Headlines of the Week

Fair park shows off upgrades
The Journal Record
Brian Brus
July 9th, 2010

OKLAHOMA CITY – The latest horse show at the Oklahoma State Fair Park was a little different from the usual events held there throughout the year.

Instead of merely serving as host or landlord, the park had an event of its own last week, the Battle in the Saddle backed by $300,000 in prize money.

President and General Manager Tim O’Toole said park management wanted a full calendar of activities to take advantage of barn upgrades. Since no one else stepped forward with an event, they decided to do it themselves.

“It’s a little bit of a different model,” he said. “The city of Oklahoma City is not really the owner of any events. We have a wonderful relationship with the equine world and all the horse breed associations. But we thought it might be nice to put together an event for a change.

“This idea surfaced about three years ago, coinciding with the fruition of various property improvements. We’d been able to successfully retain and enter into long-term agreements with all of our fall horse shows after the State Fair. So we started looking for an opportunity to fill early to mid summer dates,” O’Toole said.

The result was a variety event, with a smattering of competitions that overlapped but did not directly compete against any of the park’s long-standing clients. One of the features, for example, was a face-off between champion ropers Fred Whitfield of Texas and Hunter Herrin of Oklahoma. Other events focused on working cow horses, reining, cutting, heading and healing.

Officials said visitors who attended the event with 800 to 1,000 horses had an impact of about $10 million on the Oklahoma City economy.

The prize money came from entry fees and the park management company, Oklahoma State Fair spokesman Scott Munz said. The 430-acre property is owned by the city of Oklahoma City and managed by the nonprofit Oklahoma State Fair Inc., which operates under its own funds. None of the prize money came from taxpayers, he said.

O’Toole called the Battle in the Saddle a success, but said it is unlikely that the park will expand to a slate of its own and threaten other operators. In fact, the American Quarter Horse Association supported the event as a management partner, he said.

“We didn’t want to get into competition or step on anybody’s toes,” O’Toole said. “The AQHA actually put together an industrywide meeting for us, using their affiliate relationships with organizations like the National Cutting Horse Association and American Cattle Horse Association. … We had some organizational meetings in Oklahoma City and hashed it out. We’re very satisfied with the result.”

Construction to begin on Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma site in Oklahoma City
FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Oklahoman
July 14, 2010

Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma will start construction on a new 70,000-square-foot clinic and administration building Thursday at 325 NE 97, near Broadway Extension and Britton Road.

Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma will start construction on a new 70,000-square-foot clinic and administration building Thursday at 325 NE 97, near Broadway Extension and Britton Road.

A groundbreaking ceremony, which was announced late last year, will be at 11 a.m.
Nearly 300 of the company's 780 Oklahoma employees will work at the location, which is expected to open in August 2011. Diagnostic Laboratory of Oklahoma, a business unit of Quest Diagnostics, provides laboratory services and laboratory management to more than 2,200 physicians, hospitals and clinics in across Oklahoma.

"This new facility is not only an asset for DLO, but it's an asset for Oklahoma patients, physicians and all health care professionals," said Bill Mosteller, managing director.

"It provides us with room for continued growth and gives us the ability to deliver more cutting-edge technology. And by having our clinical and administrative operations under one roof, it will improve operational efficiencies," he said.
The property is being developed by Turner & Co. Architecture services are provided by Bockus Payne Associates Architects.

Rawhide Joins Other Shops Thriving in Automobile Alley
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
The Oklahoman
July 14, 2010

Automobile Alley's newest retailer, Rawhide, opened Monday at 1007 N Broadway in Oklahoma City. The building was the last old property along the once depressed stretch of Broadway between NW 9 and NW 10 waiting to be renovated.

From the moment Steve Mason began redeveloping the 1000 block of N Broadway, he envisioned recasting Automobile Alley as a thriving downtown retail corridor.


The 1007 N Broadway building, built in 1918 and originally operated as Cadillac dealership, marks the sixth building built before 1950 renovated by developer Steve Mason and the second project completed under the guidelines set by the National Park Service to qualify for historic tax credits.

Just a few years ago Mason was a newcomer to downtown development. The 1007 N Broadway building, like the century-old 1015 N Broadway building next door, was in bad shape with a roof falling in and a facade that had been dramatically altered.

The restoration brought back the original facade shown in old photos obtained by Mason. The wide windows are used by the newly opened Rawhide in the same fashion storefronts displayed goods a half-century ago. Rawhide owner Angie Bailey kept the unfinished interior walls exposed, and added a rustic feel to the rear of the store by covering the wall with 30-year-old unpainted wood siding removed from a house her family owns in Purcell.

"One hundred years later, these buildings are returning to what they once were," Mason said.

To date his efforts have included a coffee shop, bicycle store and cellular phone store complemented by a mix of restaurants and shops across the street along NW 9.
Mason didn't have to seek out his newest tenant. Instead, Angie Bailey, the owner of Rawhide, sought out Mason and in some ways she brings his initial vision full circle.
Rawhide comes with a mix of upscale furniture, clothing, jewelry and gifts that have drawn a national customer base since Bailey started the company three years ago in Norman. And a partnership with the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum adds to her store's status as a destination retailer.

"It has a good feeling here; it has a good vibe," Bailey said. "I wanted more space for displaying furniture and for my design work. And I've always wanted a store in Automobile Alley. I love what they did with the street, with the brick and the tree lines."

The location is within five minutes of the junction of Interstates 35 and 40, which allows the relocated store to be more accessible to Bailey's national customers. And she believes the revival of Automobile Alley, the proximity of downtown's historic neighborhoods and the popular restaurants along NW 9 will create more walk-in traffic.

The store itself is 5,300 square feet, far larger than the 2,600-square-foot shop it replaced.

Bailey spent much of her career as a furniture representative, and operated a wholesale shop for designers for three years.

It was when Bailey found herself traveling out of state for "ranch style" clothing and furniture she describes as "rustic, yet refined" and made in the United States, that she sought to create the sort of store she believed was missing locally.
More than a decade ago she eyed opening such a shop in the Stockyards, but determined it wasn't ready.

Bailey said the shop she opened in Norman — one that also featured handmade Western boots, turquoise jewelry, men's and women's clothing — was instantly a hit with shoppers who discovered her offerings online. She runs the store with her daughter Dakota Rowenhorst.

The 1007 N Broadway building was the last of what was a depressed set of properties waiting to be renovated when Bailey approached Mason. He had a "for lease" sign in the building's window for months, and despite some inquiries he had yet to find the right fit for the block.

"Everything I'm leasing, I've used toward the goal that we see a few more cups of coffee sold in the coffee shop (his tenant Coffee Slingers)," Mason said. "Allied Arts is here, and they have a lot of people who wander through, and there are a lot of people who want to enjoy a cup of coffee. And what's great about Rawhide is it will bring new people who have not been to this part of town before."

Alison Oshel, a retail specialist with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, sees Rawhide as a good step forward in Automobile Alley's transition.

"It is something that tourists and visitors expect to see when they visit Oklahoma City, and it's a nice upscale way to do that," Oshel said. "Automobile Alley is where it's at now for boutique retail opportunities that we're going to see pop up downtown. These buildings have tall first stories, clear glass storefronts, and a walkable area that doesn't really exist elsewhere downtown. And there is on-street parking and extremely easy ingress and egress."

Rawhide, meanwhile, is the seventh business opened downtown in the past three years as a result of Mason's efforts to redevelop NW 9 and Broadway.

"The seventh was easier than the first," Mason said. "And the eighth, I think, will be easier than the second. It's like a strip shopping center, and it's filling up. The last bay is easier to fill than the first bay."

Mason credits city leaders with helping make Broadway a success.

"If you look at the sales taxes (being collected) for this part of town, it's incredibly higher than it was five years ago," Mason said. "The city's investment is being paid by these businesses that are relocating back to downtown."