CHICKASHA – The impact of one word was demonstrated during the latest City Council meeting.
A lengthy debate ensued during consideration of whether to apply for a grant “for the Old Town Railroad Pedestrian Bridge project.”
The $750,000 grant would be derived from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and would be administered by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Chickasha would be required to provide matching funds of 20%, or $150,000.
May 31 is the deadline for submitting an application for the grant, the council was told. If the application is not submitted by that date, it will be 2026 before ODOT’s grant cycle “comes around again,” the council was advised.
Chet Hitt, a 1982 Anadarko high school graduate who lives in Apple Valley, California, told the City Council in December 2022 that he might invest up to $5 million in various development projects in Chickasha. During his early discussions with local residents, he learned that the subject of a bridge over the railroad tracks to connect the Grady County Fairgrounds with Old Town Chickasha “has been talked about for 18 years.”
During a March 27, 2023, ‘pep rally’ in the restored Rock Island Railroad depot that attracted a host of local residents and several municipal and state officials, Hitt unveiled his concept for the pedestrian bridge and a companion Drover Hotel of perhaps 50 to 75 rooms “with complete culinary classrooms and hospitality training.”
Hitt also took it upon himself to prepare a video of a red iron structural steel pedestrian bridge extending approximately 125 feet over the tracks. The structure would cost approximately $7 million to $10 million, “ballpark figure if I had to guess,” he told the City Council.
He said he spent $25,000 from his own pocket for graphics artists and architects to design a rendering of the proposed railroad bridge, to produce an accompanying video, and to prepare a full-color 31-page booklet that lays out plans for Chickasha envisioned by various city leaders and Hitt.
Hitt said he developed the presentation for the City Council and for Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell after meeting with Community Development Director Rachel Bernish, engineers from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Andy Maher, executive director of the Grady County Fairgrounds and Event Center, and the Fair Board.
Fairgrounds hosts hundreds of events The Chickasha fairgrounds sprawls across approximately 65 acres and is the third largest in the state, surpassed only by Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Its facilities include three indoor equestrian arenas, an outdoor arena, two stall barns, a meeting room, an exhibit hall, and classrooms.
The Grady County Fairgrounds received a facelift in 2000. Since the renovation, the fairgrounds has evolved into a multipurpose event center and a tourism destination point. The fairgrounds logged an estimated 115,000 visitors last year, the council was told and Maher confirmed for Southwest Ledger.
“Over the past two or three years we’ve averaged 325 to 350 events each year,” attracting literally thousands of out-of-towners to Chickasha, Maher told the Ledger in April 2023.
The facility hosts myriad events, including rodeos, performance horse shows, dog shows, concerts, roping events, barrel racing, cutting horse and team penning events, livestock shows, numerous local and statewide educational events, sports activities, and the largest antique car swap meet in the nation. The fairgrounds will host a national alpaca show in 2025, Maher said.
“We focus on family and corporate events as well as livestock shows,” he said.
The “convenience and charm” of the pedestrian bridge would “significantly enhance the quality of stay for our visitors,” Maher wrote in a May 20 letter to the City Council in support of the grant application.
The Grady County Fairgrounds hosts an event almost every day of the year, and more hotel rooms are needed to keep visitors, contestants and their families in Chickasha.
For example, the proposed hotel would have been busy in mid-May, when Chickasha’s University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma hosted four teams from Kansas, Nebraska and Louisiana for three days in the opening round of the NAIA softball tournament.
Hospitality program, culinary institute Another of Hitt’s ideas was a hospitality program and culinary institute operated at the proposed Drover Hotel under the auspices of USAO. Dr. Kayla Hale, the institution’s new president, embraces that idea, particularly since she is “rebuilding business programs” at the school, she said.
One of her goals is to “meet the growing job base here” by “keeping human capital in jobs that are well-compensated,” she told the City Council. The hospitality industry “encompasses a lot,” she noted.
Hitt said that research he conducted prior to investing in Chickasha indicated the town attracted 74,000 visitors in 2021, but by 2023 that number had almost quadrupled to 260,000 – in large part because of the iconic $1.4 million, 50-foot-tall “leg lamp” statue erected downtown in November 2022.
“The growth is here,” Hitt said. “Our goal is to do everything we can to increase tourism and generate as much revenue as we can.” The railroad pedestrian bridge would quickly become a tourist attraction, he believes.
The proposed bridge to connect the fairgrounds to downtown “is not a Chet Hitt project,” he insisted. “This is a city project.”
Two engineering consultants from the Oklahoma City regional office of Halff said they focus on public works and transportation projects. In fact, they helped Chickasha submit its application for the grant to finance a new concrete path at Shannon Springs Park. Furthermore, “We have identified 13 other grants that Chickasha could apply for in the future,” they said.
Phase 1 of the proposed railroad pedestrian bridge would be a two-year design project, they said. If it advanced to construction, that would be performed in two phases, they indicated.
Assurance limited Trouble arose when the council was asked to consider “a resolution declaring the eligibility of the City of Chickasha to submit an application” to ODOT “for use of transportation alternatives program funds set forth by the IIJA” for the Old Town Railroad Pedestrian Bridge project.
Newly elected Councilman Charlie Burruss expressed concern about the term “assures” that appeared in three sections of the resolution.
• The City of Chickasha “assures” ODOT that “sufficient funding” for the railroad bridge project is available.
• The city “assures” ODOT that “sufficient funding” for operation and maintenance of the railroad bridge project “will be available for the life of the project.”
• The city “assures” the Transportation Department that the City of Chickasha “will have title or permanent easement” to the railroad pedestrian bridge project “by the time of project letting, if necessary.”
Mayor Zach Grayson said the $150,000 in local matching funds is available from reserves that accumulated in a now-expired sales tax. “This won’t drain that account,” and the expenditure “doesn’t touch the General Fund,” he said.
“Tonight we’re asking for funds only for the engineering phase,” said newly elected Councilwoman Erica Alexander. The railroad bridge project “has the ability to greatly attract tourists and generate sales tax,” she added.
Mark Trammell, president of Sea Breeze Pools and a lifetime Chickasha resident, urged the council to support the project, as it would be “something you see nowhere else in Oklahoma.”
In an effort allay Burruss’ concerns, the council agreed to add a qualifying phrase in two sections of the resolution, stipulating that Phase 1 funding is strictly for engineering on the proposed project.
The council split 6-2-1 in support of the grant application. Voting “yes” were Mayor Grayson and Councilors Georgianne Hebblethwaite, John P. Smith, Oscar Nelson, Kea Ginn and Erica Alexander. Councilmen Kelly Boyd and Charlie Burruss voted “no” and Councilman Brian Gerdes abstained.