Work progresss report on Tulsa's downtown arena

There is some progress on the site of Tulsa's new<b><a class="headlinelink" href="http://www.kotv.com/main/home/searchKOTV.asp?mainSearch= arena"> arena</a></b>. Downtown drivers have to get around

Wednesday, June 29th 2005, 11:33 am

By: News On 6

There is some progress on the site of Tulsa's new arena. Downtown drivers have to get around massive holes dug out of the street, and it's a sign of things to come.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says just for the record, there has been no groundbreaking for the arena, but it sure looks like a lot of ground is breaking. Backhoes have dug out massive holes along 3rd Street.

Down Denver it's a trench more than a block long. It's attracting a lot of curiosity. Man: "Anything they can do to help downtown is probably a good idea."

All this construction work leaves the impression they're digging out the arena, but it's just the utility work. When they dig out the bowl of the arena, it's going to be a much bigger hole. Arena project manager Bart Boatright: "We're standing on the edge of what will be the bowl of the arena, in fact the intersection of 2nd and Frisco will be the center of the arena."

The earthwork going on now is to move utilities. Along Denver, crews are building new pipelines to carry cold water and steam used in some downtown buildings. All this work has to be done before anything is dug out for the arena.

The best part of it for the Vision plan, is that it's at the expense of the utility companies.

The people watching this stage of the Vision project are curious, most hopeful it's going to be a positive turn for downtown. â€œIt's the mayor deal, I hope it works out for him, I just don't see how it can attract 18,000 people.â€

The mass excavation for the arena is more than a month off, the opening planned for just over two years from now. Until then, drivers within a block of the site can expect to see more construction signs.

There are still two buildings on the arena site. The US Postal Service garage will move in early August and the city is still working on a deal for the other property, a parking lot owned by the federal government.