"I am very pleased to officially transfer this redeveloped refinery property, the Platte River Commons and Salt Creek Heights, to the Amoco Reuse Agreement Joint Powers Board," Steve Elbert, BP America's vice president of remediation management, said Friday afternoon. "The Board is going to manage now, point forward, for the next 99 years this property for the benefit of Casper."

With those words, thousands upon thousands of hours of work put in by dozens and dozens of community members, environmental regulators and BP employees came to fruition.

The Amoco refinery is no longer the Amoco refinery, it is the Platte River Commons. And Amoco's old North Tank Farm is no longer the North Tank Farm, it is the Salt Creek Heights Business Center. And they belong, through the auspices of the Amoco Reuse Agreement Joint Powers Board, to all of us.

Or at least they will for the next 99 years.

Under the agreement formalized at an afternoon ceremony held on the driving range of the Three Crowns Golf Course, the anchor reuse facility on the Platte River Commons, BP will continue to own the two properties. But administrative control of them will be in the hands of the Joint Powers Board and the community it represents.

That the two properties could be brought from their former uses to their current states in the span of 14 years is something many thought to be impossible, former Gov. Mike Sullivan said at the ceremony.

"I think in our wildest dreams, we wouldn't have really anticipated … that it could be as good or as wonderful a project for the community as it has been," Sullivan said.

But those wild dreams did come true thanks to the commitment of the community, the government, BP and, especially, the people that worked for those entities, Sullivan said.

"We've all heard that success has many fathers, and I think we can say here today that this success, and truly it is a success, has many fathers and mothers," he said. "You should all be commended for the work that has been done."

"Jane (Sullivan) and I have lived in Casper now … for 41 years, with a few years in and out," Sullivan said. "But never have I seen the community with as much optimism, with as much going for it, with as much to celebrate as we have here today. And let's celebrate it."

That sentiment was shared by both Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Sen Craig Thomas, R-Wyo.

"There are lots of places that have refineries that are closing, there are lots of places that have an oil industry that has shifted away, but there is no place that has done quite what Casper did and became a model for the rest," Freudenthal said.

"I do think the city of Casper and BP Amoco should be incredibly proud," Freudenthal added. "Wyoming can set the high-water mark through cooperation and accomplishment and we did it here today and the credit goes to the people of Casper, the people who worked in the agencies and to BP Amoco."

In his speech, Thomas spoke about seeing the old refinery when he was a young man and of looking at photos of what the Platte River Commons used to look like when it was the industrial hub of Casper.

"It is just astounding to see that that can be what we are here to celebrate today and look out at this wonderful scene," Thomas said. "And now to see this beautiful job that's done. It just makes you very proud. Proud to be part of Wyoming, proud to be part of Casper."

Although the work of creating the Platte River Commons and the Salt Creek Heights Business Center is now completed, work on finding occupants for the Commons and, especially, the Heights is just beginning, Amoco Reuse Agreement Joint Powers Board Chairman Ben Taucher said.

Friday was a day to celebrate, Taucher said. But come Monday, it's back to work for the board's members.

Staff writer Brendan Burke can be reached at (307) 266-0589 or Brendan.Burke@casperstartribune.net.