Tag: OKC Convention Center

The Populous impact on OKC sports venues & my friend, Brady Spencer

Brady and John
Brady Spencer with his son, John, outside Kansas City’s Union Station during the 2023 NFL draft.

A recent update in The Oklahoman newspaper on the new OG&E Coliseum under construction at the State Fairgrounds identified it as a venue designed by a firm named “Populous.”

In an even more recent story, I learned that Populous has been hired to design the new $71 million soccer stadium just south of OKC’s Bricktown.

I think I’m noticing a trend.

There’s more.

I learned from other sources that Populous designed the fabulous OKC Convention Center, which opened in 2020. And Populous was hired to design Paycom Center’s upgrades in 2022.

Populous also is among the candidates to design OKC’s new $1 billion(ish) arena that will soon be built on the site of what was once known as The Myriad. It’s right across the street from Paycom Center.

So, what exactly is Populous?

Turns out, it is an international architecture firm and the nation’s leading (by revenue) sports architecture company, based in Kansas City, Mo.

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Populous has satellite offices around the world — including Norman, OK — and boasts a portfolio of more than 3,000 projects globally, including Wembley Stadium, T-Mobile Arena, Oriole Park at Camden Yards and many others.

Actually, Populous has been on my personal radar for quite some time because a close family friend named Brady Spencer is a Senior Principal/Senior Architect with the firm in its Kansas City office.

Some background:

I moved to Mena, Ark., in the summer of 1972, a year out of high school, and became acquainted with Greg and Lynelle Spencer.

At a banquet in the fall of 1972, they told me they were expecting their first child, who turned out to be Brady. They have another adult son, Matthew, who lives in Georgia.

The Spencers relocated to Springdale, Ark., when Brady was in the fourth grade, so most of his youth was spent in Northwest Arkansas. I stayed in touch with the Spencer family across the years.

So, after seeing the Populous-OKC link, I decided to call Brady and ask him about his career and role with Populous.

An avid fan of University of Arkansas sports as a child — “I remember going to Razorback football games with Dad” — Brady naturally enrolled at the Fayetteville school after high school.

Brady majored in architecture and graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Architecture in 1996. He told me that he began contemplating post-graduation employment and location in the fourth year of the five-year architectural program.

Brady settled on Kansas City and joined what was then known as HOK-Sports in 1996. He’s been with the firm ever since, although it evolved into Populous in 2009 when he and a group of fellow HOK architects spun out into their own company they called Populous.

“This last May was my 28th anniversary with the firm,” he told me.

Along the way, Brady married (Joanie), had a son (John), earned a Master of Architecture Management from the University of Kansas and has been on the design team for some of the nation’s most notable sports venues.

Among them have been NRG Stadium in Houston, State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arrowhead Stadium renovation in Kansas City, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., and many others.

“I’ve focused on NFL stadiums and some college football,” Brady said. “I’ve worked with our Populous Event team that partners with the NFL on (venue oversight for) 21 Super Bowls. It’s most rewarding doing it in a stadium that I designed.”

Back in 2009, his alma mater came calling for renovations and updates on facilities across the University of Arkansas campus, including Razorback Stadium. Brady is not only an alum, but football season ticket holder.

“That one was near and dear to my heart, having grown up there and gone to school there,” he said. “I was just there yesterday (Sept. 14) when John and I went to the Razorback game. It’s fun to see the stadium every time I go back to a game.”

While Brady Spencer has not been directly involved in any of the OKC projects — the Fairgrounds Arena, the OKC Convention Center, the Paycom Center renovations, the upcoming soccer venue — he told me he’s aware of the Populous role in all of them.

“The thing about all our projects, it’s not ever just one person,” he said. “It always takes a team of us to complete.”

I’d call that 28 years of institutional knowledge.

Damar Hamlin: ‘We don’t get to choose our calling’

Damar players
Players huddle in prayer for Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin after he collapsed on the field in January. (New York Times photo)

We’ve all experienced moments in our lives that are burned into our memories, and we’ll always remember exactly where we were when we witnessed it or heard the news.

The Twin Towers. John Lennon’s death. The Kennedy Assassination.

On Jan. 2 of this year, millions of Americans watched as Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin made a tackle in an NFL game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, stood up, then collapsed on the field.

My wife and I were among those who witnessed it, watching from our living room.

Damar lay motionless on the field as trainers and emergency personnel rushed to his side. I was struck by the reaction of the players, many of whom turned away and appeared to be in grief or in prayer.

Team and security personnel surrounded Damar and blocked any views by intruding network cameras or even his own teammates. Players on both teams gathered in a big prayer circle.

We feared the worst as the minutes passed. My wife speculated that he already could be dead, even though we didn’t know what had happened. Here’s a recap from the New York Times written a few days later.

Damar Hamlin had had a massive heart attack, and his heart stopped. The emergency personnel and training staff used defibrillators and brought him back to life, more than once, apparently. After many minutes, he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a Cincinnati hospital.

We were as anxious as anyone else and silently praying for his life. We weren’t optimistic.

But you probably know the rest of the story. Damar escaped more near misses with death on the way to — and in — the hospital. Still, he grew stronger by the day and was released nine days later.

He continued to improve, and under doctor’s supervision began working out again and was eventually cleared to rejoin the team this summer.

Damar is again on the Bills roster and played his first minutes of action this past weekend.

Then he flew to Oklahoma City on Tuesday to share his story with an audience of about 1,000 Oklahomans at the annual Champions of Health Awards Presentations at the OKC Convention Center.

Champ Damar1
Damar Hamlin shares the stage with News9’s Robin Marsh during a ‘fireside chat’ at the Champions of Health Awards Presentations.

I had the good fortune to be in that OKC audience as an employee of Care Providers Oklahoma, one of 11 health care related organizations that comprise the Champions of Health Coalition. All are working to improve health outcomes for Oklahomans, and the Champions of Health Awards recognize organizations or individuals that have devised innovative programs that could be replicated in other communities.

Anyway, the highlight of the night was Damar Hamlin’s presence and the perspective he shared in a “fireside chat” with News9 TV personality Robin Marsh.  Check out the video that my CPO colleague Tanecia Davis shot of Damar speaking during the chat.

Robin introduced Damar and told him that millions of Americans had prayed for him that night from their living rooms, just as his teammates did on the field.

Soft spoken, Damar didn’t go into details of the incident, but instead focused on his mission since. Today, he’s working to ensure that the technology that saved his life is available by every sports team nationwide and that people are trained in CPR.

I was struck by one comment in particular by Damar about this mission.

“It’s kind of like a calling, & we don’t get to choose our calling,” he told us.

Amen.

Robin asked Damar about his youth and how he progressed from high school to college to the NFL. He shared the story of his personal journey, and something else stood out.

“I found a mentor,” he said. “I found someone who was older than me and successful and worked with them.”

Amen again.

I’m a big believer in cultivating a mentor and then following their example and advice. Although I never had a formal mentor, I’ve had some folks in my life who provided sage advice along the way.

Like millions of my fellow Americans, I’m so glad that Damar Hamlin survived this near death experience. Survived and emerged with his new mission, his calling.

And we don’t get to choose our calling.

BONUS! Read my blog post over at Care Providers Oklahoma website that provides more details about the Champions of Health Awards Presentations and winners.