August 4th, 2010
Clearly, the location of our new convention center is a hot topic. It seems to me that it needs to be integrated into the fabric of downtown and take into account the various groups lining up to argue for the various sites. So, here’s an idea that I haven’t seen that, while not easy, might be a pretty good compromise location and accomplish a number of positive goals in the process:
- Tear down the Sante Fe parking garage (yes, we’ll have to build a new garage)
- Close EK Gaylord south of 4th street (this will make everyone who wants to straighten out Broadway happy – Gaylord is an ugly street anyway)
- Build the convention center on the Sante Fe/Gaylord site (it’s close to all the hotels, easy access to Bricktown and buffers the railroad track)
- Remodel Cotter tower into the convention hotel (it’s going to be nearly empty after Devon vacates and needs a lot of money spent on it…this will have the added benefit of improving the downtown office market)
