LAWTON — Lawton Mayor Stan Booker touted the city’s recent accomplishments Tuesday and gave the audience a preview of what lies ahead.
Booker delivered the State of the City Address during the Lawton City Council’s regular meeting at City Hall. The address touched on a variety of topics, including the city’s efforts to recruit defense contractors, upgrade streets and improve public safety.
The city created the FISTA (Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator) Authority in August 2020 to help recruit defense contractors and high-tech industries to the area. The goal is to attract companies that can work with the U.S. Army’s Cross-Functional Teams at Fort Sill, which focus on long-range precision fires and air and missile defense.
Those companies will have offices in Central Mall’s Business Integration Center until the new FISTA Innovation Park, located in the spaces that the Sears and Dillard’s stores once occupied, is ready for tenants.
The city’s efforts to attract new businesses are already paying off, Booker said.
“Four companies are represented at FISTA at this time, and a large integration effort – high-tech engineering – is also in the works,” he said.
Booker said FISTA is a magnet for high-tech jobs, but it also demands and supports science, technology, engineering and math education in Lawton.
“It puts Lawton/Fort Sill on the state map,” he said, adding that the Oklahoma Defense Industry Association has applauded Lawton-Fort Sill for focusing on STEM education. “We have not always received such praise.”
Booker said companies housed at the FISTA Innovation Park will help keep America strong through their work with the Cross-Functional Teams at Fort Sill.
Street projects
But FISTA wasn’t the only topic on Booker’s mind. He also mentioned various street upgrades, some of which are already underway.
Booker said the city has more active street projects – as well as upgrades that are still in the planning stages – this year than at any time in the city’s history.
“We have 12 residential street projects ongoing and 16 more that are in engineering for the upcoming year,” he said. “The Lee Boulevard project is moving forward, and we’re looking forward to getting construction started.”
Booker said the city is also repairing several intersections and roads across town.
Public safety
Turning to public safety, Booker talked about the city’s new Public Safety Facility at 100 S. Railroad St., which houses the Lawton Police Department, Fire Station 1, the city jail and municipal court. The project cost about $34 million, which was financed by proceeds from a voter-approved sales tax extension.
“That is something we can all be proud of,” Booker said.
The mayor said the city has taken other steps to improve public safety, such as raising Lawton police officers’ starting pay to slightly more than $50,000 a year. He said their starting pay is now higher than the pay for Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers.
“We are investing in our police department,” Booker said. “There’s no better way to demonstrate our respect for law enforcement. This historic change is well-deserved and will enable us to keep and compete for the very best police officers.”