Mayor Taylor has announced that the smaller arena inside the Convention center will not be turned into a ballroom. so now we will have two arenas within walking distance of each other. Unless the usage fees for the new arena is comparable to the old arena, or they are given a "deal", why would the Oilers and the Talons move to the new arena? They can't fill the old arena, they wont be able to fill the new, so why would they pay more?

and I cant afford to fix it because of all the taxes I'm having to pay... but at least we have water in the river!

That's the reality of the situation. our "leaders" have thrown so much money around trying to find a "quick fix" that they have neglected the  basic needs of the city. Roads and Cops. So what is their plan? Throw money into the river... literally.

Will Tulsa approve of it? Probably, fo some reason we have either given up, or we have bought their lies... hook, line and sinker.

The truth is we have already approved a tax for the river in Vision 2025. If we dont hold them to wht we voted for, then they will be emboldened to do whatever they please with the money we entrust to them.

The Job of Government is to provide protection and basic infrastructure. Tulsa has lost its way, and until they get back on the right track, there is no good reason to give them anymore money.

If these donors really loved Tulsa, they would develop the river on their own without saddling the citizens with yet another tax.

Tulsa lost out on the 2011 Mayors conference because "Tulsa has too few downtown hotel rooms within walking distance of convention facilities". I have been saying that since before the Vision 2025 vote came about. and I can say right now that adding an arena with nothgin to play in it isnt going to help bring hotels in, in fact we only had one prospect bite on the property across the street from it, and they wanted a 30 million dollar handout! (not to mention tearing out our brand new bus depot).

So what is the solution? well it isnt moving city hall, it isn't redoing the plaza (again),  and it isn't the arena. The gov't needs to step back and do what gov't is supposed to do. fix our roads, make the city safe, and maybe through zoning they can set up a tax free zone inside the loop that might pave the way for real development.

That wont happen as long as we keep allowing them to take money out of our pockets with no results. It really makes you wonder why they placed the Arena where they did now doesnt it?

related articles:
If they build it they will come?
Indy vs Tulsa
Our arena has a fatal flaw

Land Deal Close for 500,000-SF-Plus Project

The developer of Stone Wood Hills expects to hand off a 39-acre tract in August to a major regional retail player after a deal cratered in May with a Dallas-based group to build upward of 500,000 sf of retail and office space.

The development site sits on a hill overlooking Bass Pro Shops.

So in the area of Bass Pro Shop we have or soon will have Stone Wood Hills, Buffalo Wild Wings, Los Cabos, Runts Barbecue, Steak & Shake, Lone Star Steakhouse,  A 127-room Holiday Inn, a 100-room Marriott flag, plus so much more!

Yeah, Ill take an empty arena built in an area where NONE of the above could be built over a Bass Pro Shop any day!!

The George Kaiser Family Foundation, with George Kaiser being chairman of the Bank of Oklahoma, the same BoK who was instrumental in force feeding us Vision 2025, and from all angles looks like they got a deal on naming rights in exchange for the Great Plains loan, now want to loan money to help with the cost overruns on the arena...

Kaiser Foundation To Loan Money For Arena Overages

Notice: I have read two different versions, one being that this is a loan, the other is a donation, obviously a loan has to be paid back...either way, there is a line in that other story that really gets my blood boiling...

"Before the Vision 2025 vote, the foundation expressed an interest in funding projects along the river, and has since donated millions of dollars to the University of Oklahoma."
 

Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply to things like land locked Arenas with no place to actually grow, like those in power are trying to make us believe. This applies to attractions that people can go to everyday… like the Bass Pro Shop that we gave to Broken Arrow to get their support for Vision 2025.

Grant Stewart, KMO broker, said signing (Buffalo Wild) Wings was a score for the development and a strong sign that bright days are ahead.

"We've been searching, talking to some restaurant guys and then we met Steve Howard," Stewart said. "He looked at the Bass Pro area and ours and decided he wanted to be out here with us."

ok, well maybe Tulsa proper will be the location for the next one...

"I think our next move in the Tulsa market will be Owasso," Howard said.

or not...
 

By now Im sure you have found out about the deal that the city (under LaFortune) gave the Oilers and the Talons 180k of money we dont have to spend.

This is what I found funny, LaFortune said about justifying the payment  "Professional teams in our city are absolutely critical to our city's economic well-being,"

How can he say that with a straight face? If that is the case no wonder we are in such bad shape because the current stadium is less than half full at any given game! As much as I love the Talons, the are a "professional team" in name only...

And speaking of filling stadiums, a couple of months ago Three Dog Night was in town at the Brady Theater. The concert did not sell out. Tonight STYX is playing at the Brady Theater. It is not sold out. Do you see where Im going with this? If we can not sell out the 2700 seat Brady, what makes them think we can sell out the 18,000 seat Arena? Where does the city think the other 16,000 people are going to come from to watch the Talons or the Oilers?

This week the arena overages were announced... and those that were labeled Nay-Sayers have been proven right, we cannot build the arena for the money voted on...

Originally, of the 183 Million voted for, 123 was to go to to the arena, the remaining 60 million was to go to the Convention Center renovation, somewhere along the way, the Convention center lost and the arena gained 20 million, Now County Commisioner Bob Dick suggests we spend all 183 on the arena. we didnt agree to that.

Now they are asking for 3 million in 3rd penny to fix the roof of the Convention Center... why give these people more money to waste? Its time to stop the 3rd penny, its time to stop the arena, take it back to the people and stop losing another 100 million.

Remember folks its YOUR money, If you wouldnt spend your money this way, why let someone else waste your money?

Some Question Whether Vision 2025 Money Being Spent Wisely

I think some of us have been asking questions all along...

A snippet from the Tulsa Whirled:

"Tulsa 'brand' being developed
 A major branding effort is under way to find out what makes Tulsa unique from other communities in the country."

I could have swore someone wrote about this earlier

Now Im convinced that we need the arena:*

Tulsa May Still Be Interested In MLS Franchise

*Please adjust your sarcasm meter

 So now we have a new Management team for our new albatross...err arena, and you can hear the "excitement" on the streets... this Management Company pulled the Rolling Stones into the Fresno Arena, which is smaller than ours!!!!

So I have a couple of questions:

If Fresno can bring in the Stones with a smaller arena, then why are we building a bigger one?  What "real" economic impact will having the Stones come to town (once) help? Most of the ticket prices go to the Stones and their promoter. With nothing attached to our new arena most concertgoers will drive-in and drive-out with out stopping to do anything downtown.

Personally I have only been out of town for concerts for two events: Anthony Gomes in Joplin Mo, and the Eureka Springs Blues Fest.  Between the discovery the Tulsa Blues fest, and the political games played in Eureka Springs, I won't be making that trek again anytime soon. (you think Tulsa politics are bad?)

Is it some sort of bragging right to declare that you get (fill in the blank here) to come to your town? Should we be doing that on the backs of those who won't ever step foot in the arena? The poor are paying extra for their food and clothing so up to 18,000 people can potentially see the Rolling Stones in concert? What benefit does that provide them? What about the other 806,000 residents? What benefit do the Stones provide?

Add to that the Talons & the Oilers, whose average home attendance is somewhere around 2000 people a game, leaving 16,000 seats empty. So now we have 824,000 people paying for the entertainment of 2000 people... 

Figure it this way, every man woman and child in Tulsa county will pay $1435.00 for this arena (using current figures) this does not count the money that the arena will lose during its day to day operations... doesn't sound like such a good deal now does it?

We'll need it to replace all the WilTel jobs that are leaving downtown! 

 What most people are just now starting to understand is that the arena’s operation was not included in the Vision 2025 vote, so where is this funding supposed to come from?

There were several assumptions made in the planning of this thing, the two that struck me as funny were that they expect attendance to the arena to be around 550,000 people a year… 300,000 more than what we are experiencing now, and secondly that the premium seating will bring in 1.6 million dollars a year… for what? The Talons and the Oilers? According to a slide here (pg 10) income projections are down in all categories except Gate receipts (from $725,000 to $1,385,000) and merchandise (from $18,000 to $355,000… almost a 20x jump!)

Chris Medlock made a very good point concerning the comparison of the revenues generated by the Quest Center in Omaha Nebraska to Tulsa's Arena... the have several  teams that play in their arena, including UNO (basketball & hockey) & Creighton.

To add fuel to the fire, the current Convention center operates at a 2 million loss, but they are expecting an increase in events even though studies have shown conventions are in decline. Even so they say they will operate at less of a loss with the new Convention Center, so that begs the question… why even have a Convention Center if it operates at a loss?

We just got back from our trip to Indianapolis and had an absolute blast, but more on that in a different post. While in walking around downtown, I remembered that Mayor LaFortune said he wanted Tulsa to emulate Indy’s downtown. Either he is a complete moron, or he lied.

Indy’s convention center/RCA dome is placed in an area of town that allowed for growth directly across the street from the center, in fact there is another hotel going up across the street right now… that will make 13 hotels within three blocks of the convention center. Parking is not a problem in the city either, you will find very few surface parking lots, instead most everything is configured as a parking garage, some with restaurants located on the first floor. Speaking of restaurants, there are 36 food establishments within 3 blocks of the center (not counting those in the Circle Center, which is their multi-level, multi-block downtown mall... also within 3 blocks), ranging from a steak and shake, and a Hard Rock café to the Ram micro-brewery and other fine local fare.

So what is this fatal flaw? Location, Location, Location! Anyone who looks at the map of where the arena is going to be located will notice the complete lack of anywhere to grow anything, how is this supposed to “grow” downtown? where is is supposed to grow?

While in Indy, the Colts had an exhibition game, people walked from the parking garage, over a block to grab a bite to eat, then over to the game… 5 blocks maximum worth of walking, there is nothing that will promote that form of behavior at the current arenas location.

Indy’s downtown covers a hair more space than Tulsa’s but we have bigger and far more attractive buildings, our skyline is a lot more interesting than Indy’s, yet its what they are doing right with their downtown that is making the difference. You cant draw the “big” conventions without hotel space, convention goers wont spend money outside of the convention unless there is something to spend it on… within walking distance.

Even OKC's Ford Center had space for things to grow around it, we however are digging ourselves into a hole, one we may not be able to pull ourselves out of.