Natural Gas Station Will Be A First For Owasso

A check of the news On 6 gas gauge shows the price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.65 heading into Spring Break.

02/23/2012 Related Story: Rising Gas Prices Fuel Natural Gas Boom In Tulsa Area

Drivers in Owasso - with the right kind of car - will soon get to pay a whole lot less when a new CNG fill station opens.

Just a short walk from Owasso's City Hall, construction is underway on a plan that's been in the works for a while. The walls are going up on a new CNG fill station downtown.

"For structure to actually start taking place, it looks pretty nice," said Chelsea Harkins, Economic Development Director.

A federal grant is paying for the CNG station, as well as conversion of Owasso's fleet of city vehicles to the cleaner burning and much less expensive fuel. It will also be open to the public.

"They live right here in Owasso and they'll have a place right here where they can fill up," Harkins said.

There are 50 public CNG fill stations in Oklahoma, but the first one in Owasso will be a little different. The building will look like a 1920's era gas station, based on a photograph of one that used to be downtown.

See map of CNG station locations

City leaders pushed the vintage look to create an old downtown feel in Owasso. In addition to saving money on fuel, and being better for the environment, economic development director Chelsea Harkins says it could also help attract other industries.

"In economic development, we kind of look at a checklist whenever we're trying to work with site selectors, and this is definitely something we can check off that list now and it makes us more marketable," she said.

The CNG station, which is on the corner of First and Main streets, will be open sometime this Spring.

There are seven CNG fuel stations in Tulsa open to the public and 50 stations statewide.