What’s next for the Blue Whale?

A story about the Blue Whale of Catoosa, Okla., by KTUL-TV in Tulsa contained the usual angles about the Route 66 icon’s colorful history.

But it sounds like Jennifer Edwards, the Catoosa Arts & Tourism Council chief, has some new and fresh things in mind for the blue behemoth:

Edwards says with a little elbow grease and extra money the blue whale can increase tourist traffic in Catoosa. Her community has used this impromptu icon but not to it’s full potential like other towns, she says.

“They completely live off of their little icons in their communities and we here in Catoosa haven’t quite taken advantage of that yet.”

The board is hoping to make “Blue Whale” souvenirs, make it wheelchair accessible and revive the festival “Blue Whale Days” in honor of the grinning attraction. […]

The tourism board would also like to upgrade this information shelter which has definitely seen it’s better days.

In the comments section of the story, Edwards says:

The visitor survey is already bringing us a wealth of information (June 2 – June 24,  289 visitors from 13 countries and 28 US states) and we’re excited to take a fresh approach based upon the data we’re receiving.  One question in particular asks, ‘What would you like to see at The Blue Whale in the future?’  We offer some ‘circle’ items such as: restaurant, souvenirs, shopping, lodging and leave same.  We hope this will help determine what would entice travelers to stay more than a few minutes for a photo op.

The Blue Whale has a Twitter account here.

It appears the Blue Whale is getting better and better. It was barely 10 years ago when the whale was decaying markedly, and visitors were discouraged from venturing on the property with a mess of “No Trespassing” signs.

One thought on “What’s next for the Blue Whale?

  1. That’s great news. An obvious town icon, I’m thrilled to think it will be there (and even better) for generations to come.

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