Being a tourist in your hometown
By: J. David Chapman/February 9, 2017
The University of Central Oklahoma Department of Finance is preparing to sign a partnership with Coventry University in the United Kingdom. In preparation for this historic event, I had the pleasure of hosting several of their administrators, professors and researchers.
Without exception, they had never visited our city or state. There isn’t much I enjoy more than showing off our city, telling our unique story, and yes, it always relates back to the built environment in which I work.
The tour always starts in the quaint downtown where I live, work, and play – Edmond; followed by a tour of the oldest higher education institution in the state, UCO, and our recently reopened iconic building Old North.
We were fortunate that the Thunder were in town and, after a quick tour of Edmond, we headed to Oklahoma City for an early dinner at my favorite restaurant, the Deep Deuce Grill, and caught the Friday night game.
Saturday’s tour started off at Lake Hefner, one of the nation’s premier sailing lakes and a great example of utilizing the city’s water reservoir as an entertainment and recreation venue. Our tour continued on to the Riversport Adventures and the Boathouse District on the Oklahoma River, sporting our nation’s only lighted flat-water rowing course and one of our nation’s largest whitewater rafting venues.
Then a quick drive through Midtown to witness the renaissance taking place, Deep Deuce accounting for the African-American history in the area, Automobile Alley’s unique narrative, and paying homage to the motion-picture industry and recent revival of the Film Row district.
Before leaving downtown, our British friends learned about the founding of Oklahoma at the Centennial Land Run Monument and a had a brief walk along the Bricktown Canal. Our tour of the Downtown Business District presented the opportunity to tell the impressive story of MAPS, the significance of the Devon Energy Center tax increment financing that funded new streets, infrastructure, and parks, and the tragedy of the Murrah Building bombing.
To further illustrate the diversity of our community, we ended our tour “knocking the frost off a pint” in a local pub in the Plaza District. Sharing our “Okie” story never gets old, makes me proud, and I hope I never take my home for granted.
J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).