Articles written by Steve Lackmeyer


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  • Upgrades ongoing ahead of Bricktown Canal's 20th anniversary

    Steve Lackmeyer, The Oklahoman|May 9, 2019

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A multi-year effort to spruce up and improve walkability along the Bricktown Canal will be on display this summer when the popular destination celebrates its 20th anniversary. Over the past few years the city, working with Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership, has refreshed landscaping, repainted railings and constructed ramps to replace wheelchair lifts that rarely worked in the years after the canal opened. The latest improvement, a mid-block crossing on Mickey Mantle Drive between the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and t...

  • Oklahoma State Fair Park's Space Tower to end after 50 years

    Steve Lackmeyer|Nov 4, 2018

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Arrows to Atoms Space Tower — the last reminder of an era when the State Fair Park was home to futuristic attractions and tributes to Oklahoma City's past — is set to come down this winter, ending 50 years as an iconic part of the city's skyline. In a recent interview with The Oklahoman , Oklahoma State Fair CEO Tim O'Toole said the 330-foot-high tower and ride has stood dormant since it was damaged by flooding in the spring of 2010. The same high waters also led to the closing and ultimate demolition of another landm...

  • Oklahoma City carousel to reopen at Myriad Botanical Gardens

    Steve Lackmeyer|Jul 8, 2018

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Myriad Botanical Gardens, which for several years attracted hundreds of families each winter with a temporary carousel, is set to add a permanent ride in August between the park's children's garden and the Thunder Fountain. "This was destined for it," said Maureen Heffernan, executive director of Myriad Gardens. "It has a cover so it will help protect the carousel and it is near our children's garden and the Thunder Fountain so it can't be in a better position." Everything but the blue and white canopy will be r...

  • Oklahoma City officials ramp up affordable housing efforts

    Steve Lackmeyer, The Oklahoman|Nov 27, 2016

    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The latest housing development to open in December in Midtown offers a competitive set of amenities that should prove popular with new residents, including a fitness center, splash pad, library and community space, computer labs, playground and courtyard. The 49-unit Classen Commons, which boasts stunning views of the downtown skyline, is also the first new affordable housing built downtown in decades. William Fulmer, housing director at Neighborhood Housing Services Oklahoma, said his organization started looking at how b...

  • SSM (St. Anthony) taking over operations of OU Medical Center

    Steve Lackmeyer, NEWSOK|Oct 28, 2016

    A new health care giant is emerging with the announcement Wednesday that SSM Healthcare of Oklahoma is taking over operations of the OU Medical Center and affiliated campuses. The agreement signed by University of Oklahoma President David Boren, William Thompson, SSM Health president and CEO, and Mike Samis, University Hospitals Authority and Trust Chairman, creates a new nonprofit corporation that is set to fund construction of a new hospital tower and digital upgrades for patient records. “It's been a very complicated transaction,” Samis said...