Energy companies, universities and the Oklahoma River
Sometimes it's easy to forget that our biggest corporations are also our biggest cheerleaders. What I like is that the river has become what it is through cooperation between the citizens of OKC, the CEOs of some of our biggest corporations, and our educational institutions.
Kelley Chambers
OKCBiz > Energy companies, universities work collectively to build, brand projects along Oklahoma River
Just a decade ago, it is doubtful anyone making a short list of great American cities with great rivers would have considered Oklahoma City. At the time, few would argue that it even ranked as a great American city, let alone have a river of substance.Then everything changed.The first taxpayer-funded MAPS initiatives in the early ’90s provided money for dams and locks to fill a virtually dry drainage ditch created in the ’50s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Quite by chance, the engineers created a long, straight stretch of the North Canadian River that, shielded from the wind on its banks, made it an ideal venue for competitive rowing.
The MAPS project turned the ditch into a river – a longtime vision of civic leaders including Ray Ackerman and former Mayor Ron Norick. On Ackerman’s insistence, when seven miles of the river south of Downtown was filled with water, that stretch was renamed Oklahoma River. That vision for the river was carried forward by Oklahoma City attorney and rowing enthusiast Mike Knopp, Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon and Oklahoma City University President Tom McDaniel.
Knopp was looking to lead a collegiate rowing team and bring the sport to prominence in Oklahoma City; McClendon had the money for a boathouse; and McDaniel was willing to add rowing to the athletic program at OCU. When Knopp first brought the plan to McClendon in 2001, he proposed a modest $300,000 boathouse. McClendon looked at the bigger picture and decided to move that concept up several notches. “At the time, there was no water in the river, so the idea of building an iconic boathouse seemed far-reaching until we talked to Aubrey,” Knopp says. “Aubrey said, ‘Let’s do it, and let’s do it right.’”
They started with a clean slate.“We had no tradition with this sport, so we could think outside the box,” Knopp says.
UNTESTED WATERS
Chesapeake was the first corporation to dip its oar in untested waters at Oklahoma River with construction of a $3.5 million boathouse in 2005. The corporation furthered that commitment in May by marking its 20th anniversary with the announcement of a $5.2 million donation to fund a finish-line tower on the river’s north shore.
Next year, Devon Energy Corp. will have its own boathouse just east of Chesapeake’s to permanently house the OCU rowing team. The company has already invested $2 million to help fund three cruisers that take passengers up and down Oklahoma River.Despite which company, university or private donor pays for improvements along the river, those involved say when it comes to its projects, each puts corporate and collegiate allegiances aside to do what’s best for the body of water.
McClendon got the party started. After watching rowing events and touring boathouses on the East Coast, he knew Oklahoma River had the potential to be a great rowing venue, punctuated by a boathouse row that could be uniquely Oklahoma’s. To help make his vision a reality, he brought in his old friend and frequent collaborator, architect Rand Elliott. “I said, ‘I don’t think we can try to transport Philadelphia or Princeton or Boston to Oklahoma City,’” McClendon says. “‘It probably needs to be a modern interpretation of a boathouse,’ and, of course, that was the way Rand was thinking.”
The completed boathouse received rave reviews from architecture and rowing communities around the country. McClendon was pleased, especially since that many boathouses, even those on famous rivers and of Ivy League universities, were simply wooden shacks. For the last four years, the Chesapeake Boathouse has stood alone at 725 S Lincoln Blvd. In that time, it has hosted events for community, collegiate and corporate rowing teams, and become a training ground for Olympic hopefuls. In July, the river was named an official Olympic training site for rowing, canoe and kayak. The river is also the site of the annual OCU Head of the Oklahoma Regatta, bringing teams from around the country to compete.
Looking east of the boathouse at bare land that could be developed for other boathouses, McClendon was willing to invest more of his own money, but wanted other civic and corporate partners to step up and help fulfill the vision. “I hoped that other companies would join, and certainly Devon would be a likely one,” McClendon says. “I also thought that if all we ever had was the Chesapeake Boathouse, that it was still worth it.”
Indeed, Devon stepped up with a $5 million donation to help fully fund the $10 million Devon/OCU boathouse, which is under construction and set for completion in fall 2010. Wendi Schuur, director of Devon public and community affairs, says when it comes to the river, the two companies want what is best for the city, its citizens and the rowing community.
“Collectively, when we pool our resources together, it’s for the greater good of the community,” she says. “It’s a win-win.”
As evidence that the two energy giants are playing nice, Knopp, executive director of Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation and coach of the OCU team, says one can simply look at who sits on the foundation’s board and their shared long-term goals. McClendon is president of the board, which includes civic and business leaders, along with John Richels, president of Devon. “I think about Devon as friends and colleagues,” McClendon says. “We have many more things that we cooperate on than we compete against.”
Knopp has been delighted watching the two work together to improve the river. “We’re creating an image for this city, and we’re making this city a place people want to come to, move to and live in,” he says. “It has been a tremendous team effort.”
MAKING WAVES
The Devon/OCU boathouse is bigger and more expensive than Chesapeake’s. Rather than trying to one-up Chesapeake, Knopp says the new boathouse will simply serve a different purpose. The Chesapeake Boathouse is about 15,000 square feet. Devon’s boathouse will have about 35,000 square feet of training and event space. When the Devon boathouse opens, the OCU team will pack up its oars and move in. At that time, Chesapeake Boathouse will serve primarily as a community boathouse.
Additional boathouses are in the planning and fund-raising phases for University of Oklahoma and University of Central Oklahoma. McClendon has again made a personal commitment to help fund OU’s boathouse, and Chesapeake has made a financial commitment to UCO. The OU boathouse is expected to cost $4 million, and the UCO boathouse will be in the neighborhood of $8 million to $9 million, Knopp says.
Just as Chesapeake and Devon are working together, so will the universities.
Knopp says on other boathouse rows he has seen around the country, fences surround them, and rival teams know to keep out. In Oklahoma City, while one team may bleed crimson and cream, all collegiate rowers will be welcome to use facilities and services at the other boathouses, and the finish-line tower.
“It’s not that we’re trying to make the Devon boathouse better,” he says. “Each boathouse is designed to complement the others.” Elliott, who is designing the tower and the three collegiate boathouses, says each structure will offer different programs and features. UCO’s, for example, will include a jazz lab, while Devon/OCU’s will serve as a high-performance training facility with a “world-class” indoor rowing tank.
“We wanted to do a facility that rivals any Olympic training site in the country,” Knopp says. Whatever features each boasts, Elliott says none will be used simply to store boats and equipment. And anyone who knows Elliott knows they will be anything but bland.
“One of the goals from the very beginning was that each one of the boathouses would be unique and individual in its own way,” he says.
WATER WORKS
In the next five years, Knopp expects to have the boathouses and the finish-line tower all built and fully operational. Other possible sites and improvements are still up in the air. McClendon hopes to see Oklahoma State University join the fray, and taxpayer-funded initiatives through MAPS 3 could bring improvements such as a spectator grandstand, lighting and an urban whitewater course.
But to the corporate donors, the river offers much more than the opportunity to slap their names on something. Schuur says the boathouse is not just another piece of real estate for Devon. “At Devon, we view our civic involvement in all of the activities on the river as an opportunity to invest in the long-term growth of our city,” she says. “We really embraced the shared vision that we have the potential to be the world’s premier rowing, canoe and kayaking venue.”
The river also has served the companies as an employee recruiting and retention tool. Devon and Chesapeake each have rowing teams that compete in a corporate league. After a long day, employees can wind down with a trip to the river to participate in rowing for fun or competition.“Our employees have really embraced that new sport,” Schuur says. “It’s great that we can invest in something they’ve embraced.”
Looking ahead, both companies see future investment along the river, but nothing beyond what already has been announced. Even with a finish-line tower, Knopp does not see an ultimate finish line for continued development.
“I don’t know that it will ever be done,” he says.
A love for and a strong loyalty to his hometown and its citizens was the impetus for McClendon when he invested the first dime in the river, and drives him to continue investing in the river and the city’s future. “I just – both personally and corporately – felt like this could put Oklahoma City on the map in a way that it wasn’t otherwise,” he says.
Knopp says it is unprecedented that a city should get the chance to literally get a new river and have the corporate and community interest and support to make it great. That continued support will be essential to its future.“We have a tremendous opportunity as a city to take advantage of that,” he says.
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Originally Posted by TStheThird
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