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built, finished in 2002. It was opened on the Fourth of July 2002,” Cooper said.“ It was bittersweet because I lost my mama at the same time.” It was the one dedication he didn’ t attend.
All these years later, Cooper is still proud of helping make that Bypass happen. Seeing the new construction for increasing the safety for motorists is a good feeling.
While he is proud of that project, the two organizations he has been most proud to be connected to are Duncan Regional Hospital and Duncan Area Economic Development( DAEDF).
“ They help the community in every way. It’ s important that you have a good community hospital and we’ re fortunate that we have one that’ s financially capable.( DAEDF), the idea there was to create and maintain the local industrial economy because that would provide resources to provide other things, like the hospital.”
Cooper also credits Halliburton for being one of the biggest contributors in the early days, noting that all three of these were vital to the core strength of Duncan.
“ Well, we all need to contribute to the community.”
JIMMY COOPER SHOWS OFF THE ORIGINAL 1997 DUNCAN BYPASS DRAWING CREATED BY THE LATE M. J.“ MUTT” LEWIS.
So Cooper and Lewis scheduled an appointment to meet with Gov. Frank Keating at the State Capitol.
“ Anyway, we met with Gov. Frank Keating, people in the legislature and Senate. I had a good opportunity because Keating wanted to get acquainted with Halliburton and we got him on board. We got Lloyd Benson from Comanche on board. That was the first week of April 1997.” Benson was Speaker of the House.
“ I said, Halliburton, I know, would like to have that bypass. Their trucks can go around town. They don’ t have to go through town. And everybody else’ s trucks can go around town,” Cooper said. Keating was interested.
At 8:30 p. m. April 7, then State Rep. Jari Askins called Cooper at home. It was the final week of legislation. The clock was ticking down.
“ She said, we’ re going to get it approved, but we’ ve got to have some money to put in there to get that. How much do you need?,” he recalled.“ I said, well, Jari, I flat do not want to give you a number because I don’ t have an exact number. It’ s going to be several million.”
He had less than 12 hours to get an estimate.
“ She said, I need it by nine o’ clock in the morning.”
He called Rose. The next morning, Rose’ s final figure was $ 29 million, just minutes before the 9 a. m. deadline. In the end, they received $ 27.5 million, Cooper said.
“ Legislature approved it, and it was
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Lewis, who died in 2014, was the first recipient of Duncan’ s“ Lifetime Achievement Award” notably for helping build Duncan. He opened and was the first owner of Duncan Builder’ s Supply. Among his significant construction projects were the Duncan Public Library at 9th and Ash, The Duncan Banner at 10th and Elm, the Jane Brooks School for the Deaf in Chickasha and a number of churches. He was responsible for more than 30 Duncan subdivisions, including Evergreen, Williams West, Timber Creek, Timber Gate and Westfield.
Lewis was a charter member of the Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation( DAEDF) and served as a director and trustee, filling virtually every position on the board and its executive committee. He was instrumental in building the Duncan Bypass and bringing the Family Dollar Distribution Center to town.
* Source: Ed Darling / The Duncan Banner. Feb. 18, 2015.