Hospitality District

Damages from 1999 Tornado

On May 3, 1999, Midwest City and other parts of Oklahoma experienced the tremendous damage associated with an F-5 tornado. In a few short moments, three lives were lost along with 546 residential units and 25 commercial businesses completely destroyed or substantially damaged. Especially hard hit was Midwest City’s hospitality district located at I-40 and Sooner Road where three hotels and several restaurants were completely destroyed. Immediately north of the hospital district, a number of homes, an apartment complex, a church and many small businesses were in the path of the tornado.

Hospitality District Development

The rebuilding of the hospitality district began in 1999. First, the Studio 6, which was under construction, sustained heavy damages and was repaired. This was followed by the reconstruction of the Hampton Inn. Before the tornado, the Hampton Inn contained 69 rooms. In rebuilding, the owners chose to add a third story and increase the number of rooms to 102. The Comfort Inn and Suites soon followed with its reconstruction. Taking the opportunity to reconfigure the site, the owners built a 78 room hotel.

Investments in the District

While the hotels were being rebuilt, the City was moving forward with the conference center project – acquiring property, preparing architectural and engineering construction drawings, and arranging financing for the project. Integral to the project, were grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A total of $4.5 million dollars of the $17 million dollar conference center project was funded with federal grants.

Hospitality District

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