Taylor among ballpark donors
BY P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
Friday, July 11, 2008
6/30/09 at 3:46 PM
Read the city of Tulsa’s
response to the questions
submitted by City Councilor
Bill Martinson about the downtown
ballpark proposal.
tulsaworld.com/cityresponse
The mayor, her husband and at least 23 others have reportedly pledged $30 million to the project.
Mayor Kathy Taylor and her husband, Bill Lobeck, are among the private donors to the proposed $60 million ballpark through their Lobeck Taylor Foundation.
The foundation is one of 23 donors listed in one of the responses to 30 questions submitted by City Councilor Bill Martinson about ballpark details and financing.
Taylor told the City Council earlier this week that 27 donors have committed to $30 million in private funds for the ballpark project that includes a multipurpose stadium to house the Tulsa Drillers, the city's Double A baseball team.
The proposed $60 million ballpark will be owned by a public trust in which five of the seven board members will be donors who gave more than $2 million to the project.
The other two members will be the mayor and a downtown property owner appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council.
The mayor, however, may remove the property owner with a successor to be approved by council.
The donors on the trust board will have 12-year terms. Donors will nominate successors, who will be subject to council approval.
The trust will be formed under state law and be subject to Oklahoma Open Meeting laws. The city will be its sole beneficiary.
The response to the question about donors notes that some asked to remain anonymous, and omits specific donation amounts, stating that they range from $100,000 to more than $7.5 million
The other donors include George Kaiser Family Foundation, Warren Foundation, SemGroup, Bank of Oklahoma, Williams Cos., Helmerich & Payne, Ruth Nelson-Herman Kaiser Foundation, Cox Communication, H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Charitable Trust, Nadel & Gussman, Samson Energy, Oneok, Zink Foundation, Anchor Stone, Ameristar, Case & Associates, Arvest, Tulsa World-Lorton Family, Joe Craft Family, Michael Graves and Omni Air.
Manhattan Construction Co. is a $1 million donor, and has been picked through a bidding process to build the stadium, one answer states.
The baseball team and city are in contract negotiations, but Drillers owner Chuck Lamson said he's committed to a 30-year lease, regardless of who owns the team.
If a sale of the team occurs, any future owner will be obligated to play all Drillers home games through the end of the lease term, according to an answer about the Drillers' commitment.
The answer to a question about parking states that the advantages of the Greenwood-Brady site is that no additional public parking will be required.
The 1,000-space parking garage of One Technology Center a few blocks away will be available for evening and weekend games.
P.J. Lassek 581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
DONOR
Mayor Kathy Taylor: She would be one of seven board members for a public trust to oversee the proposed $60 million ballpark.
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