Tulsa’s historic Evans-Fintube site sits on the edge of the Historic Greenwood District as well at the center of the city’s revitalization effort. City officials say repurposing the site is a priority. The overhaul is a matter of when and where, they said.
However, the city removed the 22-acre vacant and dilapidated Evans-Fintube site, located just east of the corner of Greenwood and Archer Streets, from its Downtown Development master plan last month.
Erran Persley, the city’s chief economic development officer, told the Tulsa Flyer that some say “at this point, it is all talk” on where things will go with the site. But overall, he added, there is an intent to take more active steps toward redevelopment.
The city’s plan is to create a new taxing district, referred to as a tax increment financing district (TIF), that would include the Evans-Fintube site in a broader Greenwood or north Tulsa revitalization plan, Persley said.
“We have not had discussions of what it is going to look like or how far it is going to go at this point, the first move is just removing it (from the downtown master plan) so we can start the process for that new TIF for north Tulsa,” he said.
$68 million plans, canceled
The Evans-Fintube site was once home to an Oklahoma Iron Works manufacturing building. Now, it is plastered with graffiti and trees sprawl through its windows.
A previous $68 million plan was proposed to develop the site into a major city attraction of entertainment, retail and business office space. That plan was designed to honor the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. It collapsed in 2023 during former Mayor G.T. Bynum’s administration.
Bynum’s administration said it would revisit new plans for the site. But that never happened.
Now, eyes have turned toward Mayor Monroe Nichols’ administration and what could become of the building. Persley says changes are a high priority for the mayor.
“When we think of Evans-Fintube and Kirkpatrick Heights, we think about how both of those flow and work together for the development of north Tulsa, the betterment of north Tulsa,” Persley said.
“This one has a lot more deeper roots and emotion around it of course,” he added. “The challenge is always how do we make sure we do it right and how we have the community involved in the process and we are all moving in the same direction to make things happen.”
Franchell Abdalla, a project developer and architect who worked on the initial project, said she can’t think of anything more important for Nichols’ administration to resurface. She led Team Alchemy, which was tapped by PartnerTulsa to develop the site during the Bynum administration.
In Abdalla’s view, the site has a broader importance to Oklahoma history. She is still passionate about the prospects for turning Evans-Fintube into what it was planned to be.
The City of Tulsa, along with PartnerTulsa, worked to establish a “community-driven process” with Team Alchemy and other partners for project planning. But investors JE Dunn Capital Partners and Greyson Capital withdrew from the project in January 2023, according to Cheena Pazzo, a spokesperson for PartnerTulsa.
Abdalla then had 120 days to secure a new co-developer for $40 million or more, but that goal was never met after the city followed up with an extension. The plan effectively died.
“On the economic development side, (Nichols) has not addressed that building. Part of the largest economic engine in your city is Greenwood — full stop,” Abdalla said.
Community engagement on the horizon
Now the City of Tulsa says it wants to reopen community engagement conversations about the site.
A community meeting in June 2023 featured attendees shouting and expressing their discontent with the decision to drop support for Team Alchemy. Hundreds of people filled the Greenwood Cultural Center, which lies across a plain of grass from the site.
Princetta Newman, a lifelong resident of and advocate for north Tulsa, remembers that meeting. The Evans-Fintube site is a part of a long history to her, but it has become a lingering example of the Greenwood community being neglected.
She wants the city to make it a priority again.
“It would definitely be a feather in their cap if they said ‘OK, we are going to do this.’ Even if there was a study done to see what is needed, what is possible, what is feasible. And then pursue it. It would be fantastic — nothing short of that,” Newman said.
District 1 City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, who has served on council since 2016, told the Flyer the prior administration did not follow through on promises to revitalize the site. She believes Nichols has a chance to complete the past mission.
Residents in the Greenwood District feel strongly about the plan being put on hold. They are aware of the significance of the former industrial site and what it would mean to the city’s broader effort in investing in Greenwood.
The site still continues to sit in the vanishing point behind the historic Vernon AME Church —- symbolizing to many residents what could have been. It is never too late for action, Hall-Harper said.
“I’d like to see (Nichols) make this a priority and get something done. It has been sitting for decades and the community is disappointed by how it has been handled by the previous administration. I hope this administration moves forward with community support,” Hall-Harper said.
“The community has said what they want time and time again — and we know that,” she added. “We don’t have to waste any more time.”
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