British author Peter Ackroyd wrote a history of London several years ago that received critical acclaim from a variety of sources. Ackroyd details at considerable length the history of the London subway system that is known as the “Underground.” The construction of the system began in earnest in the 1860s through what was known as the “cut and cover” method and the original trains were powered by steam.
The author describes the system’s construction as being a triumph of Victorian ingenuity and enterprise, and concludes that the spectacle of steam trains disappearing under the ground “like demons in a pantomime” satisfied London’s appetite for sensation. He believes that in time the Underground, which he describes as a “subterranean metropolis” acquired some of the aspects of the city under which it lay, and that today the “rhythms of the city are endlessly mimicked beneath it in the Underground’s patterns of activity and habitation.” The historian also notes that the system, like London itself, has its own particular associations and affiliations, and that it is located on the primeval swamp that was once London. Ackroyd describes the abandoned stations that are still in place in the Underground that are known as the “Ghost Stations” that still have platforms with faded posters on them. The closest thing that Oklahoma City may have to an Underground is the Metro Conncourse that is located underneath downtown Oklahoma City.
Constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and named after Banker Jack Conn who was described as the “father of the Conncourse,” the Conncourse is a series of tunnels and bridges that connect several downtown buildings. During the early 1980s, The Conncourse had a variety of restaurants , clubs and retail establishments that were filled with patrons during the lunch hour and after work. Just as the London Underground reflects the metropolis above it, the Conncourse mirrored the downtown Oklahoma City of that time, with places that catered to bankers, attorneys and oilmen. Business suits, shoeshines and cocktails could all be purchased within its confines.
Like most places where large numbers of people come together, the Conncourse was the stuff of urban legends, with stories being told of how it had originally been constructed by Chinese immigrants in Oklahoma City and had been filled with opium dens and gambling parlors, and how Mr. Conn had been informed of the existence of the tunnels by Chinese residents who were grateful to him for extending them credit. Stories were also told of people who had gone to bars there after work, and ended up being confined to the Conncourse all night after they had passed out from drinking too much. But after the collapse of the oil boom, the Conncourse fell upon hard times, and parts of it became comparable to the ghost stations of London’s Underground. The section that is located beneath what had formerly been the Skirvin Hotel, which had once been a bustling place filled with eateries and stores, is now abandoned and inaccessible to the public.
But now there is a plan to renovate the Conncourse and make once again a place where people gather . Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. has unveiled a plan to revive it that includes the expenditure of $1.7 million in repairs. The renovation would be funded through the creation of a Special Improvement District for the downtown Oklahoma City area that would assess taxes on downtown property owners in that area for that purpose.
Architect Rand Elliot prepared the plan, and it includes the use of creative lighting to highlight the interior of the tunnels in addition to new layers of paint and carpeting for them Galleries that feature photos from downtown Oklahoma City’s early years are also part of the plan, which also calls for the Conncourse to be renamed the “Underground” in recognition of the world that exists under London. Elliot envisions a new grand entrance to the tunnels to be located at Broadway and Park Place that will serve as enticement for visitors to enter the area beneath downtown. Several other street level entrances are planned as well, so visitors and residents will have easy access to downtown Oklahoma City’s tunnels. And there are now plans in place to reopen the Skirvin, and the hotel’s new owners have expressed interest in the renovation of the Conncourse. It would seem that the tunnels beneath downtown Oklahoma City will be playing a role in the city’s future.
Opinion
Exorcising OKC's downtown 'ghost station'
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It takes a dad as well as a mom
