USA BMX to move headquarters to Tulsa

[In_Tulsa]

It's time to get rid of Mark Andrus as CEO of the fairgrounds!! He has been behind all the crap going on at the fairgrounds!

[sgrizzle]

It's time to get rid of Mark Andrus as CEO of the fairgrounds!! He has been behind all the crap going on at the fairgrounds!

Dismantling the fairgrounds without a contract on the property is bad business. I don't think it was bad business to have a soda contract.

[swake]

Dismantling the fairgrounds without a contract on the property is bad business. I don't think it was bad business to have a soda contract.

A 25 year soda contract is bad. business.

[Conan71]

It's time to get rid of Mark Andrus as CEO of the fairgrounds!! He has been behind all the crap going on at the fairgrounds!

I can't say with 100% certainty, but I doubt major demo contracts happen without the approval of the Fair Board which happens to include all three county commissioners.

I'm not saying this would make Andrus blameless, but he's basically a bureaucrat.  There are a few more people to shoulder the blame for this.  Three of whom can be voted out.

[DowntownDan]

They hadn't completely dismantled it last I drove by there.  Couldn't they leave in (or reinstall if they have been removed) the lower level seats and let the Athletics back in?  It's not like they ever needed 10,000 seats.  Since they were already spending the money, they could maybe still dismantle the upper deck but leave some lower seats in place.  Or if it's further along that I think, they can maybe buy (or rent) some portable bleachers.  All they need is a patch of grass and some seats and that's still possible at the old stadium site.

[Hoss]

They hadn't completely dismantled it last I drove by there.  Couldn't they leave in (or reinstall if they have been removed) the lower level seats and let the Athletics back in?  It's not like they ever needed 10,000 seats.  Since they were already spending the money, they could maybe still dismantle the upper deck but leave some lower seats in place.  Or if it's further along that I think, they can maybe buy (or rent) some portable bleachers.  All they need is a patch of grass and some seats and that's still possible at the old stadium site.

While a nice idea, I'm pretty sure the county would never go for that.

[Conan71]

They hadn't completely dismantled it last I drove by there.  Couldn't they leave in (or reinstall if they have been removed) the lower level seats and let the Athletics back in?  It's not like they ever needed 10,000 seats.  Since they were already spending the money, they could maybe still dismantle the upper deck but leave some lower seats in place.  Or if it's further along that I think, they can maybe buy (or rent) some portable bleachers.  All they need is a patch of grass and some seats and that's still possible at the old stadium site.

They could probably lease the bleachers used for the Chili Bowl and Tulsa Shootout.

Something tells me the Fair Board is just going to be overjoyed with the idea of one less facility to maintain and additional parking though.

[DTowner]

It seems to me the City is the big winner and the County is the big loser.  The City finally gets a development on this long-abandoned industrial site that is near downtown and will create spillover demand for downtown hotels/dinning, etc.  The County now has a fully abandoned partially demolished portion of the fair grounds that will generate $0 revenue and it will like lose the big annual in-door BMX race in January.  And the City gets all of this by using a County-wide sales tax.  I think GT just took the County to the woodshed.

[sgrizzle]

A 25 year soda contract is bad. business.

Depends on the terms

[Conan71]

It seems to me the City is the big winner and the County is the big loser.  The City finally gets a development on this long-abandoned industrial site that is near downtown and will create spillover demand for downtown hotels/dinning, etc.  The County now has a fully abandoned partially demolished portion of the fair grounds that will generate $0 revenue and it will like lose the big annual in-door BMX race in January.  And the City gets all of this by using a County-wide sales tax.  I think GT just took the County to the woodshed.

I missed the presser on this and have not read any of the follow up.  Have they said the Grand Nationals will move over to the training center?  Driving by the fairgrounds during that event, I'm rather skeptical they could possibly accommodate the shear number of participants and their travel vehicles at the Evans site.  It's possible to move something like that to the BOK, but the situation with parking directly adjacent to the Expo building is really ideal for the participants to get their bikes and spare parts in and out of the building.

[DTowner]

I missed the presser on this and have not read any of the follow up.  Have they said the Grand Nationals will move over to the training center?  Driving by the fairgrounds during that event, I'm rather skeptical they could possibly accommodate the shear number of participants and their travel vehicles at the Evans site.  It's possible to move something like that to the BOK, but the situation with parking directly adjacent to the Expo building is really ideal for the participants to get their bikes and spare parts in and out of the building.

The T.World article stated that the new location created some doubt whether the Grand Nationals would continue at the fairgrounds.  It seems logical that BMX would rather hold it at its own facility if it is feasible.  Whether it is feasible is a good question, but one in which the fairgrounds ought to be concerned.

[Ed W]

Marq Lewis is pushing back against the idea of locating the BMX facility to the Greenwood area. He apparently wants some set asides re: jobs and community re-investment. This could get interesting.

[Conan71]

Marq Lewis is pushing back against the idea of locating the BMX facility to the Greenwood area. He apparently wants some set asides re: jobs and community re-investment. This could get interesting.

So, remove a blight on the area to create not just a training facility but an Olympic caliber facility and it's not the right sort of development for Marq Lewis?  I mean, this is a gentrification ignitor for the area.  Depending on the numbers this place will attract I'd think there's many opportunities for entrepreneurship in the immediate area.

[RecycleMichael]

...And the City gets all of this by using a County-wide sales tax. 

I think the $15 million was part of the city package voted on by just city dwellers.

But I agree that the County lost out bigly.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

So, remove a blight on the area to create not just a training facility but an Olympic caliber facility and it's not the right sort of development for Marq Lewis?  I mean, this is a gentrification ignitor for the area.  Depending on the numbers this place will attract I'd think there's many opportunities for entrepreneurship in the immediate area.

Haha! Some people will never be happy with anything regardless of what you do. Read the comments on any news article about the Gathering Place and people will still be lamenting how it is a waste of tax payer money! And pre-complaining about how will be full of homeless/no parking/etc..

Could we eventually get something better for the Evans site? Maybe. Has it been available for many years to no avail? Yes. It might take a LONG time to get anything better than this for that spot. This whole north of downtown area is terribly empty with nothing but OSU and bulldozed properties over the last 20 years (except the housing improvement in Brady Heights). Maybe this will get the ball rolling in the area.

To me, this seems like a good compromise. However, I am still sickened that they dismantled the old stadium without a deal AND that they were unable to find a workable compromise on the pouring rights (for example, /leasesell that corner to CoT or some other entity so it is not under the fairgrounds jurisdiction or something).