City Of Tulsa Begins Planning To Transform Arena District

The City of Tulsa is planning a massive project that will transform 30 blocks around the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa. It's called the Arena District Master Plan.

The Arena District has nearly 2 million visitors a year thanks to huge concerts at the BOK and a lot of traffic at the Convention Center. But people who live and work in the area say that traffic is too temporary.

Wednesday evening the first public workshop was held at the downtown library with the goal of creating a plan that will lead to investment. Officials say one of the first things they want to establish making sure the district needs its own brand. It also needs to improve walking paths and connectivity.

The vision includes more street-facing retail, new restaurants, mix-use offices and park-side housing. Right now, design plans are underway for renovations to the convention center

"These days, convention centers are not just for meetings, people don't just come to the meeting and leave, it's a destination. And so, what can we do to attract more people, and create a destination that's interconnected to the other districts?" said Subha Sridharan and architect with Forest For the Trees who is a part of the master plan workshop.

The city also wants to make it easier to get from here to the riverfront especially with the Gathering Place opening soon.

City officials say that they don’t want to take away from other districts but that they want to establish the Arena District as a place full of activity on the days and nights that big headliners aren't taking the stage at the BOK.