Airpark heals sore for medium range venues in OKC

Airpark photo by Johnson & Associates
Airpark photo by Johnson & Associates

Clay Milford, Staff Writer

   Few venues will ever be able to claim showcasing such a broad array of genres in its first few months of operation like the OKC Downtown Airpark. The brain child of Kirk Humphreys and Howard Pollack, the Airpark, which happens to border the crystalline Oklahoma River just to the south, opened its concert season with Sublime on July 25th and will host Motley Crue along with Stone Temple Pilots on September 13th and The Lumineers on October 3rd. If you know anything about these four groups, then you can see just how diverse the lineups at the Airpark already are.

   After the closing of the Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City was left without a go-to mid-size location for bands that typically do not play arenas or very small clubs. Kirk Humphreys set his eyes on purchasing the Downtown Airpark, which he did for a cool $7.2 million. The Airpark is on what Humphreys describes as a “short term lease” with Howard Pollack, President of the PM Group Artist Representatives, Inc., which happens to be the organization that handles the scheduling of shows for the Airpark. The PM Group also is in charge of booking bands in casinos across Oklahoma.

   Although the Airpark is a great quick solution for bringing in unique bands, Pollack claims the space on which the Airpark is located is strictly temporary. President Pollack says the PM Group plans to find a more concrete solution, complete with a “permanent amphitheater.” Howard Pollack, however, does not want future fans thinking the non-forever state of the Airpark means that they will be visiting a second-rate venue. “The stage is semi-permanent but very nice.”

   From now until the end of October, which is when the Airpark’s season comes to a close, thousands of fans, whether they are Oklahoman or not, will fill the 80 acres of parking, flock to the concession stands and shout into the blue sky amidst the next great music hub of Oklahoma City. As the western sun reflects off of the Devon Tower and gleams across the audience, many will take part in what the Airpark’s website dubs “A Downtown Entertainment Experience.”