By Jamie Carrick

Staff writer

Last year was a busy year for the city of Durant, and this year looks to be no different. Although the recession has finally hit home, the city is still booming with construction projects.

From a new airport terminal and library to potential new businesses coming to town, Durant officials are optimistic for the new year.

Tommy Kramer, executive director of the Durant Industrial Authority, said the biggest projects of 2009 were the Choctaw Nation’s new resort and casino, Sports City Café and a new Durant Emergency Response Complex.

The first project, the resort and casino off Highway 69/75, is currently ongoing. Edye Tomasello, director of marketing at Choctaw Casinos, said the Durant complex has an estimated price tag of $300 million.

Tomasello said construction has not stalled due to the recent cold and icy weather, and a grand opening ceremony is set for 6 p.m. Feb. 9. The project will have taken 22 months by that time.

According to a July Democrat article, the resort hotel will be 12 stories tall, and the hotel and casino floor will total 500,000 square feet. The building will have 330 total rooms and the casino will have 3,100 gambling machines. The facility will include a number of resorts and lounges.

Kramer said the city partnered with the Choctaw Nation on the hotel and casino project, aiding the organization with such items as water lines and waste water treatment.

The next project, Sports City Café, on South Ninth Avenue, opened for business last year. Kramer said the Dallas-based company is the largest single restaurant investment — ranging in the multi-millions — in the Durant community. More than 50 employees work at the sports restaurant.

“It’s exciting to have a restaurant with a different sports venue,” Kramer said, adding that the business has nearly 100 flat screen TVs for its patrons to enjoy.

The emergency management south substation, which is fully staffed and operational, was another partnership between Durant and the Choctaw Nation.

Judy Allen with Choctaw Nation Public Relations said the Nation contributed approximately $1.9 million and three acres of land for the new station, which is located on Enterprise Boulevard near REI, Big Lots and the Choctaw Casino and Resort.

Kramer said the city supplied equipment, furniture and manpower for the Durant Emergency Response Complex.

That station has four bays for fire trucks, a Hazmat truck and an ambulance, according to a press release. The complex opened for service in April.

A new police detective’s office on North First Avenue was also completed last year. It cost the city $280,000, Kramer said.

The tribe owns the facility, and the city staff maintains it, according to the press release.

Other projects that were completed in 2009 include the expansion of Bobrick/GAMCO, which manufactures commodity bathroom accessories.

The company, based in North Hollywood, Calif., is “probably the largest” business of its type in the U.S., Kramer said. GAMCO has been in Durant for at least 20 years and is currently owned by Bobrick.

Hardy Farms Livestock Feed Company also expanded their building.

The city worked with the company to build a concrete and asphalt industrial access road for the business. The city and street department completed the project in approximately four months, Kramer said.

Eagle Suspensions on Arkansas Road also expanded their building and made a significant equipment investment, Kramer said.

The Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma also completed an expansion of its facility.

The project, which cost about $12 million, added 12,000 square feet, 20 beds, a new surgical suite with an endoscopy room, a new surgery waiting area and a renovated parking lot to MCSO.

The city also has several projects that are continuing through to this year.

The main central fire station, located at First and Evergreen, is in the finishing stages. However, the project has experienced delays because of the weather. The fire department hopes to complete the approximately $2.1 million station in February.

Utilities are currently being relocated for the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation library and community center on Main Street. However, the costs for this fee will be reimbursed by the foundation, Kramer said.

The Reynolds Foundation awarded the city a $7,982,870 grant to construct the building, which will have a total of 28,000 square feet.

The city is currently talking to an architect about designing a new law enforcement center next to the old Oklahoma Highway Patrol station, City Manager James Dunegan said.

Kramer said the site for the building has been purchased.

Construction on the new high school is currently ongoing. Kramer said Thursday that crews were drilling piers right now.

The new high school, which will be located on Gerlach Drive, is being funded by a sales tax increase of five-eighths of one percent for the next 25 years. The new tax went into effect July 1, 2008.

The school board approved a contract in November with Steele & Freeman, Inc., in the amount of $35 million for the construction of the new Durant High School.

Claycomb & Associates are architects on the project. The new school should be ready by fall 2011.

The airport is also experiencing changes in the new year.

Construction for a new approximately 8,000-square-foot terminal building at Eaker Field could start in the first quarter of this year.

Kramer said the city is preparing to demolish the old building because the new one will be placed on the location.

The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission approved the city’s grant request for the project in the amount of $275,000.

In other airport project, the Federal Aviation Administration is partnering with the city to construct a parallel taxiway at Eaker Field. This will include drainage improvements and installing the proper lighting, Kramer said.

The project should be complete by the first half of the year; however, construction is dependent on weather conditions, he said.

Kramer said that the city has also gained the interest of several businesses looking to possibly place offices in Durant, including three large industrial companies.

Three executive officers of one industrial plant recently visited Durant for the third time, staying in town four days, Kramer said. The company intends to put a plant, and Durant is one of the final two or three cities being considered for the plant.

The city is also very close in possibly getting a sizeable community project, which Kramer hopes to close in the next month or so. Officials from the company visited Durant Wednesday.

“It’s remarkable how we are starting 2010 with new construction,” Kramer said.

Durant is not totally insulated from the financial recession hitting all over America, Kramer said, but he is excited about all of the construction, interest and activity in the city.