Broken Arrow has revealed a new brand for the area of Elm Place and New Orleans Street.
A new logo features a segmented square and "New Orleans Square" in blue, with the font giving a subtle nod to the style of the Louisiana city. The word "square" is set off from the rest by a horizontal gold bar, giving the logo a tie-in to Broken Arrow's municipal logo.
The branding, developed in consultation with the firm BrandEra, was unveiled at a Thursday night block party the city hopes to make an annual event. City Marketing Technician Erin Hofener said people there told her it was the busiest they’ve seen the area in years.
"That intersection used to be the heart of Broken Arrow. So, it's exciting to see us kind of bringing back people to that area," Hofener said.
Officials hope the branding campaign continues to boost business and visitor interest in the intersection, which had fallen off in recent years. Reasor’s and Hobby Lobby closed stores there. Revitalization efforts have been going on for years now.
"The first step can kind of be put around 2017 when we did a catalyst study of the area. That was kind of the first step, and kind of every year since then, we've been doing more and more things. We've done traffic counts, we've done catalyst studies, we've formed advisory committees, and now this marketing is a huge step in the direction of continuing to grow the area, give it an identity," Hofener said.
Growth in south Broken Arrow is driving interest in redeveloping the area. According to the Broken Arrow Economic Developoment Corporation, there are 1 million square feet of retail space within a quarter mile of the intersection.
