CATOOSA, Okla. — First responders in Catoosa are getting a major upgrade when it comes to their facilities and progress to break ground is on the horizon, thanks to a bond passed by voters to improve public safety.
About 15 miles east of Tulsa sits the City of Catoosa— home of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and the iconic Blue Whale along Route 66, the city is making a name for itself with attractions and bustling businesses.
“People here in the community are dedicated to the city of Catoosa and I believe they want to stay here in Catoosa, they shop here in Catoosa,” John Blish, Catoosa City Manager, said.
Dedication is the word he uses to describe all that live there and have lived there for decades. But, with a city now bursting at the seams, City officials wanted to showcase their own dedication by taking a long hard look at what could better serve a growing population.
“It’s always infrastructure, water, sewer, amenities like that,” Blish said. “But we also have to be concerned with public safety.”
A visit to the current fire station is an endearing one. Its sign reads 'Few Serving Many.'
It’s a mantra that holds true but could use an upgrade. Just across the way is the police station, housed in a building that’s stood the test of time.
“The police department currently sits in a building that was a grocery story,” Blish said.
Around since the 1950s, the City decided a few years ago to plan for new public safety facilities.
“One of the issues we have as to where the police and fire and located right now, is we are right here next to the railroad tracks,” Blish said.
Those trains sometimes block the track, making it difficult for first responders to get around, especially in an emergency when every second counts. It’s just one the many reasons the city decided to issue a 20.5-million-dollar bond, the first since the late 50s and it passed.
The new public safety facility will be centrally located in Catoosa at the northwest corner of 193rd East Place and Pine Street on a plot of land purchased by the City from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation four years ago.
The new facility will provide quicker response times and allow the fire department to be housed in one building. It will also create more space for the police department to conduct interviews, store evidence, and eventually open a 911 dispatch center open 24/7 to better serve a community that thrives on the term “hometown.”
“It’s one of those things that every community wants,” Blish said. “They want the people that grew up here, that have, at least what they would consider, a belonging here, to want to stay here, work here and raise their family here, go to school here.”
Blish said they expect to break ground on the new facility in January.
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