After convincing voters in 2016 to raise $15 million for BMX, now city officials are raising another $8 million for the private project.

All except a $1.5 million grant from the Hardesty Foundation will come from government funds.

“The citizens of Tulsa are making a significant investment in this facility…” said Tulsa Mayor G. T. Bynum.

Elected officials say it will take almost $23 million to build a new headquarters for BMX, a new track and a new parking lot. The city will pay for an outdoor arena that could seat up to 3,000 with some sort of roof and a hall of fame center.

Why the 50-plus percent cost overruns?

When voters approved the project in April of 2016, it was planned to be built at Expo Square. USA BMX and officials at Expo Square ended negotiations after a dispute over beverage-pouring agreements. Instead, the city plans to build it downtown at the Evans-Fintube site at 118 N. Lansing Ave. Construction is scheduled to start this fall and finished in 2021.

Building at the Fairgrounds would not have required a new parking lot and it would have been cheaper to build there. The foundational work at the Downtown site added at least $2 million to the cost.

Voters also were promised by city officials and chamber leaders that the project would be done in time to be a candidate to host the BMX Olympic Trials in 2020. It would have to be done this summer or fall to have a shot and now that unlikely.

City officials are now promising as many as six “major events” annually from BMX.

The headquarters at present is in Arizona.

Officials want to acquire money from the University Center at Tulsa at Oklahoma State-Tulsa ($3.6 million); the city Economic Development Infrastructure Fund ($900,000); and the Tulsa Parking Authority ($1.8 million).

For parking, city officials want money from the Tulsa Parking Authority for a surface parking lot with 294 parking spaces. The Tulsa Parking Authority would own the parking lot.

Funding for the public infrastructure and site preparation, which will provide the water, sewer, stormwater and other public utility costs, as well as demolition of the Fintube building, will be provided by the Economic Development Infrastructure Fund for $900,000.

The $3.6 million in tax money from the University Center at Tulsa/OSU-Tulsa to USA BMX will be through a Brown Ordinance process.

Tulsa still intends to relocate the Salvation Army as the land is developed and to keep moving tax money around as the mayor and council sees fit. The Tulsa City Council will hold hearings on this funding reallocation.

“USA BMX has been bringing the sport of BMX Racing to Tulsa for 20 years, and we are incredibly grateful to the Tulsa community for their support in making the vision of our new headquarters a reality,” said USA BMX CEO, B.A. Anderson. “It is time we go to work and bring this Olympic sport and its national audience to the Historic Greenwood District,” said City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper.