My 2 Cents: Sports, Entertainment Complex Could Be Shiny Star Of MAPS 4

Maintenance and improvements to the Chesapeake Arena, as I told you last time, is a project that absolutely has to be included by the mayor and OKC City Council in the MAPS 4 plan that will be put before voters most likely in December. 

Now to a project that will make the cut, in my opinion, and could be the shiny star of the MAPS 4 plan if city leaders don't cheap out on it.

It is a sports, entertainment, and retail complex with the canal extending through it, that would ideally be situated across the new Oklahoma City Boulevard from Bricktown where the old Cotton Mill was.

Unfortunately, early on it got labeled as a "new soccer stadium" for the Energy.

More accurately, it will be a multi-sport and event stadium.

Not a behemoth, for sports it would seat up to 10,000 and for outdoor concerts maybe 18,000.

How cool would it be to play every state championship football game in downtown Oklahoma City, ala the Big House for basketball?

But city leaders asked the supporters to downscale the project, basically just a small stadium, and a cheap version at that. The mayor said it could be upgraded in the future like we did with the Ford Center.

But MAPS 4 could run for 10 years. That's a long time before any money would be available in a future MAPS.

City leaders should embrace something closer to this original version of the sports and entertainment district, it's the only shiny new project that could capture the voters’ imagination.

I'm Kelly ogle and that's My 2 Cents