Latest news with #DavidTodd
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Demolition of old Myriad Convention Center underway Monday
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Demolition for the north wall of the old Myriad Convention Center and Pedestrian Skybridge begins Monday, June 9. After more than five decades of being a centerpiece for events in Oklahoma City, the time for the old Cox Convention Center is up. LOCAL NEWS: Snake season: What to do if a venomous snake bites you? 'It's meant a lot, but it's lived its life,' Maps Program Manager for the city of Oklahoma City David Todd said. 'And it's in a prime spot where we're going to put a new arena.' Demolition for the 145-foot long pedestrian skybridge and the buildings north wall started Monday and will last through the week. The total project is expected to be finished by September. 'People forget there's a garage under there,' Todd said. 'There's going to be a 14 foot hole right there in that area that'll have to eventually be filled. So, the demolition is complicated in some aspects.' Street closures and disruptions to the OKC Street Car will last through the end of the week. Sheridan Avenue from Robinson Avenue to the Century Center Parking Garage will be down to one westbound lane. Meanwhile, Sheridan Avenue will be completely closed east of the garage all the way to E.K. Gaylord Boulevard. 'There's access that will be provided to Mahogany and some of the other businesses in the garage there. You just have to follow the signs,' Todd said. To make way for progress, the OKC Streetcar will have to be shut down temporarily. Until it's back up and running, shuttle buses will help people get around downtown. Per the City of Oklahoma City, 'EMBARK will operate a dedicated bus shuttle to shuttle riders along a modified Downtown Loop from 6 a.m. – midnight. Buses will run every 25 minutes. Streetcar fare is required via ticket vending machines or the Token Transit mobile app. Riders can board the shuttle at any streetcar platform along the route, with the exception of the Century Center stop on Sheridan. Bus head signs will read 'OKC Streetcar Service Downtown Loop.' Real-time tracking will not be available, so please allow extra travel time. If you need assistance navigating the streetcar shuttle, you can call EMBARK Customer Service at 405-235-RIDE (7433). The call center is open Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.' LOCAL NEWS: PHOTOS: Community showing support for Oklahoma City Thunder Plenty to keep in mind as crews work for the foreseeable future and mark the end of an era in Oklahoma City. The demolition is considered 'mechanical', meaning no explosives are going to be used. The wrecking company over the project told the city that they plan to recycle all steel and concrete from the demolition site. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Demolition of former convention center skybridge, north wall planned in June
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Road closures and a temporary shutdown to the OKC Streetcar are scheduled for early June as wrecking crews plan to demolish the north wall of the former convention center, as well as dismantle the pedestrian skybridge. Beginning on the morning of June 9, wrecking crews are expected to demolish the wall, along with the 145-foot-long glass and steel pedestrian skybridge that connects to the Wyndam Grand Hotel, weather permitting, according to the City of Oklahoma City. The bridge is planned to be dismantled into two pieces and is expected to be removed on June 9 and 10. 'Demo crews have been working diligently to remove items from inside the former convention center,' Project Manager David Todd said. 'People will start seeing exciting and dramatic changes to the site of the new arena.' Russell Westbrook set to bring creative ideas to new stadium While the demolition is happening, street closures will be in place for the following areas: Sheridan Avenue from Robinson Avenue to the Century Center Parking Garage will be reduced to one westbound lane. Sheridan will be closed east of the Century Center Garage to South E.K. Gaylord. Detour signs will also be in place. A temporary closure of the OKC Streetcar will also take place while demolition is going on, from June 9 until June 13. EMBARK is expected to operate a bus shuttle for riders along a modified downtown loop that will run from 6 a.m. until midnight, with buses running every 25 minutes. The City states that streetcar fare is required by ticket vending machines or the Token Transit mobile app. Shuttle riders can board at any streetcar platform along the route except for the Century Center stop on Sheridan. Signs will have 'OKC Streetcar Service — Downtown Loop' on them. The City also says that real-time tracking will not be available, and to allow extra travel time. Those who need assistance navigating the streetcar shuttle can call EMBARK Customer Service at 405-235-7433. The call center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lightning strikes transformer at OKC Fairgrounds' new coliseum
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Classes that were going to be hosted at the new MAPS 4 Coliseum have been moved after lightning struck an electrical transformer. According to the City of Oklahoma City, the coliseum is still under construction, but was expected to host parts of the Redbud Spectacular prior to the official ribbon cutting. Those classes are being moved to other show venues at the OKC Fairgrounds. LOCAL NEWS: Family rescued after being trapped by tornado debris 'We are fortunate the surge protection functioned and protected the inside of the building,' MAPS Program Manager David Todd said. 'Our contractor is working to fix the damage.' The transformer is expected to be fixed before the coliseum's ribbon cutting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oklahoma City Council selects demolition contractor for Prairie Surf Studios
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The Oklahoma City Council approved a contract with Midwest Wrecking on Tuesday to demolish Prairie Surf Studios and pave the way for the new Paycom Center, the future home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Demolition is expected to take six to eight months to complete and will begin in the next several weeks. 'We've removed nostalgic items from the arena like a medallion that was embedded in the floor, light fixtures with section numbers on them, flags and some of the seating,' David Todd, the arena program manager, said. 'The center will be torn down wall by wall over the next few months.' New Oklahoma City arena designer talks aspirations Construction of the new Paycom Center is scheduled to begin in 2026, with a target completion date by June 2028. In the meantime, the Thunder will continue to play their home games at the current Paycom Center until the new arena opens. Here's how the nearly billion-dollar arena will be funded: Funded by a 72-month, one-cent sales tax once the MAP 4 tax has ended. (Sales tax rate will not increase.) The new arena will also be paid for with $70 million in MAPS 4 funding and $50 million from the Oklahoma City Thunder ownership group. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
An ambitious MAPS 4 plan to improve OKC parks was approved. Which parks get what?
An expansive and expensive plan is moving forward that would upgrade more than 100 existing neighborhood and community parks in Oklahoma City, but advocates for some specific parks are trying to negotiate other amenities they believe might service the communities better. The city is planning to upgrade existing neighborhood and community parks throughout OKC as part of the ambitious MAPS 4 Neighborhood and Community Parks Master Plan. At 490 pages and a $154 million overall budget, the parks plan is the largest MAPS 4 project in terms of both scope and budget, according to MAPS Program Manager David Todd. Approved by the Oklahoma City Council in January, the plan includes input from park users, operators, stakeholders, residents and city staff. Engineering consultant Kimley-Horn, a longtime partner with the city, was hired to assess current and future needs at each park based on existing conditions, accessibility and neighborhood feedback. Darran Scott, a landscape architect with Kimley-Horn, said Wards 2, 6 and 7 requested some revisions to the plan in recent months, which the consultant has been able to accommodate. 'Some of the things were just shifting dollars around from one amenity to the other, but it all stayed within that ward itself,' Scott said. 'Of the plan's 105 parks, 56 received playground updates. We added 66 multi-use courts. All of the splashpads were updated and will be replaced — a lot of park signage, shelter. And one of the big comments across several of the wards was lighting, so 188 of the solar lights — a lot more lighting going into these neighborhood and community parks as well.' Of the budget, $66 million will be devoted to neighborhood and community parks, with $51.5 million going toward construction broadly at the parks as a whole. The plan also allocates $22 million for several park-specific improvement projects, including four new $2.5 million parks; community gardens; outdoor basketball and pickleball courts; $5.57 million renovations at Booker T. Washington Park; $2.78 million in improvements to Lake Stanley Draper; and $2.2 million in enhancements at Northeast Park. Related: Can $154 million save Oklahoma City parks? See what is being planned Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2025. "Neighborhood and community parks are critical to the health and well-being of our city," OKC Parks and Recreation Director Melinda McMillan-Miller said in a statement. "Investing in and revitalizing these parks into more vibrant spaces will encourage residents of all ages to get outside, connect with nature and build stronger relationships with their neighbors." Pavilions, a new playground, splash pad and more are also currently slated for Minnis Lakeview Park in far northeast Oklahoma City through the plan. MAPS 4 master plan funds for the park's amenities run $1.37 million, supplemented by $556,748 in park-specific funding. According to an assessment detailed in the plan, Minnis Lakeview is in need of various repairs. While the outside basketball court's concrete pad is listed as in good condition, consultants observed that its paint is fading. Both wooden and metal benches at the park are deteriorating, and its wooden picnic tables are in poor condition. Playground equipment, especially the swing set, is sun-faded and rusting, while large cracks have spread in the northwest side of the parking lot. The master plan's announced upgrades follow months of sessions with the Minnis Lakeview Advisory Committee, a volunteer group of community leaders who meet with park staff regularly on how to best maintain awareness of the park's activities. The committee was formed after fears spread in Ward 7 that the Minnis Lakeview Recreation Center could close after the city's budget cuts last year. More: See inside the Minnis Lakeview Recreation Center in northeast OKC Troy Beasley and Delbert Laskey, chair and vice chair of the committee respectively, are adamant that consultants are likely missing out on feedback from their community for the MAPS program and other initiatives due to the city's reliance on online outreach. The Minnis Lakeview Park sits at a somewhat remote location in a more rural area with lower population density than the city's core, so the advisory committee believes they might be able to voice the needs of the surrounding community better in one-on-one meetings. Beasley, Laskey and others have tried to spearhead local programs for both youth and seniors to increase attendance at the park and usage of its facilities. But they are still worried about disparities they see in prioritization and funding of parks elsewhere in the city while resources are thin in their own community. "We've been informed that we have one of the larger children's program enrollments," Beasley said. "I would imagine there would be some different distribution for the parks that I would say are high priority, meaning that they serve more people. It seems like Oklahoma City Parks and Rec says that the larger the number, the more the accommodation, as far as services and whatnot. So if there's a park that's serving more people, it would seem logical that they would receive more accommodation to boost or bolster their programming, when you have a similar-sized park that may not have half the traffic." Advisory committee members also were skeptical if some of the plan's recommendations, such as two new smaller-sized pavilions and the removal of a splashpad, are necessary. "There were a few other smaller pavilions that I don't foresee that we need, because we'd have a large pavilion and that would suffice," Laskey said. "I've never seen even 200 or 300 people outside at the park ever, and that pavilion that they're building is large enough to house 200 people or more." Meanwhile, there were no improvements recommended in the plan for the existing basketball court, a major upgrade that the committee believes is needed. Committee members suggested removing some of the recommended areas from the park-specific plan and allocating that funding toward other improvements. MAPS 4 Office Project Manager Tony Ochoa said that, while park-specific funding has already been allocated in the budget, there would still be some room to make adjustments during the design phase. According to the plan, Minnis Lakeview Park improvements might not begin construction until 2029, during the overall project's fifth phase. "Once we get into design is when we will meet with the user group, parks operators and stakeholders, and we can get more input," Ochoa said. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's MAPS 4 plan to improve parks was approved. Which parks get what?
