Exactly how many bricks does OKC's Bricktown need?

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Aug 22, 2005 by Brian Brus

When Bricktown construction plans from two major developers were submitted to the Urban Renewal Authority for approval recently, architects were told they lacked some indefinable quality, something commissioners couldn't quite define in numbers.

The buildings needed more brick. But how much?

At one point initially it would have been useful to have some standards in place to make it simpler for developers. But now it's kind of subjective, said Commissioner Jim Tolbert on Friday. You don't want the project to look like it was built at the intersection of two interstates.

A 30-unit residential and retail project by developer Randy Hogan and the 150-room Residence Inn by John Q. Hammons received the authority's general approval last week, but not enough to proceed without revisions. An architect for Hammons asked the authority to quantify how much brick would be appropriate for the job, to which Tolbert replied, As much as we can get.

Jim Lohmeyer of Lohmeyer-Russell architectural firm in Springfield, Mo., said the Hammons project has since been revised and is expected to be sent back to Oklahoma City for approval before the end of this week. Construction will begin shortly thereafter.

We all pretty much understood what they're looking for, and I think we've addressed all that, Lohmeyer said. In addition to brick, revisions called for more windows and balconies.

Lohmeyer also was the architect for the Courtyard by Marriott, another Hammons project on Reno Avenue. He said some areas require finesse and familiarity, lacking clearer guidelines already put in place by local authorities.

It's our starting point to analyze what's there now - the canal is a critical item in Bricktown, for example - and try to be careful that you reflect that without doing something drastically different.

Authority Executive Director JoeVan Bullard said of the diverse construction in the area, if you look at a couple of the structures over there, it's hard to categorize. If you look at the (Harkins) theater, for example, or Bass Pro (Shops). There is no standard for certain percentages of exterior wall to be bricked.

The lack of matching facades to the south side of Reno Avenue actually helps affirm the historic aesthetic of the red Bricktown warehouses on the north side of the street, he said. New construction should be complementary, not a precise match.

Acme Brick has supplied much of the building material for the area, most of it shades of red, Oklahoma City Acme sales manager Rod Morgan said. Sonic's corporate headquarters is Tuscany, for example; the RedHawks stadium is Ranger Red. The majority of Bricktown brick is one of two standard recipes produced at the Tulsa plant: light Garnet and darker Crimson.

The Hogan project is on the south side of Reno Avenue just west of the Centennial Plaza fountain near the theater. The Hammons hotel will be built south of Reno between Bass Pro Shops and Sonic's headquarters building.

Tolbert said, The Bricktown Urban Design Committee does a good job of maintaining the standards north of Reno, but they don't apply south of Reno. To the south, it's mostly up to Urban Renewal to maintain because it's mostly Urban Renewal Authority.

I think it's too late for there to be any standards, he said.