This past week, the ECVB has asked us to turn back our clocks. They want us to turn back the clock just a few years to when our city was at an all-time low. They want us to revisit a ball fields plan that was championed by David Dunn, a member of the ECVB who couldn't have cared any less about Roberts Stadium. Even worse was the ball fields plan he drew up to replace this iconic structure.
Why the ECVB wants us to revisit a half-baked plan that they themselves are half-baking is beyond me. I am embarrassed to live in a city where our officials think building 8 boring, dull, and generic ball fields next to a nature preserve is a good idea. Sorry ECVB, we are already DUNN with that time period.
If we truly want to use Roberts Stadium and its surrounding area as a place that will allow Evansville to compete with the rest of the nation, we have no choice but to set our clocks forward to Tulsa Time.
Tulsa, whose 2009 MSA had roughly 929,015 residents and is comparable to the 911,613 residents in our 30 county Tri-State Area, is going in the opposite direction than we are. In fact, they have now lapped us in the arena industry, and they don't appear to be looking in their rear view mirror.
The sports arena industry arrived in Tulsa in the 1930s with the construction of the Expo Square Pavilion...
Sometimes called simply The Pavilion, and formerly known as the Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion, the arena seats 6,311.
It was built in 1932; the architect was Leland I Shumway. The building is in the PWA Art Deco style, built of blond brick with terra cotta ornamentation, and is considered one the prime examples of Art Deco architecture in Tulsa.
It was home to the Tulsa Oilers Central Hockey League team, during the 1960s and the Tulsa 66ers, of the NBA Development League, until they moved to the SpiritBank Event Center in 2008.
Today, the arena hosts
Tulsa decided they needed a new arena and convention center as well when they constructed the Tulsa Convention Center & Arena, which seats 8,900 patrons, in 1964...
In previous years, the facility was home to the Central Hockey League Tulsa Oilers ice hockey team and to the Tulsa Talons, an af2 arena football team. It hosted the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament title game in 1982 and 1984-87. It was also the home to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane basketball team.
Since the opening of these two facilities, FOUR new arenas have been built in the Tulsa region. Initially, the city thought they would have to tear down the arena part of the Tulsa Convention Center. They were wrong as this facility still stands today. Let's take a look at the four arenas that have been built since 1964 and what tenants still call the Tulsa Convention Center Arena home...
Mabee Center- Built: 1972
The Mabee Center, an outstanding collegiate arena, has been home to the Golden Eagles since 1972. The arena bears the name of John and Lottie Mabee, who established the Tulsa-based Mabee Foundation in 1948. Mabee Center was built as an elliptical cable-suspension structure with basketball in mind. The arena has 10,575 permanent theater seats - with no obstacles to clear viewing. Recently, four luxury suites were added on the south side or directly behind the team benches.
The splendid viewing and playing areas have drawn nine different national tournaments since the building opened. The Golden Eagles themselves played in the first NCAA tournament held here in 1974. Four other NCAA regionals (1975, 1978, 1982 and 1985) have been based at the Mabee Center. The National Invitation Tournament picked ORU as host four times (1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983). Mabee Center also annually hosts the Oklahoma state high school playoffs and the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-Star games. It was also the former site of the NAIA National Basketball Championship.
Mabee Center regularly plays host to various conventions, conferences, seminars, and special events such as the annual Miss Oklahoma pageant. In the past, Mabee Center has hosted such top-name per formers Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire and Blue Man Group.
An adjacent building, smaller but similar in shape, is known as "Baby Mabee" and houses a television production studio.
Reynolds Center- Built: 1998
With a capacity of 8,355, the Reynolds Center opened in 1998 and is named for Donald W. Reynolds. It is home to the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane basketball and volleyball teams who previously played their games at the Tulsa Convention Center Arena. It hosted the 2001-03 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournaments.
BOK Center- Built: 2008
The BOK Center, or Bank of Oklahoma Center, is a 19,100-seat multi-purpose arena and a primary indoor sports and event venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Designed to accommodate arena football, hockey, basketball, concerts, and similar events, the facility was built at a cost of $178 million in public funds and an additional $18 million in privately-funded upgrades.
Designed by César Pelli, the architect of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, the BOK Center is the flagship project of Tulsa County's Vision 2025 long-range development initiative. The arena is managed and operated by SMG and named for the Bank of Oklahoma, which purchased naming rights for $11 million.
Current permanent tenants are the Tulsa OilersCentral Hockey League and the Tulsa Shock of the Women's National Basketball AssociationThe facility will also host NBA preseason games and college basketball matchups on a regular basis and seek to attract national and regional sporting tournaments.
SpiritBank Event Center- Built: 2008
The SpiritBank Event Center is a 4,500 seat multi-purpose arena and convention center in Bixby, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa.
Since opening in 2008 it has been the site of numerous concerts and events, including ZZ Top, Stone Temple Pilots, Jason Mraz, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Chris Tomlin. In December 2008, it became the new home of the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.
With all of these new arenas in their inventory, the city of Tulsa thought it was a sure bet that they would have to demolish the arena part of their convention center. To their surprise, they were wrong. Not only did the Tulsa Convention Center Arena avoid the wrecking ball, it was actually renovated so that it now has the following...
· Competitive rental pricing
· Brand new stage
· Rigging capabilities end-to-end
· 4 backstage dressing rooms, 2 with showers
· Production room
· New green room with seating area
· 2 completely renovated locker rooms
· 6 event suites overlooking the Arena
As a result of Tulsa's investment, the NBDL's Tulsa 66ers moved into the facility in 2009. Why didn't they move into the newly constructed BOK Center next door?
http://www.dailythunder.com/2009/09/questions-and-answers-with-tulsa-66ers-president-jim-brylewski/
DT: Are there any aspirations to ever move to the BOK Center?
JB: Right now, from a financial standpoint, what the other teams pay in rent is not feasible from a cost standpoint.
The above comment sums up best why Tulsa is growing while Evansville is dying. The city leaders of Tulsa understand that the more facilities you have the more tenants you can bring to your city as not tenants want a brand new state-of-the-art arena. They understand that their facilities don't compete against each other, they compete against other cities.
If we are going to turn the tide on Evansville's annual loss of population, we have to think like Tulsa. We have to understand that we will attract more tenants, more events, and more economic development to our region by having a mid-sized and a premier arena to offer our clients.
Tulsa is growing because they have a facility for all teams, events, and meetings of all shapes and sizes not demolishing them for dull, boring, and generic ball fields. It's about time that Tulsa Time came to Evansville. IT'S ABOUT TIME WE SAVED ROBERTS STADIUM!
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