Another update from the Ville:
Updates on projects mentioned previously:
The Johnstone – is still plugging along…really slowly. Still no word on what is going on here. In related news Robert pled guilty to arson in the fire that gutted this building.
Kress Building – As far as I can tell, this is complete. The ground floor space is used for get Frank Phillips Club/art exhibits/events while the upstairs is a living space/monthly magazine offices. I am still hoping Mr. Oldroyd gets the itch to do many, many more projects.
The Really Old City Hall – Still moving along on this one. They are applying for façade renovation grants. Here are some links to this building. It has obviously been covered with plaster at some point. Below are links to a couple of pictures of this building in case anybody is interested.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfberger/3192563825/http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrykathy/2170699026/Buffalo Run Townhomes – Last time I was by, the dirt work was being done, so it excited to see something actually moving forward with regards to residential development.
New Projects –
City owned block bounded by Adams/Armstrong/8th St/Keeler - The city has owned most of this block for quit some time. The non-city owned parcels are an Arvest ATM, a single family home being renovated for Ameriprise Financial, a two unit duplex, and a parking lot owned by the postal workers. It has been cleared for 5 or so years and plans for townhomes have been thrown about multiple times. Apparently Commonwealth Development Corporation (out of Wisconsin) has applied to purchase this land. I don’t know much. There website has some decent looking developments. Honestly any decent market rate rentals would do great here. It is a little over a block from the ConocoPhillips campus and only about 5 to 7 blocks from all the restaurants/night life downtown.
210 E. 4th – I’ve seen some construction going on inside this building for a few months, but it has been extremely slow. They have recently applied for a façade improvement grant. Kallin Investments owns the building which appears to have been an old garage. Most of the building fronting 4th street were auto oriented even back in the 50’s. I’ve seen old pictures of a large Phillips 66 station accress from Frank Phillips Tower (currently the Phillips 66 Heritage Museum/old Arvest Bank Building). I’ve also heard that one of the largest Citgo’s in the county was at 4th and Osage, one block from their old headquarters at 4th & Dewey. Many other garages/filling stations fronted 4th street as well. Be interesting to see what turns up here. It sits caddy corner from the Rogers State downtown campus.
323 S. Osage – This building was about to be demolished as blight (and fairly so). The previous owners have let the building fall apart and the room was nearly to fall in. Randy Lawrence (who I think owns a lawn care business in town) swooped in and bought the building on the premise that he would secure the building so they don’t tear it down. This building is auto oriented as well, with a garage opening in front. I understand at one point the local newspaper owned the building but most recently it was an auto repair shop with this funky sign.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/army_arch/3058130563/ Don’t know what the plans are but It seems workable for a home base for a lawn care business.
210 E. 2nd – The Lawrence’s also purchased this building. It is a single story 4,200 s.f. retail space. It has been empty as long as I have lived here (since 2006). They applied for development financing assistance for this and 323 S. Osage.
Oh and the new County Detention center is now open across the tracks. Maybe all of the officers will see the cameras before they beat the prisoners there.
New Business:
Sugerica is now done with their new digs in the Curtis Building. They have walk in Wednesday’s and I’m told their treats are fantastic. Have not had the opportunity to “test” them out yet.
Falafel Ave. is now open. I don’t go by often, but they always look really deserted at night. Maybe it’s more of a lunch place. And Greek is not my thing. Sorry.
Wassamiller Insurance isn’t really new, but they have moved downtown. They are right beside Frank and Lola’s on Second Street.
Bad News:
Jessica’s Tiny Café has closed. Used to be in The Johnstone in a really REALLY tiny space. Maybe all the extra square footage was too much to overcome. It is kind of in a bad spot too, many businesses come and go in The Professional Building annex.
Sweet Lou’s. Ok I’ll admit I have to eat my words here. The food was not interesting enough for me to go there more than once or twice. I always thought well such and such does this dish better. So I never went back. And apparently they are “taking the holidays off” I thought they meant Thanksgiving, but it is still closed. Same thing happened at Jessica’s above. Sign in the window saying we are taking a vacation, then bam closed. Plus the financial dealing mentioned previously are probably true. I have heard of a fund raiser not they hosted (10% of sales kind of thing) was never paid. I should have known that if they were giving pizza away once a week things were not going well.
Other:
On the Rock Ministries is a recreation center for teens located right across the rail road tracks from the old depot. It has indoor skate park, coffeehouse, concert stage, computer lab, and outdoor patio. They have recently purchased several of the surrounding warehouses (that were not utilized) to renovate for more recreation space. They have also purchased the office space adjacent to the new warehouses for a computer lab/learning center. They do this all on donations alone. Nice to see them expanding and doing good for the community. It is pretty remarkable what they have done and is just one more of those things that makes Bartlesville one of the most family friendly communities around.