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OKPOP Faces Competition for Prime Downtown Spot

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A proposal made last month would put the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture next to ONEOK Field, but someone else wants to build there, too.

A developer wants to build a nine-story, mixed-use office complex on a 1 acre parcel owned by the Tulsa Development Authority. Oklahoma Historical Society Director Bob Blackburn said if TDA picks the commercial building, it’s not the end of the long-awaited OKPOP.

"Here at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City, we've raised $2.5 million to put together five exhibits to prove that we can do this," Blackburn said. "The question about the site is just one more detail."

Before submitting a proposal for the ballpark-adjacent site, OKPOP was slated for a Bank of Oklahoma parking lot bounded by Archer Street, Cincinnati and Boston avenues, and the railroad tracks.

Developer Michael Smith is pitching the 252,000 square foot office complex named after Buck Colbert, or B.C., Franklin.

"It boils down to highest and best use," Smith said. "We feel like that tract of land works better for some type of commercial activity versus a state-owned building that doesn't generate revenue."

Blackburn said OKPOP is a good fit so close to historic Greenwood because of its diverse collection, but

"We already have the Ernie Fields collection of an African-American big-band leader in Greenwood at the time," Blackburn said. "We have, of course, the Bob Wills collection."

Smith thinks the B.C. Franklin Building is also right for the area.

"This building, this project, will be the catalyst for the rebirth of the original Greenwood business district," Smith said.

TDA met with Smith and Oklahoma Historical Society Director Bob Blackburn this week to discuss the competing proposals and should decide in the next few weeks.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.