Bells theme park coming back

[Jesseda]

they are singing a 50 year lease on land rumored to be in coweta... screamscape.com has in the info along with the tulsa paper... look like oklahom has two theme parks instead of one now!!! if a major casino opens up by the theme park or right next door this would make it a destination!!!!

[sgt. pepper]

it was only a matter of time Tulsa got one. Boy.....Tulsa is drying up alright.

[kevinpate]

Bells was fun back in the day, and I'm sure it was without going back quite that far, but it's been, well, a long time since I wandered their grounds. Hopefully it will again create fond memories for a new generation.

[Spartan]

It was really bizarre how Tulsa forced out Bell's and still hasn't replaced them at Expo Square. I figured they would just go to Jenks, which has become ex-Tulsan HQ. Coweta will work, although it may be difficult getting people not from BA to make the drive.

[kevinpate]

If they do it well enough, folks will make the effort to find it (or so I hope for the sake of their wee ones.)

[Jesseda]

i am hoping for a silver dollar city theme... or a park that has oklahoma history to it, like the land run, oil, indians. etc.. now with bells own land the skies the limit.. hopefully they get a good chunk of land.. i think a waterpark would be cool right next door to the new park..

[Dustin]

Bell's Amusement Park may get new home | Tulsa World

[Jesseda]

yeah thats what we where talking about on this post, it is the same thing screamcape talked about

[Bunty]

Bell's Amusement Park may get new home | Tulsa World

Unless they think their sales taxes are already too high, I bet Wagoner County votes for it.

[ApplePearBerry]

I miss Bell's Amusement Park...I went to Bell's at 2 - 3 times a year from 1987 all the way till it was closed. lol

[scootinger]

Wagoner County Commissioners Rescind Bell's Sales Tax Election - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

WAGONER, OK -- The Wagoner County Commission derailed plans to bring Bells Amusement Park to Wagoner County Tuesday.

In a surprise move, the Wagoner County Commission voted 2 to 1 to rescind a July 27th sales tax vote for a fairgrounds development project near Coweta, which would include Bells Amusement Park.

Commissioners Chris Edwards and Jim Hargrove want to study the proposal further.

"I just think what we were asking was too big, too quick," said Chris Edwards, Wagoner County Commissioner. "And we needed to do a better study of what we were going to ask of the public."

Those commissioners worry the ten-year, quarter cent sales tax wouldn't generate enough money for infrastructure needs for the complex, which would include an expo center, extension office, animal shelter and Bells.

"We needed to back up and stop it and do a better, thorough study of what we were going to be asking and putting on the ballot and if it's a good deal today, it will be a good deal tomorrow I feel," Edwards said.

But for Tom Vincent, the only Commissioner to vote against rescinding the tax election, the latest development is a deal killer.

"It's a workable deal, and it would have been a workable deal and then one person came in and the other two commissioners rolled over," Vincent said. "That's pretty much what happened."

That one person he's talking about is David Tackett, who created a campaign called No Bells Tax to rally opposition to the proposed tax hike.

He wants Bells in Wagoner County, but doesn't want taxpayers to foot the bill.

"I'm happy that they listened to the people," Tackett said. "And I'm hopeful that they will come back with a plan that makes sense for everybody."

But Vincent says the project would have paid for itself by bringing in 100 jobs and plenty of dollars to Wagoner County's economy.

"Just think of what Bells would have brought to the Coweta area," he said. "It would have put them on the map."

There's still the possibility the tax vote could be brought before voters at a later date. Commissioner Edwards says that may happen with a revised plan to do the fairgrounds projects one at a time, rather than all at once.

[Jesseda]

yeah again oklahoma is to chicken sh*t to takea risk at making something grand..... we have lost out on a lot of things that could have happened in oklahoma because of things like this, but we spend toms of money on a bass pro shop in oklahoma city lol, and now the indian center in okc might not ever get done because they where denied funds, but hey who needs the indian things when we could builda training building for the thunder

[metro]

Bells? Grand? Destination? They were only talking 100 employees, the "grand" parks employ thousands. Heck, I bet Frontier City has several hundred at least.

[rcjunkie]

Bells? Grand? Destination? They were only talking 100 employees, the "grand" parks employ thousands. Heck, I bet Frontier City has several hundred at least.

Bells Amusement Park was about 1/4 the size of Frontier City, not really a destination park, being the only one in the area, it was always popular with the kids and busy during the spring and summer.

[Jesseda]

bobby bell was planning to expand, he couldnt do that at the last location.. he was going to add new coasters and other attractions,

[Dustin]

sigh

[Thunder]

bobby bell was planning to expand, he couldnt do that at the last location.. he was going to add new coasters and other attractions,

Most likely used rides posted for sale that they can actually afford rather than paying for a brand new design.

[Bunty]

If Wagoner doesn't want Bell's, then they need to try putting it in Stillwater, maybe at the fairgrounds, and get a good draw from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, along with the bigger nearby small towns, such as Enid and Ponca City.

[rcjunkie]

If Wagoner doesn't want Bell's, then they need to try putting it in Stillwater, maybe at the fairgrounds, and get a good draw from Oklahoma City and Tulsa, along with the bigger nearby small towns, such as Enid and Ponca City.

I seriously doubt that anyone would plan a trip to Stillwater just to visit Bell's Amusement Park. It would be an OK place to visit if you were already there, but definitely not a destination point.

[Jesseda]

id visit and im from more, people say the same about frontier city, but i have had relatives visit first time from cali and they wanted to go to frontier city, they thought the park had a neat theme to it and wasnt bad at all

[kevinpate]

[/COLOR]


I seriously doubt that anyone would plan a trip to Stillwater just to visit Bell's Amusement Park. It would be an OK place to visit if you were already there, but definitely not a destination point.

I don't know rcjunkie. When my youth were younger, each would get a poppa and me day at Frontier City. We ran into folk from quite some distance out. If Bell's built something worth going to for more than an hour or three, I can see folks popping to Stilwater for it as part of a weekend. Less so there than Coweta area, since it wouldn't be that much further to come into OKC.

But, as a day trip and back home by nightfall, not really so much the OKC folk but from points east,west and north, I can see it.

[z28james]

Frontier City is still a draw from out of towners I talk to daily. I remember Bells and it was not a destination for Okies, hell neither is Frontier City because when I was younger we were to lazy to make the drive from Norman.

[kevinpate]

I agree as to what Bell's used to be all landlocked and such as it was in Tulsa.
You went there if you were in Tulsa for another reason. You did not go to Tulsa just to go to Bell's (may have even been true for Bixby folks.)

I'm not addressing that Bell's though, as it sounds like they want to build more than they had. If done well enough, folks will go to it, perhaps even folks who wouldn't come on to OKC for Frontier City because it would add more drive time to the day.

I don't have clue one whether it will work or not, but if they can get the backing, I'm all in favor of seeing what they do and hope it works out for them.

[Popsy]

Is there any land along the south side of the river OKC could offer to lease to Bell's?

[Jesseda]

I know there was land off I-240 between eastern and bryant that was set for frontierr city possible relocation a couple years back, the land still looks available.. south okc