Imagine Durant

PROJECT PURPOSE

The Plaza project is taking our downtown historic theater and restoring it to its former glory. Downtown Durant is positioned to be a massive attraction to the over 3.1 million visitors that visit Durant annually due to Choctaw Casino and Resort. This theater will be a tourism magnet enticing those visitors into our downtown. The theater will host live music concerts, cinema movies, and live productions featuring our local Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival, as well as become a unique event space. The Plaza will be a sales tax generator over and over again helping our community build a more attractive place for those who live, work, and play in Durant as well as adding tax revenue to our great state. We know that placemaking (the process of creating quality places where people want to live, work, play, shop, learn, and visit) is a tool for long-term economic growth. This project does just that for our rural community. An investment in this project will benefit Oklahomans today, and the generations to come. This project is a truly collaborative effort between Bryan County, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, The Massey Family Foundation, City of Durant, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Imagine Durant.

EVIDENCE

Paris Grand Theatre Evaluation by The University of Texas at Arlington CAPPA Department of Public Affairs Public Administration Capstone Fall 2020 https://rc.library.uta.edu/uta-ir/bitstream/handle/10106/29609/Paris%20Grand%20Theatre%20-%20%20Evaluation%20Report.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y The award-winning Granada Theater in Dallas, Texas is the best example we can give as supporting evidence that this project and program model works to attract tourists and create a generous sales tax base. https://www.granadatheater.com/ The Colonial Theater -Phoenixville, Pennsylvania https://thecolonialtheatre.com/ The Colonial Theatre is located in the heart of the downtown Phoenixville, Pennsylvania corridor Please see case studies in uploaded documents

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Many of our small businesses in Bryan County have struggled and have still not recouped from the financial strain put on them by the pandemic. Several have closed down completely due to the lost economic revenue and unable to financially continue to operate. Unfortunately, most of those were our diversified businesses. Creating a tourist draw to capitalize on the 3.1 million visitors we see annually to the Choctaw Casino and Resort will create more patrons to shop and dine in our restaurants resulting in an increase in sales tax revenue and support for our businesses.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

We will know the project has been successful by measuring the number of visitors we see annually to the theater via ticket sales and general revenue collected. As well as measuring the additional revenue from patrons that increase the sales tax revenue and success of our local businesses.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma