OKMULGEE, Okla. – Heading north on Highway 75 lies road construction projects that run through the Capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation: Okmulgee. Large industrial trucks and cranes can currently be seen operating directly west of the tribal complex. Although it can be hard to tell what the final product will look like now, this is all part of the tribe’s three-phase master plan to make improvements to the complex.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tribal Transportation Federal Roads Manager David Ford said construction should be completed soon. While construction can cause delays for motorists now, it will not be that way forever.
“We should be off the road and out of everybody’s hair by mid or the end of November,” Ford said.
The plan was designed by FSB Architects and Engineers. The firm’s website contains renderings that show how the landscape of the complex will change once the master plan is finished. The finished product will not only benefit the tribe, but the city it resides in as well. According to the FSB Architects and Engineers website,
“The Tribal Master Plan is intended to establish the best way forward for the long-term development of tribal properties and to assist with long-term capital improvement planning, while also focusing on addressing current and future space needs and developing Okmulgee as a tourist destination through the planning of numerous exciting outwardly focused facilities and activities.”
The ten-year plan includes a new grand entry directly off of Highway 75. A new main annex building will be constructed. It will include parking lot additions and reconstructions, which will ultimately upgrade the tribal complex.
The roadway project is the first step of the grand entrance that will undergo the new construction phases. Although it does not look like much now, the final result will provide easier access to the complex from the highway.
“It looks like we are just digging the ground up and putting boxes in there,” Ford said.
The boxes however, are actually a part of a two million dollar drainage system that will properly dispose of water runoff.
The project will beautify the road site by placing in a new drainage system, as well as adding in landscape and vegetation.
“This will fix the exposed lines along the road from being washed out and make it more appealing to the eye,” Ford said.
Ford understands the project is directly affecting traffic, but assures highways drivers, tribal and non-tribal that there will be a significant benefit to the community as a whole once construction is completed.
To learn more about the MCN’s Master Plan, and to see renderings of the completed project, visit: fsb-ae.com.
