Tulsa Buried Car Update

[t-town-track-t]

Ok, so I finally had enough and wrote a letter to the editor. AND THEY PUBLISHED IT Thats right, I'll sign autographs later. Anyway, the Urban Tulsa Weekly ran my letter and I thought some of you may be interested in reading what I had to say and found out:

As many of us are aware of, June 15 marks a day for Tulsa that brings a 50 year wait to an end. That’s right they are digging up a 1957 Plymouth that is buried beneath a sidewalk near the old Tulsa County Court House. This event has generated much buzz and excitement not only in the local community, but has also received countless national attention. I personally know of many people planning to drive in from neighboring and distant states to attend this spectacular event. And all of this was planned 50 years ago to be part of our states centennial celebration.
As a native Tulsan, and avid car enthusiast, I myself have been counting down the days on my calendar for nearly a year now. As the event grows nearer, my enthusiasm and excitement has diminished, not as a result of the novelty wearing off, but as a result of the details of the event continues to evolve. As I now understand it, I am going to be forced to purchase a ticket to be able to witness the unveiling of the 50 year old coffin. I was under the impression that the Oklahoma legislature provisioned funds to pay for projects and events for the year long celebration of our wonderful state.
Remember the fireworks that went on in downtown back in November, those funds paid for that event as well. I quickly grew concerned about the funds that the “Tulsarama” people are generating off of this event. I have to admit I have not been able to bring myself to pay the $25 required to purchase a reserved seat to the unveiling of the car. I did some research and discovered directly on the buriedcar.com website that on April 23^rd, 2007 a press release was issued stating that “Mayor Kathy Taylor announced that the City of Tulsa will waive all fees associated with the use of the Maxwell Convention Center for the events involving the buried Belvedere.” Later on the same release adds that “On Thursday, April 19^th, the Tulsa county Budget Board, unanimously passed a measure to aid the Tulsarama events as well, allocating 56,000 for law enforcement and safety involving the events.”
This is where my concerns began to grow greater, so I started making some phone calls. First I called my city councilor, who while quite interested in my concern did not have the answers to my questions readily available. Then I decided to contact the Oklahoma Centennial Commission directly, where my phone calls were never returned. The only person who I was able to get any information from was Paula Hale, the Tulsa Coordinator for the car event. She told me that they were attempting to generate funds for this event through primarily private donations. I asked her about the fact that the Convention Center and police protection had been underwritten by the City, and County. I never received a direct answer from her.
Now I understand that there will be expenses that will be incurred beyond simply having a building and police present. There will be event insurance, excavation fees, and other such expenses that go with any large event. I do however have a hard time believing that there is not a single excavation company in this entire great state of ours that would be willing to donate their services. I also find it hard to believe that enough private donations can not be generated to cover the other costs associated with this event.
Instead I will be left with 2 choices: Pay to park in downtown Tulsa Pay $75 for tickets to get my family seats, and I am sure there will be t-shirts and other novelties available at the event. Or I can simply not attend and wait to see the results of the event in the newspaper.
As a concerned citizen of Tulsa, I think the Oklahoma Centennial Commission has a duty to be financially responsible with the funding of their events and needs to be open with its citizens about where those funds are coming from. In addition I am concerned that I could not get a straight answer, as to where proceeds generated from the event that exceeded the costs would be diverted. I would not have such a hard time stomaching this whole situation if it were being put on by a private source, but this is the state and city governments hosting this event.
I am certain that I am not the only citizen that will share my concerns regarding this whole convoluted event. The city of Tulsa demands Answers.

Signed,

Bentley Wright

[hotrodladycrusr]

Very well written. keep us up to date if you get any answers from the powers that be.

[Mr. Mac]

You think your bummed out, I was there when they buried the car and have been waiting 50 frigin years to see it dug up.Now the greedy bastards with the city is going to make it very costly and diffcult to watch so I might not get to see it done.

[chaddilac]

did anyone ever contact you after this was published... I agree by the way!!

[JimA]

Sad part- they will write off the few dollars and complaints while looking at the huge payday for the people willing to pay. It's a rip-off, but that's politics and government at work.

[36couper]

I would suspect the people who buried the Belevdere 50 years ago could never have expected the excavation of it would create such a dog's breakfast of bureaucracy.

[Gas Huffer]

It seems no one misses a chance to turn a buck. I would have thought that it would be written off as a tourism campaign. Guess I was wrong. Keep up the good fight.

[VirgilHilts]

Wait till they put the car on ebay or BJ. Oh, the Horror!

[Goztrider]

Great Letter! I wonder if they'll be cordoning off the excavation and all to prevent it from being seen. And then, aren't they supposed to "prepare" the car for viewing? WTF? I want to see what it looks like when the crack the case its been inside of for 50 years.

[Slick50]

Didn't we just read a thread that said "Floyd" will be there? Are they paying him?

[arkiehotrods]

Bentley, as someone who grew up in Tulsa and will always appreciate that fact, I have to say "You are the man!" I was planning to travel from Arkansas to Tulsa to witness this thing I heard about growing up, but now I think I'll stay home. A 500 mile round trip with $3 gas, hotel, food, etc is expensive enough without adding in an admission ticket for no other reason than greed.

I gladly pay $20 to go to the Starbird show at Expo Square (although I still call it the IPE Building), but that's 'cause there's 1,000 nice cars to look at. I ain't gonna pay $25 to see one rusted Plymouth!

[blown49]

Try to get us an e-mail addy and the HAMBers will put the hammer down on someone. That might help.....let's see 29,000 e-mails might fill their mailbox!

[t-town-track-t]

I saw the article saying that Boyd was going to be there the day after I sent the letter. I so would have loved to brought that point up as well.

[Bobaloo]

My wife works for a downtown Tulsa company that has ties to the Buried Belvedere event. I work for a company that is in the equipment rental business. We tried to be the one to haul the Belvedere from the site to the Convention Center on our lowboy semi trailer free of charge. They refused instead saying that they would let us do it if we made a $5000 dollar donation to the Buried Belvedere event. They said the 5 grand was for the free advertising that we would get from the event. They've turned this into a total money making fiasco. The last thing I heard was that they are having problems figuring out how the hell they're going to open the vault. I guess it was sealed with something that they weren't thinking about. I really had hoped that it wouldn't turn into what it has. I planned on taking June 15th off to be there but I really am having second thoughts.

[Dreddybear]

I went to the buried car website and it states that the car was buried to show the future what "American industrial ingenuity" was like in 1957. If we buried a Focus (or whatever) with the same intent today our children would laugh at us. If that car was alive it would cry when it saw what became of it's beloved Detroit. I'm only 26, so I don't remember the good old days, but I could imagine.

[Hubnut]

Originally Posted by Goztrider

Great Letter! I wonder if they'll be cordoning off the excavation and all to prevent it from being seen. And then, aren't they supposed to "prepare" the car for viewing? WTF? I want to see what it looks like when the crack the case its been inside of for 50 years.

By "prepare" do you mean after they drain all the water outta that coffin and sweep up whats left? Hahaha.....

I agree with whats being said I honestly do, but I will be in attendance simply bc this is the only time in my lifetime that something like this will take place.

[arkiehotrods]

I went to buriedcar.com

There will be limited viewing of the unearthing of the car for "sponsors, dignitaries, and alumna" of the '57 event.

Tickets for the unveiling, after the car has been dug up and transported to the Convention Center, are $5 upper level, $10 lower lever, $25 floor.

There will also be the Tulsarama Open Car Show outdoors, entry fee is $20

There will be a Tulsarama Invitational Car Show indoors, a "museum quality exhibit" with admission of $5 (kids free).

There will be a Sock Hop that also has a "nominal admission fee."

[thecarfarmer]

What a goat-rope!

Originally Posted by Bobaloo

My wife works for a downtown Tulsa company that has ties to the Buried Belvedere event. I work for a company that is in the equipment rental business. We tried to be the one to haul the Belvedere from the site to the Convention Center on our lowboy semi trailer free of charge. They refused instead saying that they would let us do it if we made a $5000 dollar donation to the Buried Belvedere event. They said the 5 grand was for the free advertising that we would get from the event. They've turned this into a total money making fiasco. The last thing I heard was that they are having problems figuring out how the hell they're going to open the vault. I guess it was sealed with something that they weren't thinking about. I really had hoped that it wouldn't turn into what it has. I planned on taking June 15th off to be there but I really am having second thoughts.

Originally Posted by 36couper

I would suspect the people who buried the Belevdere 50 years ago could never have expected the excavation of it would create such a dog's breakfast of bureaucracy.

Without going on a political rant... it seems that almost every government (state, local, federal) is always looking for any way to 'increase its funding'. Seems to me that it shouldn't cost a hell of a lot to do this.

How much does it cost the city to buy extra insurance or police time when there's a parade? C'mon, the extra money that's going to show up with all the out-of-towners... no reason to gouge anyone. Charge vendors (hot dogs, tee shirts, etc.) a modest fee to set up, and it should cover the costs.

And it seems that there would be all kinds of businesses who'd sign up to help out gratis - and write it off as PR - if they weren't bent over and shtupped for five grand for the privilege.

Hell, the only way I'd agree to pay an entrance fee is if Boyd got stuck sitting in a dunk tank. Oughta' be free.

-bill

[cool57]

Originally Posted by t-town-track-t

I saw the article saying that Boyd was going to be there the day after I sent the letter. I so would have loved to brought that point up as well.

"Yeah, Duane and the guys are gonna slice off the roof, shave the fins fill the backseat, bolt on some one-off bilgett wheels and blackwalls-we're calling it 'The Gravester'....."
Boyd

[SHRUM]

I have allready taken off work also. I am pretty bummed out about not seeing it unearthed. Really could care less about the car show or sock hop. I want to see them open it!


You guys are kidding about BOYD being there right?

Its going to be a circus.