Old Financial Gamble Pays Off Big For OKC

A huge financial gamble by Oklahoma City nearly 20 years ago, has paid off more than ten times over, according to former Mayor Ron Norick.<br />

Thursday, June 7th 2012, 10:09 pm

By: News 9


A huge financial gamble by Oklahoma City nearly 20 years ago, has paid off more than ten times over, according to former Mayor Ron Norick. 

Norick was mayor in 1993, when voters agreed on a one-cent sales tax increase. The money raised funded new city projects like the Bricktown Ballpark, the Bricktown canals, and Chesapeake Arena.

Norick says without the arena, OKC had no chance at the NBA, much less landing an NHL franchise. 

"I knew private investment would come if we as a city would do the public investment first, which was $350 million. I thought maybe we could get two or three times that in private investment.  But we really hit a homerun.  We've gotten ten or twelve times that," Norick said.

These days Norick operates a local investment company, and he's still also heavily involved in several volunteer and civic causes.

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