Civic Center Music Hall Oklahoma City

MAPS 3 schedule criticized in Oklahoma City meeting

MAPS stands for Metropolitan Area Projects, and is a limited term sales tax passed by voters to fund major capital improvements. The first MAPS sales tax was passed in 1993 to build projects including the Oklahoma City Arena, the Bricktown ballpark, the Bricktown Canal and the downtown library. Other projects included revitalization of the Oklahoma River and renovations of the Civic Center Music Hall and convention center. MAPS for Kids was passed in 1999 and funded an overhaul of Oklahoma City Public Schools. MAPS 3 was passed by voters on Dec. 8, 2009, and is expected to raise $777 million. Projects pledged to voters by the mayor and council are a streetcar system, convention center, white water rapids on the Oklahoma River and other improvements along the waterway, a Core to Shore park, a State Fair Park exhibition hall, trails, sidewalks and senior aquatics centers. MAPS projects are traditionally built without debt, and design and construction are timed to coincide with tax collections.

The Oklahoma City Council is set to vote on the schedule assembled by Mike Mize with Architectural Design Group on July 5, but if Tuesday's 90-minute discussion is any indication, a unanimous vote may be unlikely.

The latest proposal moves the convention center project to 2012 — about 30 months from its previous targeted start date, and also starts the white water rapids attraction six months sooner, and moves up the start of a State Fair Park exhibit hall by one year.

By doing so, transit is delayed to include a contested “investigation” phase, and only basic landscaping along the northern edge of a Core to Shore park would be complete when a nearby new boulevard is set to open in 2014. Three of four senior aquatics centers also would be started later than first planned.

“As we go forward on these, we need to remember it's a zero sum game on the schedule,” warned City Manager Jim Couch . “If something goes up, something goes back … We're trying to get a schedule that works.”

Schedule ‘well vetted'

“I think it (the schedule) has been well vetted,” Marrs said. “As is typical for a committee and this horse shoe (council chamber), you don't get everything you want.”

Shadid warned fellow council members they need more time to look at how they might find $50 million in funding they've been told will be needed for a conference hotel in conjunction with the convention center. He also advised fellow council members to consider recent reports in The Boston Globe that casts doubt into the work of Convention, Sports & Leisure, the consulting firm that recommended Oklahoma City build a convention center.

Top City Developments, 2008-2011

I'm thinking of doing 1-3 blog articles ala David Letterman's Top 10s for the past 4 years. In outline form, this is what I've come up with so far, but I haven't thought it through completely, and I'd be glad to have your feedback. Note that in a developed form, it would not be presented in "outline" form but each item would have its own developed discussion. Anyway, here's what I've come up with so far but I could easily have left things out that should be included: Oklahoma City's General Economic Viability During Nationwide Recession. Development of the Oklahoma City Arena and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Devon Tower & Related Developments (this would include Project 180 and Myriad Gardens). Developments on the Oklahoma River. Developments in the Health Sciences Center. Developments in Midtown. Developments East of the Santa Fe Tracks North of Bricktown. Developments Along Automobile Alley. Developments in Bricktown. Developments in Film Row District. Development of Outlet Mall on I-40 & Council Road. Development of Classen Curve. Oklahoma City's 2008-2011 Top 9 Possible Developments That Talked-The-Talk But Haven't Yet Walked-The-Walk. SandRidge Campus Development. Preftake's Holdings Between Hudson & Walker, Sheridan to Main. Center of the American Indian and Cultural Center. MAPS 3 Projects. Core To Shore. Mercy Development in Midtown. Skydance Pedestrian Bridge. Centennial Park (east of Civic Center Music Hall). Compass Rose Proposal for Centennial Park. Oklahoma City's 2008-2011 Top 6 List of Oklahoma City Political Developments. Decision to Improve Oklahoma City Arena & Build an NBA Practice Facility. Decision to Approve MAPS 3. Committee For Oklahoma City Momentum. City Council Elections in 2011. Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City. Post-2011 Council Election Developments. Again, these thoughts are in their beginning stages, and could easily change before this project is done.

Insiders' Guide to Oklahoma City

Theatres in Oklahom, Performing Arts Centers in Oklahoma, Civic Center Music Hall, Gaslight Theatre, Black Theater of Ardmore

Oklahoma City Music:, Deep Deuce and Beyond

World Encyclopedia of Cities: North America (United States N-Z and Canada)

Oklahoma City, 1930 to the millennium