OKC Central Chat transcript, March 22, 2013

The Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer took questions from readers in today's OKC Central Live Chat. You can join Steve's Q&A's on Fridays at 10 a.m. and submit your questions about the happenings in and around downtown Oklahoma City. Below is an unedited transcript of the chat.

By Steve Lackmeyer | Published: March 22, 2013 Comment on this article

The Oklahoman's Steve Lackmeyer took questions from readers in today's OKC Central Live Chat. You can join Steve's Q&A's on Fridays at 10 a.m. and submit your questions about the happenings in and around downtown Oklahoma City. Below is an unedited transcript of the chat.

Steve Lackmeyer 10:01 a.m. Good morning everybody!

Steve Lackmeyer 10:01 a.m. I can't go two hours today. So please be mindful of the following....

Steve Lackmeyer 10:01 a.m. Questions and comments can be posted starting at 9:30 a.m. at the NewsOK Business page, with the chat starting at 10 a.m. Those who log in at 9:30 a.m. are the ones who see their questions and comments appear first. Others who log in at 10 a.m. or later will see their questions and comments post with any where from a 10-minute to a half-hour delay.

Sorry. That’s the way this thing works.
I don’t typically censor questions unless they involve personal attacks or are otherwise inappropriate. When the chats go into overtime, I skip questions that were already posted.
And that leads me to a request – please don’t re-post questions unless you are absolutely uncertain that your first attempt was logged in. Again, the later you post, the longer the wait.
Also, while I appreciate the interest in the so called “mystery tower,” please understand, I won’t be breaking this story within a live chat. It’s just not going to happen!
I’m not saying don’t ask questions, but please understand, at this point I have nothing to new to share that I haven’t already provided to readers.

Tyler 10:02 a.m. Steve, this is Tyler from last week. Do you remember me?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:02 a.m. Nope. Last week is a blur.

Tyler 10:02 a.m. Steve, what do you think of OSU's PITIFUL performance yesterday in the NCAA tournament?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:02 a.m. I wasn’t able to watch. I was cranking out stories from 9 a.m. to midnight yesterday.

Kyle 10:02 a.m. Have there been any renderings submitted of the updates to the police station and courthouse design?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:03 a.m. Yes! I had a story with new renderings in today's Oklahoman.

OKCNick 10:03 a.m. Anyone decide to start an effort to save the Gold Dome yet?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:03 a.m. I believe so. I'll try to do an update on this next week.

Chad 10:03 a.m. Hi Steve. Has David Box submitted the demolition request for the Gold Dome to the Urban Design Committee?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:03 a.m. Not to my knowledge.

Dennis Wells 10:04 a.m. Many city newspapers have regular features about local architecture and design… The Oklahoman only covers it sporadically, or as an aside to a business story. What would be needed for the Oklahoman to publish a regular, local design critique?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:05 a.m. Dennis, I briefly attempted to find a way to have a rotating list of architects perform such a critique. But anyone familiar with architectural reviewers know that’s not the same thing. The truth is the newspaper architectural critic is a vanishing species, with fewer and fewer ongoing features as the industry continues to deal with cutbacks and the demand to evolve. I agree – it would be great if we had an architecture critic in Oklahoma City. For now, you’ll have to endure my efforts to at least keep architecture in the spotlight as part of my coverage. Now, that having been said, The Oklahoman is seeking reader feedback (you can read about it on my blog, www.okccentral.com). If enough readers indicated they want to see this sort of feature, who's to say it can't be done?

Dennis Wells 10:05 a.m. What are some of the changes the Oklahoman will be making to maintain vitality during the transition to digital media?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:08 a.m. I think that Digital Managing Editor Alan Herzberger and his crew are among the best in the country. NewsOK is recognized nationwide for its innovation and constant effort to adapt and respond to the rapidly changing medium. Look at the site today - it features some great new "widgets" you weren't seeing last week. As a reporter, I'm doing many things I didn't do 20 years ago; social media, blogging, photos, video, and yes, this live chat.

OKCNick 10:08 a.m. Do you think that with new restaurant development in the CBD (namely Kitchen 324) that we could potentially see some bars pop up in that area of town? Maybe something a little higher class than Bricktown?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:09 a.m. Good, good question.... and I don't know the answer. But the development community follows these chats. I'm sure this question will catch their attention.

Chad 10:09 a.m. With the plans for a new police station moving forward, has there been any more discussion of what to do with the current facility?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:15 a.m. The current police headquarters and court will be razed once the new buildings are completed. The big question is what will happen with the original 1937 police headquarters and jail, which has been mothballed for several years. The building was originally slated for demolition back in the late 1990s when the jail was shut down and operations were merged with the county jail. But a funding shortfall put that plan on hold. An internal debate is underway at City Hall. I don't sense the Oklahoma City Police Department is eager to keep the structure standing, and it's my understanding police administration wants to see it come down. It is in pretty bad shape, with fencing surrounding the structure due to falling debris.
But others question how the city can encourage private property owners to save historic buildings if it proceeds with doing so itself (the police building is part of the original WPA Civic Center project). Developer Marva Ellard submitted a proposal to redevelop the property, but it seems to be caught up in the debate and confusion over how to proceed.
As an aside, during a recent online webinar, Planning Director Russell Claus showed how a parking garage on the site, if done in conjunction with the owners of the many surface parking lots in the area, could trigger a huge redevelopment of the entire west fringe of downtown.

Steve Lackmeyer 10:16 a.m. You can read more about this in my story in today's Oklahoman.

Gary T 10:16 a.m. Good morning Steve! With Brianna Bailey coming over from the Journal Record, have you thought about taking a week off and having her take a stab at the chat?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:16 a.m. I can see if she'll go for that ....

Nick 10:17 a.m. Good morning Steve! Hope you're more rested for this week's chat.

Steve Lackmeyer 10:17 a.m. Not really!

Gary T 10:17 a.m. With all the housing going in downtown, would the elementary school be able to add floors to make it a full K-12 school? If not, what is the plan to add a middle school/high school when it is needed? Would it happen in the C2S area? Would Emerson school fill that void?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:18 a.m. I keep hearing this question, and I'm not sure where the confusion is arising (not from you necessarily, but others seem to think this is the plan). A high school is a very different proposition from an elementary school. The downtown residential population will have to expand dramatically, I suspect, especially in terms of families, for this discussion to take place.

OKCNick 10:19 a.m. Are there plans to put in shopping storefronts in the new development where the Stewart Metal buildings currently are? It seems to me that Bricktown could really use more shopping and less bars/restaurants.

Steve Lackmeyer 10:19 a.m. Yes. Mixed use retail is part of the plan for the east Bricktown development.

Gary T 10:19 a.m. When the renderings for the whitewater rafting course were released, there was a larger building to the north of the boathouses that was supposed to be for meeting space, offices locker rooms and a restaurant and a parking garage. When do you see something like that breaking ground? 3 years? 5 years?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:20 a.m. Sooner. I think that project is scheduled to take off in the next couple of years. I may do a column on this topic for Tuesday.

Nick 10:20 a.m. What should we make of Harold Hamm's divorce proceedings? Any potential effects on Continental that have you worried?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:21 a.m. The people I've talked to say the Reuters story missed some key details and all in all was an overreach. They certainly failed to mention that the Hamms have had a history of going through divorce filings.

Gary T 10:22 a.m. How many more homes are being built on The Hill? Are more expected to start once those are completed and sold?