The city has broken ground on its new heliport, which will hold the Tulsa Police Department’s two helicopters.
The hangar will cost More than $5.6 million in private, public and federal money and will be built next to the Tulsa Police Academy at East 66th Street North. The helicopters are currently housed at an airfield near the Osage Casino.
The heliport is expected to be completed by May 2025.
At a groundbreaking ceremony at the academy Monday morning, Mayor G.T. Bynum said the new facility gets the helicopters away from a growing part of Tulsa — and into a city facility.
"This is actually a better return on the taxpayer’s dollar. It keeps our operating costs lower, and it provides a long-term base for our air support unit," Bynum said.
Even with advancements in drone technology, Police Chief Wendell Franklin says the human element of helicopter division is important. He said his officers used the helicopters to spot and assess damage in the immediate aftermath of the Father’s Day storm last year.
"If we’re searching for missing children or doing damage estimates, you just can’t get the same feel of that from just a television screen," Franklin said.
