Tulsa mayor's rep says no downsizing the B Ok Center

The Tulsa mayor's office says they're not discussing downsizing or downgrading the downtown arena - despite a $32-million gap in the budget. <br/><br/>Concerns over the cost had the project manager

Tuesday, April 25th 2006, 11:10 am

By: News On 6

The Tulsa mayor's office says they're not discussing downsizing or downgrading the downtown arena - despite a $32-million gap in the budget.

Concerns over the cost had the project manager in the hot seat at the city council Tuesday morning, but he didn't have many answers yet.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says it was the first chance for Tulsa's city council to ask questions about the arena's low bids being much higher than predicted.

The mayor's deputy and the arena's project manager both said they're not sure the prices are suddenly so high. The bids are for the outer metal skin of the building, all of the glass outside, all of the drywall inside and much of the concrete and steel.

Tulsa Vision Builderâ€™s Bart Boatright: "It is the lionâ€™s share of the meat and potatoes of the project so it's something that we knew would be a big day, but we weren't expecting what happened, and now we have to deal with that."

The bids came in at $101-million, for what was supposed to be $69-million worth of work. While the options to close the gap are many - the mayor's deputy said it is the city's intent to deliver what was promised - an 18,000-seat arena that would be considered architecturally significant.

Deputy mayor Tom Baker: "We're not talking about downsizing or downgrading, we're talking about a systematic evaluation of the project to meet the expectations of the people of Tulsa and Tulsa County and do it within the allocated budget."

The Tulsa city council doesn't really have oversight of the arena project, but wanted to know what was happening. They didn't get much solid information, just a promise they'll know as soon as anyone.

Tulsa city councilman Bill Christiansen: "It may not end up being everything to everybody but I do think the arena in the form it's in should go ahead; I think the number of seats is important and aesthetics is important, but we may have to substitute polished concrete for terrazzo."

The project manager says he plans to have a report on the reasons behind the high bids to the mayor by the end of the week.

To compare it with Oklahoma City's Ford Center - that costs $88-million. Tulsa's arena cost was set at $141-million and that was before this round of bids came in so high - so it could end up costing twice as much as the Ford Center.