101st and Elm Revitalization Plan Taking Shape

By BOB LEWIS
Contributing Editor

The City of Broken Arrow is turning up the heat to rekindle what at one time was the community’s hottest retail business location and make the southern portion of the metropolitan area more attractive for residents and new businesses.
The area around 101st Street and South Elm Place still has a number of operating stores and restaurants, but it has taken a back seat to robust growth being experienced in the northern portion of the market.
Following a pattern set with revitalization of the ultra-successful downtown Rose District, city officials employed the Catalyst Commercial consulting firm to wipe the slate clean and look at the area not for what it is, but what it could be. After two years of study and solicitation of public input, their ideas were laid out for concerned citizens on June 13 in what was described as the next to last public presentation before a final plan is submitted to the City Council for review and adoption.
The 101st and Elm Place intersection has been struggling for some time. The first sign of trouble came when K-Mart closed its store. That location was taken over by Old Time Pottery which later relocated. It is now a Harbor Freight Tools outlet and a new Kum & Go has been added immediately in front of it. That bit of positive news, however, was swamped by the closure of Drug Warehouse, Ace Hardware, the city’s first Applebee’s restaurant, Hobby Lobby and a Reasor’s Food Market.
That negative scenario is about to change even before a development plan is put into place. The day after the public meeting a chain-link fence went up in front of the Hobby Lobby location and personnel from Red Dog Contractors were seen inside the building. When their work is completed, the site will operate as Home Church.
At the community forum, a slide presentation dubbed the “Art of the Possible” showed a number of suggested ways to make this intersection more vibrant.
The list is both long and dynamic. It includes the addition of townhouses, condos and multi-family housing, parks and plazas and extensive streetscaping to enhance visual appeal and make it more pedestrian friendly.
It calls for construction of buildings up to five stories in size to house a mix of operations, including medical and dental offices, bookstores, coffee shops, general merchandise and clothing stores, furniture stores and institutional assembly and education outlets. The addition of a grocery store is also on the table.
To help get the ball rolling, the city has already widened streets and increased the area’s sewer system.
To answer those who might consider the proposal a bit “pie in the sky,” economic data was presented to show the region’s healthy spending patterns and confirm its ability to economically support all the ideas being put forth.
Once given the green light, the process of putting individual elements into place can begin. The consultants estimated it would take upwards of three years to get phase one completed.
Those wishing to comment should contact Farhad Daroga, Special Projects Manager, at [email protected].