Published Jan. 2, 2024
A historic moment for Sapulpa
By David Reed
This is truly a historic moment for our city. Countless hours of work and sweat over the last few years set the stage for a dynamic era of change. Public and private investments in a wide variety of projects are breathing new life into Sapulpa. It’s amazing to see and an honor to be a part of.
Our city just completed the second year of Sapulpa’s Route 66 Christmas Chute, which proved an even greater success than the first. In 2022, all of us were blown away by how the Chute drew the nation’s eyes to our wonderful city, and yet everybody I’ve talked to was impressed by how much bigger and better the second Chute was. I took pride in our firm’s small role in that and look forward to continuing that tradition.
The city also finished phase one of its downtown alley renovation project last year, with phase two almost complete. Many Christmas Chute visitors got to experience and appreciate that, which thrilled us as the project’s manager.
Our team helped many other clients succeed last year. Putnam City West High School finished its campus renovation project on the heels of its new arena. Mark Allen Buick GMC opened its new Collinsville facility and received an ABC of Oklahoma award for its construction. And numerous other client projects advanced toward completion – which spurred growth in our team!
Two 2022 interns, Joshua Helms and Cassidy Teal, joined our staff in 2023. Both had so much fun that summer that they wanted to start their careers here, which made us immensely grateful. We also welcomed Adriana Broaddrick to our interiors team! We had some inside help there, as her husband Bryan has been with us for six years. We’re thankful all three jumped right in to make a positive impact.
Along with these additions, our team added new capabilities. Jun Robinson passed her exams last year to achieve her architect license. Jordan Travis moved to Utah, using our state-of-the-art technologies to continue working with our firm and give our team hands-on experience in that beautiful state. And I now have licenses to do business in 14 states, which reflects how our partner, Master’s Plan Church Design & Construction, grew its business and ministry to churches around the nation.
Still, the biggest thing 2023 held for our team and city was Sapulpa Public Schools’ bond package. Its passage was a fantastic accomplishment for our school district and a huge step forward for our community. As the project architect, I’m grateful for all the hard work and blood, sweat, and tears poured into that bond campaign, from the superintendent to the teachers, the parents, and everybody in between. As a result, our school district will break ground this year on its first new high school in over half a century.
Think about that for a moment. It marks an impressive step forward for our city.
And while that two-year construction project advances, city leaders are working to see others progress in time for national Route 66 centennial celebrations in 2026.
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The city is pursuing funding options for downtown’s Dewey Streetscape plan.
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City leaders are also excited about possible Oklahoma Route 66 Centennial Commission options to preserve Sapulpa’s Bridge #18 at Rock Creek, the oldest surviving trestle bridge on that historic highway, and build a neighboring visitor park.
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The Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum, also a Reed Architecture client, is wrapping up funding for an expansion targeting that centennial.
These are exciting opportunities for our city. I’m so grateful to be part of them and to lead a team committed to seeing these projects succeed. This snowball is rolling down the hill, getting bigger and bigger. We’re hoping that by the time it hits the valley, it will bring one gigantic avalanche of great things for Sapulpa!
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