Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

Boycott this line right here takes the cake in regards to the city,"The fairgrounds is now safe for the disabled! " I bet you next to nothing that most of the buildings are not ADA complient. I had to be in the crumbling arena for a work thing back in Feb of this year. As I was walking around I was taking stock in what I could see. The ramps into the arena are just as steep as ever. However, the city added a ramp for the wheelchairs on the NE side.

The city had no intentions of making the Grandstand ADA complient. Talking to some old timers the fairboard and city have been wanting to get rid of the Grandstand for a long time and the ADA thing was just a good reason to do so.

Even the cheif city inspector said in the court case that they had not been out to the Grandstand in years to inspect the buidling. The one thing that makes me proud in this is the city knew they had a fight on their hands. In the court case the city at one point I think they were going to get beat. The judge said that this whole thing was a comedy of errors on both side and the racers and race fans were the ones to have to pay for this.

After looking at the Channel Four story last night. I thought to myself you know what we as racers and race fans made this a human interest story. If we would not have put up as much as a fight and took the city to task none of this would have never been aired. It would have just got swept under the cities rug and everyone would have gone thier marry way.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

The one thing that I can take from this one thing is that I have found new freinds and made the friendships I had stronger. As a whole I think the racing community, although not together as much, has gotten stronger as a whole.

To the last of my days I can also take with me that I had the Mayor try to get all bad abd buff with me at a city council meeting. Those that do not know I asked him a question he did not like and bowed his chest out at me as saying do not mess with me. As well as someone posted on here back around Christmas time. I had the Mayor talking like a used car dealer by the time I was done.

All that from that little kid that hung out at Gil White's Napa store in Del City as Mark Wheelers super was being worked on or that little kid that saw a factory stock at Economy Square and flipped out.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, AFTERNOON: The pressbox is gone. The boxoffice is gone. The Toyota billboard is gone. Both of the public entrances are gone.

Even "Oklahoma" is gone. The "Oklahoma" sign painted on the front face went from "Oklahom" to "Ol" (with the rest dangling precariously from rebar) in a matter of seconds.

It won't be long before they're to the little stripped ticket booth on the monorail mezzanine and that little bit of cuteness that should have been salvaged will be gone as well.

Even the "women's urinals" that Gurnsey HOK Sport wasted so much Oklahoma City tax money criticising in their lousy "defects" report are gone.

The head vandal running the main demolition machine, a tanned and paunchy man with saggy pants and a sloppy shirt, has to periodically break off the bucket attack to repack the debris pad and to switch over into the "jaws of death" machine.

The "jaws of death" is a supersized version of Hurst's "Jaws of Life." It snaps the massive I-beams that hold up the canopy as if they were termite-ridden pencils.

At least the head vandal is moderately polite. He moved the "jaws of death" out of the view of a couple of spectators when requested. Otherwise, he's a mystery.

I couldn't have said it better, Catpuppy.

Got off work and went to the fairgrounds, waiting for my son to get his truck over to Reed's to be looked at. I could only sit there and stare, wow what a salome feeling it was. There was probably twenty people there, some sitting on tailgates, others with lawn chairs like they were waiting for the pit gates to open.

I hate you OKC leaders, I hate you and wish you nothing but the worst in life.

I got to thinking about going out and buying me a wreath and grab an old race shirt and tie it to the fence. Hell, we did it for Murrah, this is like our Murrah (and please, if you lost somebody that dreadfull day don't take that wrong.) Even considered buying a teddy bear to lean against the fence.

I hate you OKC leaders, I hate you and wish you nothing but the worst in life.

I should get off work around 11 am, go cash my check, and may go buy a wreath or ribbons and then head out there. Will be driving my beatup Camry, just as I did darn near every Friday night when I wasn't traveling out of town to the races.

I would say about three-fourths of the old lady is gone and I crindged evertime cement would come crashing down.

I hate you OKC leaders, I hate you and wish you nothing but the worst in life.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

David, I think we should do the "memorial fence." But I guarantee you O'Toole's men will not allow it to stand.

Oh there is no doubt it would be gone but at least I would know people left something there. Kinda letting them know that we haven't and will not forget...

I almost hung up my Pennzoil banner that I - uh- found at a WoO race back when they were titled sponsor. But thought I may need that banner when I get our house with the extra room to store my die-cast sprints and racing videos.

If somebody could please post pictures from the front, side and entrance as I am hearing there are alot of people that really don't want to go see it in person and there are several from out of state looking for more photos...

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Has there been any newspaper coverage of what is going on?

I haven't seen any from print media but I understand KFOR here in OKC was out there yesterday. Erich is the internet news junkie on that sort of stuff, he might could answer that one.

I will say, right above and next to where the beer garden was, that little enclosed portion really didn't want to go down. He kept hammering it with those teeth on the top but couldn't break through. He finally went through the wall instead and down she came...

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Yes, like the Murrah building. I get it.

My point back in December was that the MAPS3 vote "enabled" financially the destruction and redevelopement of the speedway site. The timing was obvious.

The vote,and the delivery of the news. All in one week.

Those that said the two had nothing in common were either lying, or had been lied to.

The majority I have talked to since have said it was obvious the racers were robbed. Visiting with those that lived and worked close to the track , once again- the majority of those echoed the same.

never forgotten..............rot in hell mick.

David, my photos are 14.6 mp RAW or JPEG, so they would take up a lot of bandwidth (even in a gallery). I'll see what I can do to come up with a more manageable size for posting here.

http://northoklahomacity.kfor.com/content/state-fair-speedway-demolition-begins-0

Pokey the only coverage I have seen is from Channel 4. They did like a neighborhood blog type of story. I have checked the paper site every day and I have not seen anything.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

The view from driving down Portland looked like the canopy was down (didn't have the heart to do another drive-by). Also, while at the stop light at Reno a caravan of Midwest trucks headed south with trailer loads of concrete and debris. Terrible.

John Stewart

Retro Racing Custom Model Cars
405.922.6163
[email protected]
Oklahoma City, OK

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Retro-
Racing-Custom-Model-Cars/235624429834292#!/pages/Retro-
Racing-Custom-Model-Cars/23562442983429

KFOR ran a story at 1800 hrs. (6:00 p.m) in the second segment of the newscast yesterday, but I don't think it has been posted to the web.

Ok cool. I was eating with friends at 6 so I did not get to see it.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

Man this sucks, i have been by there a few times this week while i was working. It kills me inside to see my last 30 years of my life being tore down. Since i was a month and a half old, i was at the race track almost every friday night. The only thing i wanted to do was race on that track got to do it a couple of times in a cruiser car and once in a factory stock. But never a full year. I HATE ALL OF YOU OKC POLITICS Im glad i spend my money in Yukon and not OKC.

David Foley

"Just let me make it to the Dirt Track.. Truck then u 
can break down!!!"

Just watched the last section of the Grandstand fall behind the trees from my desk. Think I will go throw up now.

My kids and I were out there at 6:00 pm this evening when the final hit made the last bricks fall. The old girl is now no more than a pile of rubble. There were approx 100 people out there when the final hit came, and the silence was deafening with all eyes on the final bricks to come down. Sad, Sad day for Oklahoma City race fans. The guy that was driving the water truck had a pile of bricks piled up by the fence, and was handing them over the fence to anybody that asked for one.

Here's the "BEST" shot of the old girl!!!!!! RIP SFS.