Existing Assets

Although El Reno’s population currently tops at 20,000, the city still has a wide variety of assets to attract travelers and contribute to quality of life for residents, including historical landmarks and structures, parks, adult education complexes, medical centers, and a regional airport. Additionally, El Reno hosts many community events each year to celebrate the city and its people.

As stated before, El Reno has managed to maintain a good number of historical, natural, and civic features for a small city of less than 20,000 residents, all of which will be critical to El Reno’s future vitality and growth. Sunset Drive certainly has experienced historic loss, but the study area still has 74 structures built during the Route 66 era – roughly 1920-1965 – as well as a handful of structures built beforehand. Specifically, there are several unique buildings that used to be ice cream shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and service stations (“Assessor”; Canadian). The Sunset Drive study area is also currently bookended by Petree Plaza – a parklet with a Route 66 and railroad monument – at its eastern end and Adams Park – a large community park that includes sports fields, playsets, a frisbee golf course, picnic areas, and a dog park – as well as the El Reno Public schools sports complex at the western end.

Although the focus of this study is Sunset Drive, El Reno has other notable assets outside Sunset Drive that add to the economic, social, and environmental well-being of El Reno. Some additional historic assets outside of the study area include the historic downtown district, the Canadian County historical museum complex, the trolley, the 98th Meridian, Fort Reno, and the immemorial homeland history of several Indigenous tribes. Likewise, some natural assets include Legion Park, which is a community hotspot, and Lake Reno, a recreational destination for both visitors and residents. Other important assets include the El Reno Regional Airport, the Redlands Community College, the Canadian Valley Technology Center, and the SSM Health Medical Group. Lastly, El Reno has many community events that act as assets to the city, including Small Town Weekend, Burger Day Festival, Smoke on the Water, Fly El Reno, the county fair, Grascar and ATV racing, youth sports, and rodeo events.

Rock Island Depot, now Canadian County Historical Society Museum