Anonymous No. 2, I have to agree with you for the most part when it comes to the building and traffic flow. Blogger Michael Bates used to talk about an arena that would better complement the architectural heritage of downtown Tulsa that would also feature retail, restaurants and other features to human scale on the street-facing parts of the structure. I liked those ideas. Neither of those aspects are satisfied by the current solution, but with the number of people I hear from who are asked by their out-of-town guests to take them to see the BOK Center, the building itself, I have to be consoled somewhat. Plus, it&#39;s shiny. I can dig shiny. And it&#39;s certainly interesting to behold.<br /><br />I&#39;ve been on both sides of whether or not citizens should be taxed to fund entertainment venues. I see both sides. I think I come out somewhere in the middle. I don&#39;t think the free market would have seen a group of private investors step forward and start building the BOK Center. A lot of folks think that if the free market wouldn&#39;t support a project, then it shouldn&#39;t go forward. But I think projects like the BOK Center give some evidence to the notion that government policy can create an environment conducive to economic development, and I think that&#39;s where we are with our tax payer-funded arena. This thing created a $53.7 million economic impact in its first year in a part of town that is so rich with history and so very Tulsa, but couldn&#39;t attract private investment because it doesn&#39;t fit that strip mall, homogenized, suburban model so popular south and far north of town. <br /><br />The BOK Center payed $1 million into government coffers during the first quarter of this fiscal year - compare that to $2.8 million over the course of its entire first fiscal year (per a Tulsa World report). So, that&#39;s good news. Whether or not that money is being used to fund public safety, I don&#39;t know - not exactly my area of expertise. Ed? Michael? If either of you (or someone who knows how the city budget is allocated) know the answer to this, feel free to chime in.<br /><br />I kind of like the idea of taxpayers being paid back if a public investment turns a profit. What would be the cons of that scenario? Where there&#39;s a pro, there&#39;s a con.