Crystal City Shopping Center in Tulsa won’t allow Route 66 Carnival this year

The Route 66 Carnival that has set up annually at Crystal City Shopping Center in southwest Tulsa since 2011 won’t be allowed this year because the fast-growing number of merchants at the once-moribund site needs the parking.

Tulsa city councilor Jeannie Cue confirmed in an email this weekend Crystal City won’t host the carnival scheduled for April 11-14. But she said organizers are considering two alternate sites.

The news may disappoint fans of the carnival, but it turns out to be a good problem for the shopping center. Less than five years ago, Crystal City Shopping Center’s occupancy rate sagged to well under 50 percent under longtime owner Buck Myers.

Bill Smith of Florida bought the shopping center for about $430,000 at auction in 2013. Smith originally had a deal in principle to buy the property for a larger sum, but Myers’ family backed out of the deal, thinking the shopping center could fetch $1 million or more at auction. Not only did the gamble by the Myers clan fail, but Smith acquired it for far less money.

A text message from Crystal City’s Facebook page reveals how far it has come since a change in ownership:

Only three years ago there were four stores and one non-profit organization; AutoZone, Family Dollar, Carl’s Coney Island, H&R Block and Western Neighbors. Carnivals in those days were a godsend to remind people of this forgotten place. Then Hollie’s Astylem, Approved Cash Advance, SW Tulsa Chamber, Tulsa Vapor Store, Freeland Brown Pharmacy, Save-A-Lot Grocery, Dollar Tree, and Assist Wireless joined the Center. We also got our “Ice Dock” back out in the parking lot. When the Lunch Box opens soon we will only have two vacancies in the NE half of the Center; with a firm bite on one of those. Two other strong proposals are in the works and should break soon for the SW half. It is filling up!!

Crystal City’s new owners also made much-needed renovations on the property, including Art Deco-inspired decor to the exterior.

Crystal City once hosted an amusement park from the 1920s to the early 1950s, until a fire forced its move to another part of the city. That was back in the days when nearby residents often walked instead of drove to the site. Nowadays, with everyone getting around by automobile, its understandable why Crystal City merchants don’t want their parking areas reduced.

Though the Route 66 Carnival’s move occurs because the shopping center’s heightened prosperity, it’s bittersweet it’s leaving where it hosted a carnival along Route 66 nearly 100 years ago.

Here’s a video I shot at the Route 66 Carnival during its first year.

(Excerpted image from Google Street View of Crystal City Shopping Center in Tulsa in April 2017)