ARCADIA - Instead of a gold-plated shovel or a gushing oil well, Aubrey K. McClendon twisted the top on an orange cream soda bottle to christen his newest multimillion-dollar business venture Thursday.
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McClendon was joined by about 100 citizens and city staff members from Arcadia and Edmond, as well as employees and stockholders from Chesapeake Energy Corp., at the ground breaking of Pops -- a gas station, convenience store, restaurant and Route 66 museum that will open next spring along the historic highway at Westminster Road in Arcadia.
"My view was that someone was going to build a gas station out here, and I thought it might as well be me. But what Arcadia didn't need was just another gas station. They needed an attraction," said McClendon, Chesapeake's chairman and chief executive officer.
He made it clear that the project was his and not a Chesapeake endeavor. He wouldn't give a cost, just saying it was in the multimillions of dollars. He anticipates Pops will employ about 25 to 40 people.
McClendon worked with Oklahoma architect Rand Elliott on the design of the 5,000-square-foot building that will not only sell gasoline and food, but will contain a collection of 12,000 soda pop bottles in all colors, flavors and brands -- including a 66-foot-tall LED-lit soda bottle to be built along the roadway.
Elliott described the business as a place visitors will be able to stop for a malt and a burger, sit and enjoy McClendon's neighboring tree farm and get a glimpse of Route 66 history. The highway, once U.S. 66, is known as State Highway 66 today.
"People tend to think of this road in the past tense, but it's alive today with vibrance. Pops is not about a retro thing. It's not about looking back into the past, It's about creating a living history for the next generation," Elliott said.
He said people still have the same love affair with the open road that they had in the '50s.
Author Michael Wallis agreed.
Wallis is the author of "Route 66: The Mother Road" and a voice actor in the new animated Pixar movie "Cars," which takes place on the famed highway. The Tulsa resident consulted with Elliott on the Route 66 Museum in Elliott's native Clinton and provided historical advice for Pops. He emceed the ground breaking Thursday.
"Pops will be an immediate icon. It's got the No. 1 requirement to be a success on Route 66 -- a gimmick," said Wallis, referring to the 66-foot-tall soda bottle.
He also thinks the timing of the business is important, coinciding with the 80th anniversary for the Mother Road and the state's centennial.
Arcadia Mayor Marilyn Murrell said she's excited about the business Pops promises for the town that houses the round barn.
"This is just as exciting as it gets. We're working on other tourist attractions that we hope will bring a number of visitors to Arcadia, and I can't wait to see that 66-foot-tall soda bottle," she said.
The Rev. Allen Threat III is excited as well.
"This will be an ideal place for my congregation to eat after church instead of having to drive all the way into Edmond," said Threat, pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Arcadia.
Lifetime Arcadia resident Ollie Woodard said Pops is something Arcadia has needed for a long time.
"It's a wonderful place to live and raise children, but we need to grow," the 66-year-old said.
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