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“At 9:02 a.m. on April 9th 1995, everyone became an Oklahoman.” This was the ad that Oklahoma City ran immediately after the incident at the federal building, to thank the rest of the country and the world for their immediate and selfless response to that tragedy.
Long before Oklahoma City found itself at the center of world attention, it had a massive redevelopment plan underway to turn its historic downtown into a great new tourist destination. Now, once more looking to the future, the city continues with its plans to build a welcoming environment for all the new Oklahomans who plan to travel there.
In 1993 a penny was added to the sales tax to fund the $285 million downtown redevelopment plan. The renovations and additions will include Bricktown, an already thriving redeveloped area that once was the site of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. It was here that the first Territorial Fair was held in 1891 and it had been a military outpost before that, during the Land Run of 1889.
While a new baseball team and a light-rail transit system are included in the plans, this town’s heritage is 100 percent cowboy and the city’s most famous attraction is the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. It actually represents the 17 western United States and is currently undergoing an expansion to triple its size. The new entry-way features James Earl Frazer’s famous sculpture “The End of the Trail” and other areas will house the enormous landscape paintings of the Grand Canyon by Wilson Hurley as well as paintings of other renowned Western sites.
More renovations include the Riverwalk and The State Fairgrounds. Although requiring little in the way of restoration at this time, the always-intriguing Myriad Botanical Gardens, Stockyard City and Remington Park will continue to attract their share of old and new Oklahomans.
Respose to the plan has been so positive that Oklahoma City Mayor Ronald J. Norick, was able to announce on Oct 26 that John Q Hammons Hotels & Resorts Inc and Westin Hotels and Resorts announced plans for the development of a new Westin hotel in Oklahoma City to be built as part of the City’s metropolitan area projects. The Westin Hotel Oklahoma City will begin construction in July 1996, with a projected opening in November 1997. Total cost of the development is estimated at $40 million.
The Westin Hotel Oklahoma City will include 350 rooms, a restaurant, swimming pool, fitness center and 10,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel will be connected to the Myriad Convention Center in downtown.
Everyone knows cowboys get darned hungry after a day on the trail or the walking tour. If you find yourself among that crowd, try a visit to the High Noon Saloon, the Rib Joint, the Bricktown Brewery or the Cattleman’s Steak House in Stockyard City, (which the owner won in a crap game in the 1940’s). Of course, there are countless other Western watering holes throughout the city.
To reach the National Cowboy Hall of Fame directly call: (405) 478-2250
The Westin Hotel Oklahoma City will include 350 rooms, a restaurant, swimming pool, fitness center and 10,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel will be connected to the Myriad Convention Center in downtown.
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