TULSA--The site of a downtown ballpark for the Tulsa Drillers will be in the Greenwood District, Mayor Kathy Taylor announced last week. “This is the preferred location we all have agreed is right,” Mayor Taylor said. “It is the location that provides the nail that makes downtown revitalization assured.”
The week before, Mayor Taylor gave the first indications that an alternate site was being considered for a downtown baseball stadium, which had been planned for the East Village.
Last week, she said the property owners in the East Village were notified of the new site.
Mayor Taylor said that the city’s land purchase options in the East Village, which were obtained through private funding, would expire in August.
“This is a home run for everyone,” City Councilman Jack Henderson said about the Greenwood site. “It’s a fit that helps the north community.”
The actual stadium site nestles up against Interstate 244, bounded by Elgin Avenue and Archer Street, and abutting the backside of the stores and offices along Greenwood Avenue.
The overall ballpark project, however, extends beyond the stadium, capturing redevelopment opportunities south to the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad tracks and a good portion of the city blocks toward Detroit Avenue.
The mayor would not confirm whether the city has contracted land options on any of those sites for redevelopment adjacent to the stadium.
She did, though, say that investors have expressed an interest in being a part of the project.
The new site connects Greenwood to the Blue Dome and Brady Districts, which have seen private entertainment and restaurant development.
“This project literally brings the historic Greenwood District front and center and will become an exciting part of the downtown,” Mayor Taylor said.
The stadium site was the proposed location of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce’s $30 million mixed-use development.
Reuben Gant, the chamber’s president, said he was willing to trade sites to make room for the ballpark. The chamber’s project will be constructed a block to the southeast.
A hotel, which was part of the chamber’s plan, will stay and be incorporated into the ballpark site on the north side of the stadium, he said.
Mr. Gant said one of the main reasons the chamber was amenable to cooperating with the ballpark development was because of the visibility it creates for Greenwood.
“When you have 400,000-plus people coming into the area,” the chamber leader said, “it’s going to really expose the district, not only to out-of-towners, but Tulsa residents that have never been north of the tracks.”
Mayor Taylor agreed, saying this ballpark project will be the anchor “to make this historic area a hub of activity, as it once was.”
Psychologically, “Tulsa has needed this for decades,” she said. “The beauty of it is that it provides an integration of our community, a common meeting place for people from all parts of the city,” Taylor said.
The stadium is just east of the proposed John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park.
Julius Pegues, who spearheaded the effort that led to the creation of the park, said he is excited about the ballpark. “This is going to be where it's happening,” he said.
Not only will it enhance foot traffic and commerce in the area, he said, the park will expose the work of John Hope Franklin.
Greenwood is a “very powerful place, and the story about John Hope Franklin needs to be told,” the mayor commented.
She said the ballpark will be a venue that draws people to the area where they can hear that story and have other educational opportunities, such as a baseball museum.
The railroad location is another key element of the site selection, the mayor pointed out, which in the future will allow for light rail to travel from the ballpark through the Brady District and over the Arkansas River to redevelopment on the west bank.
This is the only location in downtown that can have all of those pieces--light rail, historic property, Brady and the Blue Dome areas.
Drillers owner Chuck Lamson said he thinks the location is ideal.
“I feel good about the connection to Brady, Blue Dome and Greenwood areas,” he said.
The stadium is proposed to have 6,200 fixed seats instead of the 7,000 originally planned. There also will be berm seating and suites.
The Drillers owner said he is encouraged about the potential development that will directly surround the ballpark.
In this location, the Drillers will not only be able to create traffic in the area, but be part of the festivals that occur in the Brady and Blue Dome areas, Mr. Lamson said.
The mayor pointed out that the BOK Center is a great place, “but, for a lot of the events, the tickets are out of reach for many people in our community.
“That’s not the case with the ballpark that also will have other uses beyond baseball,” she said.
“When this ballpark is open in 2010,” Mayor Taylor went on, “what we’ll be seeing on a game day will be an area that has been isolated for decades by the Inner Dispersal Loop and the railroad packed with people enjoying themselves.”
