Last weekend, I was doom scrolling through Twitter when something shocking appeared on my feed.
According to former journalist turned government employee turned "PR pro" Michael Kimball, the old OK 89 Olympic Festival logo that emblazoned the Lake Hefner water tower since, I assume, 1989, has been removed. It's perhaps the biggest sign controversy in OKC since the Arby's on NW 39th removed their vintage neon cowboy hat sign in 2018.
Check out this madness:
I, admittedly, don't drive down Lake Hefner as frequently as I used to, and when I do, I'm not generally looking at the water towers, but this was also news to me! Where were the preservationists and Steve Lackmeyer when this disgraceful destruction of our city's past took place?
Hell, just a couple of years ago, Mayor McSelfie was celebrating the tower's 30th anniversary:
Yeah, thanks for jinxing that for us, Mr. Mayor. I hope you stub a toe on an old "Don't Lay That Trash on Oklahoma" trash can the next time you go out cow-tipping.
If you did not know, we have always been big fans of the OK89 logo at The Lost Ogle. We even went so far as to make t-shirts with the logo on them.
For example:
Okay, maybe that's not the cleanest shot of the logo. Here's a better one:
Just looking at that brings a little Olympic Festival pride and joy to my heart.
Anyway, I did a little research to see when the logo was unceremoniously removed from the water. I eventually found a Reddit post that showed work being done on the structure back in January 2021. The entire thing looked like it was wrapped in a paper sack like a tasty 40oz.
I was going to assume it was during this, uhm, renovation(?) that the travesty occurred, but a Google street photo from March 2021 still shows the logo on the side:
Anyway, I guess we still have no clue when it happened, but I officially call on city leaders, historians, preservationists and other activists to do what's right and get this water tower restored to its proper glory. It's a part of our city's history, and it would give me an excuse to have another t-shirt photo shoot with a hot model.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We'll keep you advised.
