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Bricktown providing one-stop fun - All ages find ways to enjoy nightlife David Zizzo 08/04/2001

The sun is finally loosening its grip, and Karol Castro is busy doing what people do on a midsummer Saturday evening in Bricktown - waiting.

Investing time here is worth it, she figures. "You do it anywhere else that has fun," Castro said, sitting on a bench in an Italian restaurant with her daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law for an hour or more until a table opens. "I like it all."

Thousands of people seem to like what they find here in the red-brick heart of Oklahoma City's nightlife. The city has spent at least $60 million in Metropolitan Area Projects money in this area of nouveau-old buildings city planners hope will mature into a canal entertainment area like San Antonio's.

"It reminds me a little bit of The Landing in St. Louis," said Reginald Wright, waiting for a table with family members in Bricktown to celebrate his grandmother's 81st birthday. "I like the ambiance here."

Jennifer Berg, former Tulsan whose Tulsa friends brought her here for a birthday party, still suffers what Oklahoma Cityans might call a Tulsa superiority complex. But Berg and friends agree Bricktown's restaurants, bars, dancing and entertainment in one place is unique in Oklahoma.

"You can get anything you want right here at any time," Berg said. "We love that."

Sure, the place needs more, some say. More street vendors and more street performers. More attractions to fill a stretch of gravel and grass known as the south end of the canal. And a solution for what's uttered around here more as a mantra than a complaint: parking.



Stay tuned for major changes, planners say, like a Bass Pro Shops store, one of the world's largest bronze sculptures and other additions.

Still, judging from this night, the plan so far seems to be working.

"It's on its way," said Katy Johnson, 38, who just stepped off the canal boat ride with her husband, Stuart, 41. The Oklahoma City couple planned to spend this night "scouting" Bricktown - dining, hitting the clubs, drinking it all in.

"I have some friends coming in from out of state, and I didn't want to bring them down here and not know what to do," Stuart Johnson said.



Crowds from parking lots and a few trolleys seem drawn to the area, coursing along sidewalks and into the main artery of this renovated warehouse district, a two-tiered maze of walkways along and over a canal that dead-ends at elevated railroad tracks.

Kids squeal at ducks in the canal as their parents stop briefly by beds of purple and white petunias, check the clock on the water tower that perpetually reads 7:17 or watch a canal boat ease under a bridge. Cars crawl along streets. Couples sit on the few benches available.



People come for the restaurants, even as they complain there aren't enough of them. They come for the busy atmosphere. On this night, they also come for the baseball, which will burnish the east end of Bricktown with a glow of floodlights and an occasional crowd roar.

"It's fun. It's an easy night out with the kids," fan Teri Foreman said. "It's so hard to find things for them to do that you can go do with them."



As the heat of the day eases, the heat of the night takes hold. Silk shirts, spaghetti-strap gowns and the edgy fashion of youth grow more evident in the crowd among married couples, strollers and children.

Lines outside clubs grow longer. In a club somewhere above street level, Sister Sledge belts out a disco classic as kids waiting with parents to board canal boats dance and mouth: "We are fam-uh-lee."

Standing in a half-block-long line at one club, college student Terry Condreay, 21, of Norman, said he's been "clubbing" in Texas, Florida and Louisiana. Coming here tonight with a buddy is his first taste of Oklahoma after dark. The night is young, but he likes what he sees.



As darkness sets in, drivers in Bricktown don't seem so set on finding parking. They're looking to be seen. A classic Pontiac. A new purple Prowler. A limousine longer than a roadgrader.

"I just cruise around and around," limo driver Rudy Badillo explains after dropping off a group of young women at a Bricktown bar. Enjoying the limo's full bar, yelling out the windows and having a shiny "stretch 120" wait for them while they dance obviously was worth $70 an hour.

"Every week," Badillo says, when asked how often people spend such money for such service.



Around the corner, Joe Sims monitors the endless motorcade and its growl of revving engines. He straddles a 1,000 cc Yamaha R1 in a parking area he and other sport bikers have co-opted for a view of one of Bricktown's main drags. Harley guys park down the street.

"A couple of the guys I ride with come out here and just hang out," Sims said. He's not happy when he and other bikers get run out of parking areas filled with cars.

"We're just out here having a good time, and they don't let us park anywhere," he said. "Parking out here is terrible."

Still, like many Bricktown patrons willing to trade convenience for fun, the 25-year-old firefighter from south Oklahoma City can be found here on many summer Saturdays. He usually shows up between 9 and 11 p.m., "the coolest part of the night before it gets too late to get Home. Oh yeah, it's a good place. It's a great place."



There are fewer of them than earlier, but families still remain late into this evening in Bricktown.

Married, 27 years old and with a daughter, Stephen Gipson isn't much of a club-goer anymore. When he's in town to visit his sister, he comes to Bricktown for the food. Besides, 11-month-old Karee, squealing as Gipson holds her up next to fountains children have claimed as a cooling-off station, "loves it," Gipson's wife, Angie, said.



Bricktown History 8/04/2001

1979: Developer Neal Horton begins buying properties in an old warehouse district just east of downtown Oklahoma City.

Fall 1981: Horton begins publicizing his plans for "Brick Town USA," a reconstruction of Oklahoma City's first wholesale commercial district. Horton plans to restore 11 buildings and says he will start work almost immediately on the first of three restorations, the Glass Company at 116 E Sheridan, followed by the neighboring Baden and Confectionary buildings.

Sept. 1984: Horton's Warehouse Development Co. files for bankruptcy, listing liabilities totaling $1,216,402 and assets totaling $645,358.

Fall 1984: Jim Brewer starts the "Bricktown Haunted Warehouse" - now an annual Halloween tradition.

Fall 1985: Don Karchmer, Jim Tolbert and Jim Brewer become major Bricktown property owners as a result of debt settlements between Horton's group and the Bank of Oklahoma.



Nov. 1989: Spaghetti Warehouse opens in the renovated Awalt Building.

Spring 1990: Restaurants and clubs begin opening in other buildings centered on Oklahoma and Sheridan avenues. By mid-1990, the district has five restaurants and three clubs. The only business still open is Spaghetti Warehouse. Bricktown merchants say they're hearing complaints from customers about inadequate parking.

Dec. 1993: Voters approve the Metropolitan Area Projects ballot, which includes funding for a San Antonio-styled waterway and baseball park to be built in Bricktown.

1993-1994: A wave of restaurant openings is led by the Bricktown Brewery, Abuelo's and Chelino's - all three eateries remain among Bricktown's most popular draws. Three comedy clubs open, but none remain open today.

April 1998: The SBC Bricktown Ballpark opens to sell-out crowds and rave reviews

July 1999: The Bricktown Canal opens; 250,000 attend the opening weekend festivities. Only one restaurant, Chelino's, has patio seating on the waterway.

Spring/Summer 2000: Restaurants, clubs and offices begin to locate along the canal. New businesses include Zio's, Bourbon Street Cafe, Mickey Mantle Steakhouse and Bricktown 54.

Summer 2002: Development picks up again on Sheridan Avenue. Two buildings are constructed, two others are renovated for new clubs and restaurants along Bricktown's original main drag.



Patrons stand in a block-long line outside a row of nightclubs. A boy no older than 10 waves from a passing stretch limo. People pack restaurant patios waiting for tables. Hundreds of others line up for water taxis cruising the one-mile canal.

Bricktown, by almost any measure, has become a full-blown entertainment district rivaling its role model to the south, Dallas' West End.

Twelve years ago, the district offered just two restaurants and a nightclub amid a four-block area of empty warehouses and crumbling brick streets. Now, those warehouses have been renovated into offices, 19 restaurants with two more about to open, four gift shops, two banquet halls and almost two dozen nightclubs.



According to a survey of area merchants by Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., the district has about 4 million visitors a year.

"There is no way for anyone to come down here and say Bricktown is not a success," said Jim Cowan, owner of Bricktown Brewery.

Cowan and fellow merchants still dread Bricktown's off-season - January and February. Weekday afternoons also can be a bit slow, but are improving as more tour buses include the Bricktown Canal in their excursions through Oklahoma.

Special events, such as the recent Triple A All Star baseball game and concerts by The Eagles and Britney Spears, are bringing thousands to Bricktown restaurants and clubs.

Special events

Some special events, such as The Eagles concert, attract an ideal demographic for Bricktown merchants. Others, such as All Star games, funnel customers into some businesses and away from others.

Norm Bekoff, operator of Water Taxi of Oklahoma, has developed a sense of which night will be a boom or bust. Festivals, such as those organized by developer Jim Brewer, are sure draws. But some bring only browsers and others bring spenders, Bekoff said.

Business also ebbs and flows when the RedHawks play at the SBC Bricktown Ballpark.

"If it gets too quiet over there, we start preparing for a rush from crowds leaving early," Bekoff said.

Bekoff has run a profitable canal boat operation for three years.

During the week, he sees bus-touring retirees combining a stop in Bricktown with visits to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Local residents, meanwhile, bring plenty of out-of-town guests.

Concerts at Ford Center have been the latest boost for merchants. A sold-out Eagles performance brought "people who have lots of disposable income and are ready to spend it," Beckoff said.

Restaurants

Just a decade ago, Bricktown had two restaurants: Spaghetti Warehouse and Piggy's Barbecue. The district was a dark, crumbling brick street fronted by empty warehouses and a couple of underground nightclubs.

Sheridan Avenue, one block north of the canal and the district's original main drag, still has several longtime eateries including Abuelo's, Bricktown Brewery, Spaghetti Warehouse, Chelino's, The Varsity and Pearl's Crabtown.

The task now is to stand out among more than two dozen restaurants and clubs.

"Back in 1992, restaurants were limited," Cowan said. "If you had 10,000 people at the Myriad, they only had two restaurants to go to. Now, with all the selections available, you have to reinvent yourself to stay competitive."

Retail Diversions

Bricktown is offering more than food and drink. Visitors can take a carriage ride or rent a moped by the hour. Street performers roam the sidewalks.

On one recent evening, a guitarist serenaded visitors by the canal while on a sidewalk above a musician played the flute for passersby and diners at nearby Chelinos listened to a brass band.

The district also offers free diversions for families. Children can run through dancing fountains or enjoy a playground near Reno Avenue.

Retailers also are taking root. Steve Wistrand, owner of the Laughing Fish, sees different crowds. During the day, it's tourists who also are visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial. In the evenings, he sells to families, couples and out-of-town visitors waiting for restaurant tables. Later at night, especially weekends, he caters to club patrons.

Club Life

This summer, about a half-dozen clubs have opened in Bricktown.

Open just a few weeks, The Bar is attracting capacity crowds.

"Bricktown is such a wonderful place," said owner Keith Reilly, who says he's originally from Ireland and came to Oklahoma two months ago. "They seem to have put a lot of money into downtown, and they've built up a wonderful entertainment district. We're just wanting to join the party."

Lit has a 1960s modernist look. The Blue Duck has a small-town bar feel.

However, on the same weekend Bricktown Keys was named best blues club in a newspaper survey, its doors were locked and a "For Lease" sign hung in the window. Banana Joe's and Margarita Mamas, which a year ago were drawing overflow crowds, also have closed.

Devery Youngblood, president of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., has watched Bricktown's growth for years since his start as a cheerleader for the city's Metropolitan Area

Projects

"Throughout its history, we've seen an ebb and flow," Youngblood said of Bricktown. "And we might now have more clubs than people might be comfortable with. But it's all a part of the area maturing."

Youngblood disputes claims that Banana Joe's demise hints at weakness in the district. He said the club's landlord celebrated the club's closing.

"You had someone who... was not a good long-term fit for the district. They moved out of the way, and now you have an available key location with an aggressive owner," Youngblood said. "Tell me how that's bad."

Cowan and Youngblood agree Bricktown is entering a new phase in its young life. What was just a sleepy warehouse district 20 years ago is becoming a tourist draw. They credit much of the success to voters, who invested more than $52 million through MAPS to build the SBC Bricktown Ballpark and Bricktown Canal.

"Have we reached the goals a lot of us want to reach? No," Cowan said. "But all these businesses down here are generating sales taxes for the city. And wasn't that the whole reason behind MAPS?"


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