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Physically and spiritually, Oklahoma City is in a rebuilding mode. The market is still repairing the destruction wrought last May 3 by the most devastating tornadoes in its history, a series of twisters that flattened entire neighborhoods in the city and caused $40 million in damage in central Oklahoma. And the shock waves of the April 1995 bombing of the Alfred R Murrah Federal Building, which claimed the lives of 168 people, are still reverberating throughout the community. But local officials have raised $26.5 million (toward a goal of $29.1 million) to build and operate a national memorial park, museum and anti-terrorism institute downtown. The memorial park@ set to be dedicated on April 19, the five-year anniversary of the bombing, is expected to attract 500,000 visitors to Oklahoma City each year.
The state capital is also moving forward with its Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) plan, an ambitious program to build new facilities for sports, education, arts, recreation and conventions that was approved by voters in what has been described as the country's largest single-ballot referendum.
Last year, Oklahoma City also celebrated the opening of a canal in Bricktown, a popular commercial section of downtown with roads and buildings built from red brick. And new dams are being built on the North Canadian River to create a recreational waterway and parkland.
Changes are also taking place in the Oklahoma City radio market, the 54thlargest in the country with a 12-plus population of 861,400. Citadel Communications jumped into the market last December with its $60 million acquisition of Caribou Communications' five-station cluster. Citadel's KCYI-FM, ranked 13th among persons 12-plus Monday-Friday 6 a.m. to midnight, on Jan. 27 switched to a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio format, replacing New Adult Contemporary/Smooth Jazz.
The switch positions KCYI as a head-tohead challenger to Clear Channel Communications' Contemporary Hit Radio stick KJYO-FM, the top-ranked station in the market among listeners 12-plus with a 10.4 share in Arbitron's summer 1999 book. Some local media buyers are skeptical about whether KCYPs new format-which has been dubbed "Churban," a CHR-Urban hybrid-will fuel a turnaround. Nina Jung, media director at Beals Cunningham Advertising in Oklahoma City, says KCYI will probably attract some younger listeners initially, but she suspects their interest will quickly wane. Jung notes that...