There is hope. There is a plan. There is a future.
Last week, the Chickasaw Nation announced the tribe will spearhead a fundraising campaign of $6 million to help rebuild downtown Sulphur.
The tribe will initiate the campaign by donating $1 million of its own money before attempting to get the remainder of funding from entities around the state.
The man at the front of this movement is longtime Sulphur resident and the Nation’s Secretary of State, Bill Lance.
The former Secretary of Commerce spoke about his involvement in leading the charge and what his outlook is to help rebuild his community.
“This effort is being led by the community and for the community,” Lance said. “The Chickasaw Nation is just a part of the community. I’m extremely honored to be able to play any role in the rebuilding effort and I wouldn’t have felt remotely compelled if it weren’t for all of the people that have encouraged me since April 27.”
Several community members, including pastor Bill Leveridge, Kemper Howe, Buddy Wood, Brian Hollis, Cliff Agee, Danny Hilliard and more have already been meeting and working with Lance to kickoff the plan to rebuild Sulphur.
“We’ve had some great conversations and have just kept trying to encourage each other,” Lance said. “We are highly motivated to do everything we can to recover downtown. And it’s not just some of these people I’ve mentioned. It’s going to take everyone and an all-in, combined effort to make it happen.”
Some businesses have already expressed their desire and hunger to rebuild, which is not surprising and represents the strength of the Sulphur community.
That’s where Lance and the key stakeholders have to rally the troops and find a way to help these businesses and individuals as fast as possible.
“We’ve got some business that want to come out of the ground right now,” Lance said. “We have to figure out how to support them right now. We don’t want to slow up that progress at all, so we definitely need to be engaged early and help these people through this process. They have made the decision to rebuild and we need these anchor businesses to come back up.”
When asked about the timing of the efforts, Lance spoke about urgency and flexibility to try and move quickly.
“We will support them in every way and we want to be as flexible as far as timing goes,” he said. “But at the same time, we need to be thoughtful and make sure that the concepts we come up with make our community proud. So it’s a two-edged sword, but if business owners are ready, we’ve got to figure it out as fast as we can.”
A part of the Chickasaws’ rebuilding efforts will be working with architects and consultants to recreate the historic downtown area to something that mirrors what was lost and provides a look that will make the community proud.
“This requires engagement with the community and stakeholders,” Lance said. “Without their input, it would be difficult to know how we are going to do things and what the look and feel of the new downtown will be. We have to find a great master architect and carefully select who we work with, but we also have to listen to the community because it is driven by them. That piece is key.”
Lance reflected on what happened April 27, expressing thoughts of many that call Sulphur home share about the devastating damage.
“April 27 was just a tough day for all of us,” he said. “You were just worried about many families in our community on that night. You wondered whether they were safe or not. There were a lot of thoughts initially going through your mind, and then ultimately once you saw the downtown area, it was just devastating. All of the memories that you have growing up at a young age run through your mind. It was very devastating emotionally.”
The momentum that had built in the downtown area throughout the years cannot be denied, as that is what is driving Lance and the key stakeholders to return the historic district to prominence.
“Prior to the tornado, I think we had so much incredible momentum,” he said. “Downtown seemed to really be hitting its stride. The tourism was at a level like no time I can remember. It was incredible to see the business community coming together like that to develop significant tourism in our town. People had been coming from all over the state, which was very impressive. The Chickasaw Nation was only part of that recipe. The entire business community had personal investment in it and it breaks everyone’s heart to see where we are today.”
But the mentality and the united front that Sulphur has shown in the two months since gives hope. Lance and the leaders of the rebuild talked about the importance of doing just that - providing hope for the future generations.
“We need each other today more than ever,” he said. “We have to come together, because we only get one shot at this - to help our city recover. And it will undoubtedly have a long-term impact. I have a son, daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters that live in this community. Like everyone else, I want Sulphur to have a bright future and not have kids move away because the town is struggling. We want our city to do well and it’s important to see that vision for future generations.”
Lance is confident this effort will pull through and provide Sulphur what it needs, as the outpouring of support has been overwhelming thus far.
“I’m very confident that we can raise the $6 million budget,” he said. “We have some great contacts throughout the state. There have already been lots of nonprofits reaching out and different companies wanting to help. That has been great encouragement, too. There have been countless people that have offered resources to help. It’s my job and our job to lead that philanthropic effort, to make sure we hit that budget and that every dollar raised goes back into the community.”
The community - the center of the focus for this effort, this rebuild and initiative.
Because after all, the people are what make the community special and it will be the people that return Sulphur to, not only what it was, but maybe even better.
“The encouragement we have already had from downtown business leadership has been outstanding,” Lance said. “It’s really motivated me to try to do everything I can to help support them and their efforts. I don’t think this would even be possible without the special people of this community. And without the support of Governor (Bill) Annoatubby and his incredible support for our effort.”
“We continue to send love and prayers to the community, knowing we will work collectively and be fully engaged together. It’s our home. You only have one home. If anyone asks where I’m from, it’s Sulphur, and I’ve never been prouder to say that.”
PHOTOS BY BLAKE SEALE
