming survey may not just catalog historic buildings; it may end up measuring just how important historic architecture is to today’s leadership.
Leave a Comment
Business Photo Galleriesview all
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).