Growing pains

Chesapeake is one step closer to growing deeper into Nichols Hills.

   It's nice to hear that a business here in Oklahoma is booming, but it's not welcomed news for a lot of people in Nichols Hills.   The giant energy company has already swallowed up several mom-and-pop shops and restaurants.  A peak into the future and soon the infamous Irma's Burgers, a nearby liquor store, gas station and bird feeding shop will all be knocked down for another multi-story complex that will look like the rest of the Chesapeake buildings.

   My assignment today took me to the Nichols Hills city hall.  It seems Chesapeake wants that building also, and is willing to swap it for a nearby church it also owns.

   A good friend of mine works for Chesapeake and he rants and raves about how perfect it is, and I'll agree!  I've had a chance to spend some time in their offices and I've dined in the cafeterias and I always leave there more than impressed.  However, I can't help but to tease my buddy about Chesapeake's non-stop growth and obsession with taking over anything and everything that stands still inside of the Nichols Hills city limits.

   So, is that the plan?  Well...

   Last year I was interviewing a man in his Chesapeake office and we were chatting about the company's constant expanding and I remember looking a huge map on his wall.   It was a street level map of Nichols Hills and Chesapeake's surrounding neighborhoods and several of the neighborhoods were outlined in red.

   I asked the gentlemen I was interviewed what the map was for and why most of the neighborhoods were outlined in red and some in blue.  He proceeded to tell me those were the areas that Chesapeake was interested in one day ‘owning' and then he stopped himself from saying another word.   He realized he was sharing this information with a reporter and he quickly folded the map up and tucked it far, far away from my eyes.

   Welcome to Chesapeake, USA.  Population:  The employees

Rusty Surette News 9