The historic armory building along Route 66 in Oklahoma City will become a concert venue instead after a plan to develop it into a hotel and microbrewery stalled.
The Oklahoman newspaper reported that the new, $23 million project for the armory would be led by Oklahoma City investor Mark Fischer and Arkansas-based Beaty Capital Group, which owns concert operator TempleLive.
Justin Bridgewater, senior talent buyer with TempleLive, told The Oklahoman construction is set to begin by this spring with an opening in 2026. Coop Ale Works originally won the right to develop the building when proposals were solicited by the state in 2018.
Plans revealed in a news release by TempleLive show the venue will host crowds between 500 and 4,500 with onsite parking for up to 1,200 vehicles. […]
The companies pledged to develop the building with “an eye toward the meticulous restoration” of the building to honor its Art Deco architecture and military past. Those plans are to include retaining the stone facade and interior features while incorporating modern finishes to host concerts, theatrical performances and community events. […]
The new development plan includes a restaurant, a small bites pub and microbrewery that will be open daily to the public. The upper floors once set to be converted into hotel rooms are instead set to be turned into multi-level viewing areas with VIP sections and multiple private suites.
TempleLive once had plans to convert the closed Gold Dome bank building, also along Route 66 in Oklahoma City, into a concern space, but another developer took over that project instead.
About 2 1/2 years ago, Oklahoma City-based COOP Ale Works announced it had bought the armory for $1.3 million and would convert it into a brewery, hotel, events center and restaurant.
COOP cited the COVID-19 pandemic, then rising construction costs, for its eventual abandonment of the project.
The 72,000-square-foot, Art Deco-inspired armory at 200 NE 23rd St. (aka Route 66) was finished in 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project. It’s just west of the Oklahoma Capitol.
(Excerpted image from Google Street View of the Oklahoma City armory building on 23rd Street)