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Old arena to stay

First thought when I read this was, "This makes sense." Instead of demolishing the Maxwell Convention Center arena, they're going to keep it in place and instead expand the exhibit hall to the north into what is now a surface parking lot between 3rd and 4th, Houston and Guthrie.

As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I suggested this four years ago -- but minus the building a new arena part. If the point was to improve our convention facilities to appeal to conventions, that could be done without a new 18,000 seat arena, which only might be useful to a handful of conventions that would actually want to meet in Tulsa. Tulsans could have been given two independent choices on the ballot in 2003 -- whether or not to build the arena, whether or not to improve the convention center.

Second thought was that this makes the BOk Center even more of a white elephant than it already was. This move is bound to increase the operating deficit on the combined center.

The reason for this proposal has nothing to do with the pointlessness of the BOk Center. The theory is that we'd have a better shot at the Big 12 Basketball Tournament if we had two arenas in close proximity, one for men's games, one for women's games.

It is possible that the old arena might host other events that would otherwise have to go to the Mabee Center, the Pavilion, the Reynolds Center, or the UMAC.

Even though the old arena is more appropriately sized for minor league sports, expect the convention center management to force the Talons and the Oilers to play in the BOk Center to reduce the number of open dates on the new arena's calendar.

Someone needs to keep a running tally of how many days the BOk Center has an event and how many days the old arena has an event, and what the attendance is at each. We can then use those stats to decide whether it might be more economical to mothball the BOk Center.

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Comments (3)

And, if all else fails, just blow the Arena and convert it to a memorial. What's good for OKC is good for Tulsa, right?

Bob:

Okay, I've really just HAD it with our misogynous local goobermint.

Why, oh Why, can't someone of Michael Bates' knowledge and character get appointed to the BOA, the TMAPC or one of the dozens of other local Boards, commissions or authorities?

Why? It's obviously because he actually KNOWS something about urban planning, city government, and finally, speaks his mind.

I'll believe that things can actually change for the better in Tulsa government when someone of Michael's character is appointed to SOMETHING.....

Michael Bates + Bob Boyd + Chris Medlock = Better, more efficient and more cost-effective local Government.

Lorton's World + Flint + Rooney = Keep the Tax Dollars flowing because they NEED to FEED their GREED.

Booksider:

I truly get nauseous thinking of the scale of the looming disaster if the administration fails to meet even one of the goals it has set. The arena, One Technology Center, river development, remodeling the convention center all present a large but measurable risk to the citizens. It's easy to be ambitious with other people's money.

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on July 22, 2007 8:39 AM.

The previous post in this blog was Accio book!.

The next post in this blog is Tulsa 1957: Frank's Pig Stand.

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