Local attractions doing well despite economy

[metro]

http://www.newsok.com/article/3354532

Oklahoma City attractions escape sting of economy
Tourism: Warm weather also helps funnel visitors here
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: March 19, 2009

Good weather and a bad economy are combining into a financial bonanza for area attractions, some of whom are reporting record or near-record business this week.

At the Oklahoma City Zoo, extra sheriff’s deputies were called in to help navigate long lines of cars. With parking scarce at the zoo and adjoining Science Museum Oklahoma, spaces were filling up fast across the street at Remington Park.

In Bricktown, water taxis were carrying passenger counts more typical of a mild-weather Saturday in June.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial, meanwhile, is seeing a much needed rebound after being shut down by flooding in January and stagnant attendance last summer.

Tara Henson, zoo spokeswoman, said the visitor count Monday hit 10,100, and then jumped to 16,000 Tuesday.

With turnstile numbers hitting 15,600 by mid-afternoon Wednesday, Henson said she was expecting another day topping 16,000 visitors.

"If the weather holds out, we’re looking at a record breaker for spring break,” Henson said.

"This year people are looking for things to do that are cost effective and are a reasonable drive from their home.”

Henson said one visitor from Shawnee organized a group of 16 friends to travel to destinations in and around their town and Oklahoma City. The zoo was one of their first stops.

Zoo visitors were coming from across the region, she said, including Wichita Falls, Texas, Tulsa, Elk City and Wichita, Kan.

"I think we’re really showing some strength as a regional attraction,” Henson said.


Staying close to home
Spring break week, meanwhile, is typically the start of the season for water taxi rides along the Bricktown Canal.
"This may be the best spring break we’ve ever had,” general manager Chad Huntington said of the water taxis. "Weather always plays a big role, but this is really nothing short of spectacular.”

Huntington said his March numbers through Tuesday hit 4,441 compared with 1,939 for the same time last year. For Saint Patrick’s Day (Tuesday), passenger counts hit 1,268 compared with 232 for the holiday in 2008.

Huntington said he too is seeing a lot of out-of-town business for the water taxis and his gift shop, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Emporium. About 50 percent of passengers were from outside Oklahoma, Huntington said, and primarily from Texas and Kansas.

He said informal surveys indicate a high number of passengers also are visiting the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Science Museum Oklahoma, the Myriad Gardens and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. "Most of these people seem to be on a formal trip with Oklahoma City being the destination,” Huntington said.

"They’re taking time off from work, but a lot are staying home and doing what is called a ‘staycation.’ People are opting not to fly and taking day trips. And destinations that have great vehicular access like Oklahoma City can do great in a down economy,” he said.

Nancy Coggins, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City National Memorial, reported attendance is up 10 percent over the same period last year.

"Even with the economy, people still want to find a way to take a break, spend time with family and do things important for their mental and physical health,” Coggins said.

"They’re taking trips closer to home than maybe to Disney World. They’re going to places that provide opportunities for the whole family.”

[Jesseda]

thats great news, actually my wife and i are taking some vacation days in the early part of april, we where planning on going to branson but we decided to stay and do things locally with the kids, the medival fair in norman, the sam noble museum ( first mondays in every month at the museum is free!!!!!) the okc zoo, the ok science museum, little river zoo, we decided we can do all these things and more during our vacation because no hotel room cost and we can pack our own snacks for outings.. we might just take a short ride to tulsa to see the oklahoma aqarium ( is it worth the drive?)

[MadMonk]

we might just take a short ride to tulsa to see the oklahoma aqarium ( is it worth the drive?)

I thought so, yes.

[Steve]

The aquarium is great, and the River Walk is nice development next door. Though here's a Tulsa secret you should really check out - Olllies. If you have kids, you must take them to Ollies. The food is forgetable, but the restaurant itself is one huge model railraod set up. Kids will not get bored (well, maybe if they're teens, but that's situation normal!)

[kevinpate]

> is it worth the drive?

Yes. As are many offerings in our neighbor to the NE, even if some of them can be a touch snooty at times.

[sroberts24]

I thought so, yes.

i want an aquarium in OKC so freakin bad!

[Steve]

Story I wrote in 2007 (if you're a subscriber to The Oklahoman you can see photos of Ollie's and the other attractions, and the entire Route 66 series by going to the archives at NewsOK):

TULSA — Chris Felthous spent seven years as manager at the Metro, a popular '50s-style diner along historic Route 66 — and he admits the eatery's destruction earlier this year was a big hit to this city's efforts to lure fans of the "mother road."

But Felthous thinks he's found a new home at Ollie's Restaurant near the birthplace of Route 66.


" Route 66 and restaurants have been a part of my life for a long time," said Felthous, who worked at and managed the Metro for seven years. "I'm sad the Metro went away, but I'm glad I've found a new home at Ollie's as well. And Ollie's had a whole different attraction with the trains. The trains pull people in, and then they discover about Route 66."


Ollie's opened a quarter century ago. With model trains running on tracks suspended from the ceiling and in displays throughout the restaurant, it's a popular attraction with Tulsa families.


Felthous saw a steady stream of customers traveling Route 66 at the Metro, and says that in his past year at Ollie's he's seen the same flow of tourists spending their vacations — and dollars — traveling historic Route 66.


For now, Ollie's is a lonely Route 66 attraction along Southwest Boulevard, just southwest of downtown Tulsa. Empty, blighted buildings and empty lots dot much of the landscape on a stretch that runs between the OSU Health Sciences Center and downtown.


But Ollie's may not be a lonely attraction much longer. Across the street, art instructor Mary Jo Luster has opened the Red Fork Gallery and Studio in a brick building that has faced Southwest Boulevard since it was commissioned as Route 66 in 1927.


Mayor Kathy Taylor believes a convergence of efforts — designation of the road as the state's biggest urban Main Street program and Route 66 enhancements planned as part of the city's Vision 2025 program — could return Tulsa to its legacy as a top stop along the old highway.


Taylor points to last week's celebrated unearthing of a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere as evidence that a tourist bonanza awaits Tulsa if it gives the old "mother road" some much needed attention.


"We saw people who love these old '50s and '60s cars, and also the memories that come with traveling Route 66," Taylor said. "We've preserved much of the route — but it's really just coming into being shown off to tourists."


Tulsa's Vision 2025 has $15 million budgeted for signage, monuments and attractions along the historic highway — including an interactive exhibit at the entrance to Red Fork that will be dubbed the " Route 66 Experience." The new Main Street program is teaming up with the Southwest Tulsa Chamber of Commerce and the Southwest Tulsa Historical Society to build a transportation-themed park not far from Ollie's.


Good Times, Bad Times


Michael Arand, an engineer with Dewberry, admits he may not live long enough to see completion of the firm's 121-page master plan for Tulsa's 26-mile stretch of the highway. He estimates the entire plan would run $80 million, but the budget is $15 million.


But he's looking forward to a Red Fork district that in a few years will be anchored by not just the Ollie's and the Route 66 Experience, but also a cosmetically restored 11th Street Bridge.


The bridge closed a quarter century ago and is too unstable to even support pedestrian traffic. Arand determined the bridge would have to be torn down and rebuilt to even support pedestrians. A cosmetic preservation was chosen, Arand said, because the bridge is considered the birthplace of Route 66.


In 1927, Tulsan Cyrus Avery, considered the father of Route 66, persuaded fellow highway planners to route the highway through his home state. Arand, who has traveled the highway and done extensive studies on its history, said Avery's top card in steering the highway through Tulsa was the previously built 11th Street bridge being the only crossing over the Arkansas River.


The highway's opening coincided with the community of Red Fork being swallowed up by adjoining Tulsa. Longtime residents like Esther Murray, 80, fondly recall the Route 66 era, and remember how the highway through Red Fork once thrived with restaurants, motels, gas stations, shops and even an amusement park.


"I remember how the kids loved to go to Bell's Gas Station," Murray said. "It was so cool, getting that Orange Crush for a nickel out of this big ice box."


That station is gone — only a sign remains. Murray blames the demise of Route 66 — and Urban Renewal clearance efforts — for decimating the area and stripping it of much of the charm that once made Tulsa a key stop along Route 66.


And then there's Crystal City. From 1926 to 1951, Crystal City was an amusement park. From the 1950s on, the property was a shopping center that went by the same name.


"It was beautiful," Murray said. "They had a Safeway there, a TG&Y, and you could get whatever you wanted. It's really gone downhill."


Weeds spurt from cracks in the shopping center, and many of the storefronts are empty. But locals are waiting to see if a reported sale of the property — and possible plans for upgrades and new tenants — come true.


American Heritage Bank assistant vice president and president of the Red Fork Main Street program won't discuss the rumored sale but agreed redevelopment of Crystal City is critical to Red Fork's long-term success.


A newcomer, Katy Davis, is tasked with tracking all of the pending change as director of the state's newest Main Street program. Short-term plans include planters with the Route 66 emblem throughout the four-mile corridor and Route 66 flags that will be sold to properties along the way.


But for now, Davis has even more immediate challenges: setting up an office, hiring help, getting paved parking, and encouraging cooperation between Red Fork's many interested players.


"Here you have four miles long, two blocks on each side, residential, industrial, retail — it's all those pieces, and that's a different challenge for a Main Street program to face," Davis said.


"There are a lot of pieces of information, and a lot of organizations that have a stake in this area.


"But until now, there hasn't been a center home for them ... getting them all aligned is the biggest key to getting this off the ground."

[Jesseda]

i think we might go to that aqarium, so can anyone tell me how the tulsa zoo is?

[soonerguru]

Jesseda,

The Tulsa Zoo is not spectacular. It's certainly not as nice as OKC's. That being said, Tulsa is great and there are a lot of other nice things to do there.

[sgt. pepper]

Gilcrease Museum is very nice. Especially later in the year when the garden is blooming. Dicoveryland (i think that's is the name of it) where they put on the play Oklahoma outdoors with dinner and all is nice (in August i think). Woolorock in Bartlesville is nice. Yes, lots of stuff.

[Jesseda]

well changing from tulsa , i just found ou there is going to be a carnival off s.w 19th and may in that crest shopping center this weekend, I like carnivals, and moore (whre im from) seems to have them only once in a blue moon so 29th and may is close enough for me, so im passing this along to all carnival lovers out there for something to do this weekend.

[TaoMaas]

i think we might go to that aqarium, so can anyone tell me how the tulsa zoo is?

If you have to choose between the two, go to the aquarium. There's nothing quite like it in OKC. The Tulsa Zoo is good, but over all, the OKC Zoo is better. However, the Tulsa Zoo does have some things that the OKC Zoo doesn't. One thing they've got that we don't have is penguins. They're pretty cute. The Tulsa Zoo also has a really nice marmoset/tamarin exhibit.

[TaoMaas]

Though here's a Tulsa secret you should really check out - Olllies. If you have kids, you must take them to Ollies. The food is forgetable, but the restaurant itself is one huge model railraod set up. Kids will not get bored (well, maybe if they're teens, but that's situation normal!)

Good call on Ollie's.

[bluedogok]

My sister and nephew had thought about coming down to Austin for Spring Break but stayed home instead. They have been to the Sam Noble Museum and Lake Thunderbird one day, and the next day they went to Tiger Safari (?) and Red Rock Canyon. They are going to come down here this summer and we will head down to Galveston or Corpus.

[solitude]

The local "attractions" (including the memorial in that still feels wrong) are doing well these past couple of weeks. My guess is that lots of people here are broke, don't want to rack up debt and they stayed home this spring break. There are always a smattering of people from neighboring states. If there's a real story here, it's a pretty predictable one.

[southernskye]

My sister and nephew had thought about coming down to Austin for Spring Break but stayed home instead. They have been to the Sam Noble Museum and Lake Thunderbird one day, and the next day they went to Tiger Safari (?) and Red Rock Canyon. They are going to come down here this summer and we will head down to Galveston or Corpus.

It is a bit wild in Austin this week but so far has been a blast. My daughter swears she saw the singer for Korn last night.

[bluedogok]

It is a bit wild in Austin this week but so far has been a blast. My daughter swears she saw the singer for Korn last night.

She may have with 2,000 bands from 50 countries in town and all the other higher profile industry types. It has been a busy couple of weeks with SXSW Film and Interactive last week and Music this week plus it is spring break here as well, which means the traffic has been nice in the mornings. I know The Domain has been real busy during the day, Starbucks is busy in the morning and it gets hard to find a parking spot in the garage like normal when coming back from lunch.

[southernskye]

I haven't made it out to the Domain yet and probably won't this trip. The past couple days I've been parking at the metro park and ride at the Triangle and taking the bus downtown from there. Traffic is way too crazy to even try and drive on Congress.

Tonight, we went to Auditorium Shores to see Raul Malo, Bob Schneider and Arc Angels minus Tommy Shannon.

We ate at Homeslice Pizza tonight and it's great.

[bluedogok]

I tend to avoid the downtown area when we have the large events like SXSW, ROT Rally and ACL Fest. The traffic in the mornings has been great this past week with spring break, I haven't had a backup at all on Mopac like normal and making it to the office from South Austin in about 20 minutes instead of the usual 35-45. It hasn't even been that bad in the afternoons but I take 360 home then because Mopac would be bad around downtown with those events.