Paradise on the Prairie

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With the Pei Plan a faded unrealized dream, this film starts the 1990’s by asking what’s next? Special thanks goes to Rick Allen Lippert for providing us this rare glance of Oklahoma City at a crossroads between the Pei Plan and MAPS.

2 Responses to “Paradise on the Prairie”

Rick Allen Lippert says:

June 7, 2010 at 2:21 pm

I produced this video in 1990 when I worked at the City of OKC in the Public Information Office. The purpose was to get the Council to start discussing the future of downtown (which ultimately led to MAPS) and to enter into the national CityVideos competition sponsored by the National League of Cities and A&E Network. It won Honorable Mention, and I got to attend the awards ceremony in Houston with then-councilman I.G. Purser.

I found the Pei Plan model in the Oklahoma County Historical Society Museum, then housed in the building off Santa Fe that is home to the Melton Art Reference Library. Archival film clips came from the OK Historical Society. Aerial footage was courtesy of Jordan Associates. I shot the rest of the live action downtown scenes and interviews.

The corner of buildings behind the Tiana Douglas interview is the 500 block of West Sheridan, now an empty lot. It used to be OKC’s “skid row” and caused many people a lot of grief due to the presence of numerous derelicts so close to Stage Center and Festival Plaza (new home to the Festival of the Arts) and along the Walker Avenue gateway to downtown.
oral-b 4000 says:

October 21, 2011 at 5:18 am

Studies show that most of the people who use electric toothbrushes have greatly improved in terms of their dental health.

Mark your Calendar!

Thanks for stopping in! This is a really exciting project for Oklahoma City. The scheduled date for unveiling is May 3rd, and will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the northeast lobby of the Cox Convention Center. Speakers will include Mayor Mick Cornett and state historian Dr. Bob Blackburn. In addition to the model, the display will include new information panels about the history of downtown and the urban renewal era, and original paintings that were produced almost 40 years ago in conjunction with the introduction of the Pei Plan.

History

Renowned international architect I.M. Pei was contracted in 1964 by the Urban Action Foundation, a non-profit formed to help launch an urban renewal program for downtown Oklahoma City. His work included a creating a 10- by 12-foot model showing how downtown might look in 1989 after the program's completion. The model was part of an ambitious public relations effort aimed at gaining support for tearing down hundreds of old buildings...
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