Just east of Oklahoma Cities downtown business district is the area now known as Bricktown. Founded as a warehouse and distribution district in 1889, Bricktown was central hub for the state and country. Housing furniture and hardware stores, a dairy, cotton producers, wholesale grocers, a biscuit company and even a school, Bricktown was a thriving district in Oklahoma city.
In the 1960’s, Bricktown began to see a decline as residents flocked to the suburbs. Buildings became vacant, and then started to become dilapidated. But the 1980’s began a wave of urban renewal in Bricktown. Soon, restaurants and retail began to move into the area. By the 1990’s the area gained sports arenas, concert venues and an amazing nightlife.
As all things seem cyclical, Bricktown began to decline again in the 2000’s. When the Spaghetti Warehouse (once the anchor of Bricktown) closed in early 2016, words like dilapidated and deteriorating began being used to describe the area once more.
Very recently, the building that once housed the Spaghetti Warehouse was declared abandoned by Oklahoma City and was targeted by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority for possible blight action.
The building (originally home to Oklahoma Furniture Manufacturing Co) has since been added to an existing redevelopment plan for Bricktown, and city officials have assured people that the historic structure will be renovated and not demolished.
If renovation of a building once considered an anchor for the Bricktown area is soon to be under way, then it is safe to assume that this historic section of Oklahoma City will once again be a draw for people who enjoy the retro aesthetic of Bricktown and modern amenities.
Oklahoma City Brings Another Dawn to Bricktown
We are all for the revitalization of these older parts of town. Let’s face it, there is a certain style and class to these old buildings that newer construction does not have. However, the designers of these buildings didn’t have a crystal ball. These buildings often fall far short of being what we would call today “up to code”. Instead they have been grandfathered in, and therefore, usually have some out of date (or maybe even downright dangerous) electrical systems.
And what about that HVAC? Most of these building were built before air conditioning, and have since been retrofitted. But when were they retrofitted? 50 years ago? Modern techniques can make the HVAC system on these building much more reliable and cost effective.
Of course, the main difference between an area that is “dilapidated and deteriorating”, and an area that is “revitalized” is how clean that area is. When a place it dirty, it feels unsafe. It feels like people don’t care.
The people of Oklahoma City do care about Bricktown, and so do we. BRAVO! Group Services has skilled teams that can install new HVAC and electrical systems is the historic buildings of Bricktown, or we can retrofit them to be up to modern safety standards and codes. We also have skilled staff that cares about our town, and can make sure your Bricktown property is clean and presentable to visitors and guests.
Call BRAVO! Group Services, and let us help keep Bricktown an amazing place to do business.