B.A. Becoming State’s 3rd Largest City
By DAVID L. JONES
Contributing Writer
LOOKING AHEAD: Broken Arrow Mayor Richard Carter surveys the growth in the area where the Bass Pro Shop has been built. Broken Arrow is growing quickly and will soon become the state’s third largest city.
Everywhere Richard Carter looks around he sees signs of growth, which pleases him mightily because he’s mayor of Broken Arrow.
“We have the Pro Bass Shop opened,” he enthuses, “we have the Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow campus almost completed, and we have the 2025 projects nearing their fulfillment. We will, by 2010, be the third largest city in Oklahoma ranking behind only Oklahoma City and Tulsa.”Actually, he says, Broken Arrow might be the third largest city now but, “Norman considers all the University of Oklahoma students as citizens and Lawton counts its military personnel. I think all those people should be considered transitory and not permanent.”
Be that as it may, Carter predicts that what only 35 years ago was a sleepy little town of just over 11,000 will, by the next census, pass 120,000. “Just look at how we’re growing,” he says. “At last count we had 706 new housing permits issued for Broken Arrow so far this year. That’s more than Tulsa.
“Last year we added 1,322 houses. We are adding about 2,500 in population each year. And we’re giving the people all kinds of reasons to move to Broken Arrow.
“We have a new conference and convention center that seats 1,700. That was built by the public schools at no rise in the housing tax rates.
“Northeastern State University-Broken Arrow has used $26 million from Vision 2025 to add a science building, a classroom building and a library as well as expand its parking facilities. The capacity used to be about 3,000 students and we had an enrolment of roughly 2,700. Part of the problem was that we had parking facilities for only a little over 700 cars.
“Now we’ll have a capacity of 8,000 students. Between Tulsa Community College and NSU-BA, a person will be able to go from being a freshman in college to getting a master’s degree.”
Carter also hails the widening from two to five lanes of East 61st Street. “It should be finished by spring, and it will open up avenues to all kinds of commercial development from plants to restaurants that couldn’t operate in such a squeezed-in environment. We have also seen development just east of 71st Street and Garnett Ave. where Tulsa ends and Broken Arrow begins. That north-south corridor used to be a barrier to new businesses but we have leap-frogged the boundary quite nicely with some new shops and eating establishments.”
Carter also sees enormous improvement in the quality of life as exemplified in Nienhuis Park. “The Nienhuis family sold us the land at one-half its market value and we are putting in a championship swimming pool and gymnasium. It should be ready in time for the swimming season next year.
“And finally, we have some $3.9 million of Vision 2025 money, 90 percent of which is going toward the restoration of downtown Broken Arrow, on Main Street (located midway between Elm and Lynn Lane) and the rest of which is allocated for neighborhood improvements.
“We want to bring back the rich historical heritage of Broken Arrow and attract business and entertainment centers to the middle of what was once a flourishing farming community.”
That one-time isolated farming village is now a roaring, going city on the rise.
It couldn’t make Richard Carter happier.
Updated 10-31-2006
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