Friday, October 28, 2005

A Tale of Two Tulsa World Quotes

A short take from today's Tulsa World. I'll let you make your own determination as to what they mean.

First, P.J. (the Cheerleader) Lassek's story on the arena naming rights, she has this quote from Bank of Oklahoma CEO Stan Lybarger [emphasis added by me]:

Lybarger said the BOK Center "will attract high-quality entertainment, sporting events and convention business, and serve as a source of pride for our entire community."

"It will clearly enhance the quality of life and the economic well-being of the community. These investments will also make Tulsa a better place to live and work for all the citizens and community," he said.
Second, Robert Evatt covered the Tulsa Trends meeting held by the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties Tulsa Chapter. The keynote speaker was futurist David Pearce Snyder, who offered the following quote that was buried deeply in the story:

Though he didn't mention Tulsa's project specifically, Snyder expressed skepticism at the overall economic impact of arenas.

"The idea of using an arena or convention center as a key element of revitalization is worthless, worthless, worthless," he said.
Tulsa bought a $125 million dollar arena when they voted to support project package #3 in the Vision 2025 initiative. Given apparent cost over-runs and questionable deals coming out of the Mayor's office, how much more are you willing to pay for something that experst say could be "worthless, worthless, worthless?"

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