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October 2007

Who knows where the Tulsa Drillers’ new stadium will be? The options and offers keep growing. In August’s issue, we asked online subscribers to tell us whether they supported a move downtown. This month we follow up with “downtown or Jenks?”

 

I personally hope the Tulsa Drillers stay where they are or move to Jenks. Anywhere BUT downtown. I realize they are trying to revitalize downtown, but parking will be a nightmare. Parking garages after dark are dangerous, not just because of thieves and vagrants but because of poor driving visibility, not to mention the length of time it takes to exit the parking facility. I think there will be regular parking available as well, but not enough for all the spectators who go to the ballgames.

Jan Nabozny
Sapulpa

 

Jenks! More land for parking and additional businesses.

Pat Haswell
Bixby

 

My vote would be Jenks, without a doubt. Downtown is a bad area, and (the) Jenks area is prosperous and growing.
Plus, it would serve that county bunch right for getting rid of Bell’s, too.

Terry Brentlinger
Tulsa

 

I expressed my opinion, “the Drillers should stay in their present location,” in your August issue. It appears negotiations were in the works before your solicitation for votes was posed.

Now that I have seen the drawings of the proposed stadium in RiverWalk Crossing, I believe Jenks, over downtown Tulsa, would be the wise decision. The area is developed, attractive and plenty of shops and restaurants are already thriving in this locale. Seeing that 32 percent of those who responded to a recent poll on KOTV.com gave the nod to Jenks, I’d say this indicates the Driller fans are willing to follow their team south.

Besides, Tulsa needs to focus on fixing the problems we now have (streets, bridges, crime rate, schools, filthy river) before investing in another monstrosity like the arena, currently under construction downtown.

Jean Williams
Tulsa

 

Do they really have a need to relocate? Because their current location is a good one. But if they really need to move, then I would vote for downtown Tulsa. They don’t belong to Jenks. Doesn’t Jenks already rake in enough cash?

Lesha Mathes
Tulsa

 

I think it would be important to keep the Drillers in Tulsa, and I would vote for downtown Tulsa for the Drillers’ new ballpark.

Travis Jones
Tulsa

 

The Drillers will be a wonderful addition to downtown Tulsa in any number of sites available there. The team must NOT leave the city. If Tulsa doesn’t get its act together soon, and stop the bleeding of letting every institution this city has leave for the suburbs, the town as we have known it is finished. There is so much selfishness, greed and stupidity in the decisions being made here.

Nordam screws up the East End. Developers lust for the Yale bridge to further grow Bixby and Jenks at Tulsa’s

expense. Run Bell’s outta town to the ’burbs. Lose Bass Pro to Broken Arrow. And on and on.

And all the while, the usual chorus of Tulsa naysayers (“I don’t want mah taxes raised”) rail against everything positive being discussed for the city.

They don’t want to “Do the river,” they don’t like downtown, they don’t want commuter rail or Amtrak or decent nonstop airline service. These knuckle-dragging old farts will be the death of my city if they aren’t stopped.

“Conservative” values do not include letting your city die because you’re too cheap to step up and pay for what needs to be done. You don’t fund infrastructure and civic dreams in the year 2007 with 1957 dollars.

Wake up, Tulsa — you’re already right there at the point of no return; don’t go any further or economic disaster is assuredly yours within 10 years or less. It won’t matter whether Democrats or Republicans are on the City Council either.

Only a blind man, a fool, or an idiot would think that the hideous mess that is the 71st and Memorial sprawl of “big box” retailers and chain restaurants constitutes a beautiful, vibrant city.

Apparently, Tulsans have grown so low-class over the years that they actually think plopping a Wal-Mart downtown will encourage redevelopment of an urban center — oh, hell, why not? You already have Home Depot.

So many good people are trying to bring Tulsa back to the quality, low-crime, beautiful city it once was — here’s hoping all their hard work, thousands of hours of unselfish sacrifice and millions of dollars are not in vain.

Steve Byars
Coppell, Texas

 

Keep the TULSA Drillers in Tulsa! I think it’s sad that a city our size has to compete with a suburb for our own baseball team. Where’s our passion, Tulsa?

Dayna Glover
Tulsa

 

Obviously, downtown Tulsa.  Why does this question even need to be asked?  Is someone actually considering taking the Drillers (who used to be the Oilers) to Jenks?  Even Glenpool would make more sense.

Jess Wade
Dallas, Texas

 

 

 

September 2007

We asked online subscribers: Would you vote for a river tax? Here are a few of the responses.

Absolutely not. In case the mayor and city council haven’t lived in Tulsa all that long, the river floods. All that development is way too close to a major crime area of the city. Why not concentrate on getting the crime under control first? What about other areas of the city? Also, again in case the mayor and city council are new to Tulsa, no one has ever gone downtown, no matter how much money’s been thrown at it. They still won’t. The best thing the city had going for it was Bell’s Amusement Park and the mayor managed to force them out. Better concentrate on midtown.

Sue Wagner
Tulsa

(Editor’s note: The removal of Bell’s from the fairgrounds was a county issue.)

Absolutely, I would vote for the river development. I have been waiting for 30 years for this to happen and I am tired of people just talking about it. Let’s do it while we have the chance!

Charles E. Swanson
Sand Springs

I would vote for the proposed river development because I think Tulsa needs something big to attract tourists who might come here as a destination city. This is in addition to the availability for residents to enjoy (this development) almost year-round. We know the phenomenal success of the River Parks development.

Larry York
Tulsa

Yes. I would vote for the river project and a tax increase to help pay for it. It is one of the God-given gifts available to us and I think we should work on it and improve it. There is nothing more calming or attractive than water. If managed properly, it could become the most beneficial project to happen to Tulsa.

Nora Harris
Tulsa

Yes. We think that it would be a great tourist attraction and also entice companies that would want to relocate to the Tulsa area.
 
Walter and Ann Camp
Owasso

 

Winners of the $50 dining certificate for this question are Walter and Ann Camp of Owasso.

Other 

Kudos

I am a recent subscriber to your TulsaPeople magazine and love it. I have picked one up here and there from around town. I have been impressed with it so much that I subscribed for two years and gave it as a gift to my grandmother. I wanted to tell you I really enjoy the magazine and all the articles about the 100 years of Tulsa and Oklahoma. Additionally, I have really enjoyed reading the Life & Style edition of this month’s magazine as well. I felt as if I was reading Southern Homes and Gardens not TulsaPeople. You have portrayed our state very well and everything has been professionally done. I can’t say enough good things about your magazine and the job you do for Tulsa and its people.

David Pennington

 

Helping Hamilton

For almost four years I was employed by the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences to manage a federal grant program called the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP). With the assistance of staff, medical student and faculty volunteers, educators from the private and public school systems, donors and partnering agencies, I was able to develop and implement an annual six-week high school summer academic enrichment academy with an ACT preparatory component, an MCAT preparatory course, a post-baccalaureate medical school matriculation program (now called the Bridge Program), a traveling medical admissions workshop and a middle school health careers academy for seventh-grade students from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. Most of the students were primarily enrolled in Hamilton and Monroe middle schools and were highly engaged in the learning activities, as well as had extremely supportive families. Many of the high school student participants are now in college studying a health career and at least 30 medical students are only a few years away from becoming physicians, with many more following in their footsteps. I still run into students on occasion and encourage them to excel in their efforts. I expect many of them to return to their communities to provide excellent medical care to their patients and to stand out as leaders in their communities.

The HCOP program and similar health careers diversity programs have been discontinued indefinitely due to federal budget cuts. However, I am glad to hear that someone else at Hamilton and Tulsa County Bar Association (TulsaPeople July 2007) felt the need to continue to provide their students an opportunity to ask themselves about the desires of their hearts, and to explain to them how to plan, prepare and persist in the efforts to pursue the options that exist in their future. I have always felt that it is up to the community-at-large to care for those citizens who are highly capable, but ill-prepared for the future.

Monica Browne-Hagans, doctoral student, Oklahoma State University

 

More on downtown baseball

A world-class minor league ballpark, coupled with a world-class minor league team, could be a key element in developing a world-class downtown for Tulsa. Attendance at Colorado Rockies (the Drillers’ parent club) games has demonstrated an immediate fan base that extends beyond Colorado to include Utah, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. A significant number of these fans also travel to see the Rockies’ affiliate clubs play. A ballpark with a reputation for its architecture and amenities would provide Tulsa with a natural tourism base and, with it, consumer demand for other offerings such as restaurants, clubs and hotel accommodations. In addition to the direct effect of bringing tourists and locals downtown to games, it could be a major factor in an image of a downtown that has a lot going on all the time, the major activity center of Tulsa, a happening place. All of a sudden, a much broader audience sees downtown in general as a broad entertainment venue offering — in addition to sports events — a vibrant night life of live theater, symphony, opera, ballet and a live music scene that spans settings ranging from small clubs to the historic Brady Theater and Cain’s Ballroom to the BOK Arena and Drillers Ballpark.
    Denver’s LoDo is one of several examples of impressive success with this type of redevelopment strategy, but it’s noteworthy that redevelopment only really took off there when Coors Field, the Pepsi Center (arena) and Elitch Gardens/Six Flags Amusement Park (something else Tulsa should consider now that Bell’s is gone) were located over the vast expanse north of the central downtown.
    For Tulsa, placing these types of venues roughly around the old warehouse district spreading out north of First Street, along with convenient access to the rest of downtown (including the BOK Arena), would not only drive development of that immediate vicinity and central downtown, but also could predictably and almost immediately spur quality development in the eastside area.
    With this kind of savvy, strategic, quality development, Tulsa wouldn’t merely leap-frog Oklahoma City or just become the Austin of Oklahoma, it would be a world-class city that would itself be a benchmark for Oklahoma City, Austin and cities around the world.

Charlie Yount