Construction work is now underway on a new coliseum to replace the Jim Norick Arena at the OKC Fairgrounds. A Feb. 22 groundbreaking ceremony for the coliseum marked the beginning of MAPS 4, Oklahoma City’s latest wave of renaissance projects. The groundbreaking was the culmination of many years’ worth of work by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. Knowing the arena is such a robust economic engine for the region, Chamber staff lobbied for a new facility to be included on the MAPS 4 ballot in December 2019. “With the arena playing such a major role in our economy, and horse shows in particular, we knew we had to do whatever we could to protect that,” said Zac Craig, president of Visit Oklahoma City (formerly called the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau), a division of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. The current arena, which opened in 1965, brings in more than a million visitors a year. Many of those are involved in equine and livestock events, some of which last as long as three weeks. Direct spending from arena visitors is more than $200 million a year. “We have folks that come here [for those events] who literally buy RVs. They buy furniture down the street at Mathis Brothers and other places before they leave and go back home. So, it just shows you how incredible this new coliseum is going to be to our community,” Craig said. Craig said Chamber staff worked with City of Oklahoma City and State Fair officials as they determined design needs for the new facility. “We’re not experts on horse shows, but we know who those experts are. So, we were able to facilitate those connections and get all the necessary people together to make sure this coliseum would be the absolute best it could be,” said Craig. When the project’s price tag, initially estimated at $82 million, increased to $144 million, the Chamber went back to work. Chamber Government Relations & Policy Senior Vice President Mark VanLandingham worked with officials at Oklahoma State Fair Inc. to close the funding FAIRGROUNDS COLISEUM GROUNDBREAKING USHERS IN MAPS 4
gap. One solution was an allocation from the State’s Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity (PREP) fund. VanLandingham and his team helped Oklahoma State Fair Inc. submit the request. Then, the Chamber made multiple presentations to legislators, detailing how a new coliseum could benefit not just Oklahoma City, but rural communities as well. The effort worked. The Oklahoma Legislature awarded the project $20 million in PREP funds. About half of that money will be used to build a 60,000-square- foot connector between the new coliseum and the main barn. It will allow equine and livestock to safely move from their stalls to the show arena. The remaining PREP funds will go toward an educational facility in the coliseum and multiple infrastructure needs. The rest of the deficit will be made up by excess MAPS 3 funds, Oklahoma City’s hotel/motel tax and an allotment from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). “This was really a team effort,” said VanLandingham. “City officials, state officials, Chamber staff, we all worked together to get this across the finish line, and I’m really happy we did. The impact on our community will be tremendous.” The coliseum is designed to accommodate up to 7,000 seats. It will have a lounge, suites, a full-service restaurant and several upscale concession areas. The facility also comes with a sophisticated catwalk system, an attractive feature for those bringing concerts, shows and other types of entertainment to Oklahoma City. The unnamed coliseum is expected to open in the spring of 2025. The Jim Norick Arena will stay open until that time.
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