DISTRICT: Bixby’s Downtown River District is a link to the city’s renewal.

MANUELA SOLDI PHOTOS, TULSA WORLD MAGAZINE Bixby’s revitalization is something that has been in the works for several years. It began with the renovation of Charley Young Event Park in downtown.

Connecting a community

Bixby’s Downtown River District is a link to city’s renewal

James D. Watts Jr. // Tulsa World Magazine

At fi rst glance, the name that Bixby o cials came up with for its city center is something of an oxymoron.

The signs on the metal framework that arches over the intersection of Dawes Avenue and Armstrong Street are emblazoned with the words “Downtown River District.”

The Arkansas River, which neatly divides Bixby in half, is located about a mile from said intersection. But that small geographic fact isn’t getting in the way of this community’s efforts to turn Bixby into a destination.

Bryan Toney, a member of the Bixby police force who also serves as the city’s public information and events relation officer, said: “What we’re calling the Downtown River District really goes beyond the physical downtown area, up to the Arkansas and beyond. It’s a way to link the north and south areas of Bixby together.”

The revitalization is something Toney said has been in the works for several years. It began with the renovation of Charley Young Event Park in downtown that included a stage area for public events and concerts and continued with streetscape projects in the downtown area, resurfacing roads and remaking the sidewalks.

Turning the old bridge over the Arkansas River into a public space called the Harmony Bridge and renovating the Washington Irving State Park were also part of the overall plan. And Toney said more projects are in the works.

Grant Sullivan has lived in Bixby most of his life, graduating from Bixby High School in 1995. He and his friends would frequent Scott’s Hamburgers, which in his younger days was at a different location from its current home at 15 W. Dawes Ave.

Sullivan now owns the restaurant, having taken over the place in 2019.

“Just in time for COVID and construction,” he said, laughing. “Fortunately, we managed to live through all that, and it’s nice to see more traffic in downtown. Our regular customers would always seek us out, even when getting around downtown was difficult with the roads and sidewalks torn up.

“But now we’re seeing a lot of new people come in, who are wanting to see what’s going on and —” Sullivan paused, then said, grinning, “and I’m just being honest here — to try the best hamburger in town.”

Scott’s Hamburgers is one of the older businesses in downtown Bixby, along with another popular eatery, Johnson’s Stepping Stone Cafe, 4 N. Armstrong St. Among the more

ABOVE: The Downtown River District links the north and south areas of Bixby.

LEFT: Grant Sullivan took over Scott’s Hamburgers on West Dawes Avenue in 2019.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Copper Key Coffeehouse on West Dawes Avenue is among the newcomers to Bixby’s Downtown River District. Johnson’s Stepping Stone Cafe on North Armstrong Street is a longtime favorite in downtown Bixby. Bixby Ice Cream Co. on North Armstrong Street is also new to the district.

recent arrivals to the downtown area are the Copper Key Coffeehouse, 4 E. Dawes; the Escape Hatch, 7 W. Dawes Ave., which offers four “escape room” experiences; and the Bixby Ice Cream Company, 16 N. Armstrong St.

Matthew Swaggart didn’t think he needed a retail space before he moved his company, Hold Fast Gear, to downtown Bixby four years ago. The company grew out of Swaggart’s career as a professional photographer, when he designed and made a unique harness that allowed him to carry multiple cameras and gear easily.

The business quickly outgrew Swaggart’s home workshop, as his line of hand-made leather products that includes camera bags, backpacks, belts, wallets, notebook covers and pet collars, and the demand for them, increased.

“We were strictly an online business, and I was wanting to bring all our manufacturing and customer fulfillment operations under one roof,” Swaggart said.

That roof, at 8 W. Dawes Ave., once sheltered Doc’s Grocery Store (that business is now Doc’s Country Mart, at 151st Street and Memorial Drive), and Swaggart said the current incarnation retains some elements of the original, such as the open ceiling and an orange juice ad that adorns one wall of a workroom.

Online sales are still the bulk of Hold Fast Gear’s business, but Swaggart said visitors to downtown would get curious about the activity they could see going on through the storefront’s large windows. So an area was set up near one of the windows to show off the range of products offered. As manufacturing is the principal activity, one needs to ring the shop’s doorbell to gain entrance.

Things have certainly changed around here. It’s nice to see the city making strides to improve things.”

- GRANT SULLIVAN

It wasn’t all that long ago when the most happening places in downtown Bixby were the Sonic Drive-In (now relocated to the 151st and Memorial intersection) and the local branch of the Tulsa City-County Library.

“I kind of remember those days,” Sullivan said, laughing. “Things have certainly changed around here. It’s nice to see the city making strides to improve things.”

When asked if the changes Bixby is making have affected its “small-town charm,” Sullivan said: “I don’t think so. Certainly in the downtown area, we still have that small-town feel. But any time you have new people come into a place, the dynamic of a place is going to change.”

And people, Toney said, are coming to Bixby in ever-increasing numbers.

“I’ve lived here for 18 years, and most of that time Bixby was among the fastest-growing towns in the state,” he said. “This is a place where people are wanting to move, and the changes we’ve made and the improvements and enhancements to come is our trying to make this a town everyone can be proud of.”

ABOVE: Logan Bailey works on a leather purse at Hold Fast Gear. The leather goods company grew from designs for a unique harness that allows photographers to carry multiple cameras and gear easily.

LEFT: Hold Fast Gear’s line of hand-made leather products includes camera bags, backpacks, belts, wallets, notebook covers and pet collars.