The owner of the Tulsa Oilers wants to bring a premiere skate center to Tulsa, and he is looking at developing the former site of the Macy’s department store in the Promenade Mall.
The owner of the Tulsa Oilers, Andy Scurto said he has entered into a contract to purchase the building that would be used as a practice facility and skate center.
However, he is still awaiting the results of an engineering feasibility study to determine if he can put two ice rinks inside the structure.
“I’m going to do it,” said Andy Scurto, the owner of the Tulsa Oilers. “It’s a project I want to do, it’s just a matter of where and the right location and this came up and it just seems like a perfect location.”
The lighting and parking are already in place. If he’s granted a zoning exception, and the feasibility study checks out, Scurto will be able to move forward with the project that will bring offices and two skating rinks to the location, eliminating the need to split practice time between the BOK center and the Oilers Skate Center.
It would also include a sports bar and a snack shop and allow members of the general public a venue to come and skate.
“I want it to be premiere skate center, a place where people come out to have fun,” said Scurto. “We’ll be doing public skates with the music and the mirror balls and all that kind of fun stuff.
In addition to creating a fun event center for the city, Scurto wants to grow Tulsa’s youth hockey offerings.
Tulsa Junior Oilers coach Ian Keserich said he’s excited about the prospect of getting more ice rinks.
“To have extra ice in the area,” he said, “and to get the hype is going to be pretty amazing for youth hockey in Tulsa.”
Keserich said to play hockey nowadays kids start skating around four or five years old, so getting started early is key.
Scurto expects to know a lot more in the next 30-to-45 days after the public hearing at Tulsa City Hill for the special exception.
He also expects to have the results of the feasibility study back by then.
If the location is a good fit, Scurto said he would ideally like to have the practice facility ready for the 2023-2024 season.