The Hennessey Board of Trustees voted to approve 3 of the 6 proposed items that Jack Quirk presented at the regular meeting last Thursday, June 15th. Quirk said, “This has been a lot of work and a long time coming.” The six items Quirk proposed included, a new Downtown Pavilion, Oklahoma Street lighting, new park signage, curb clean-up, drilling the sidewalks for flags, and banner frames.
The first item the board approved is the new Pavilion that will be built on the old lumber yard site on West 1st Street. The Pavilion will be built in stages. Stage one will include a 50×100 structure with a roof and no sides at this time. This will be built with all-new steel and will be constructed by Hennessey Metal Building at no charge, but for naming rights. It will be called “The John Deutschendorf Memorable Pavilion.”
Quirk said, “This would not be possible without the support from several individuals and companies that are donating to make this happen, in addition to Hennessey Metal Buildings.” Richard Simunek is donating the adjoining land south of the site, and Lightle Sand & Construction has donated the fill dirt needed to elevate the site. Daniel Concrete Construction will be building the concrete piers.
Additional phases to the pavilion may include 25-foot shed extensions on each side creating a 100 X 100 finished structure, concrete floors, walls, concessions, restrooms, and HVAC system. Quirk said, “Some of these additional phases may be considered with private donations.”
The second item approved is new signage for Bullfoot and Memorial Parks. Quirk said, “These new signs will carry the new branding look that we have established using the town’s new logo.”
After quite a bit of discussion, the board approved several items that will essentially cost nothing if the town crews do the work. These include drilling holes in the sidewalks in front of all the businesses that will allow flags to be inserted without using buckets and stands. On a side note, the Hennessey Lions Club is wanting to place American flags on Main St during special holidays and events. This will be a fundraiser for the club.
Quirk proposed hiring a construction company to clean off all of the curbs along Main St. that have dirt build-up making it difficult to mow and keep neat. The board discussed many options but concluded that the town now owns the equipment and can do this work in-house.
Two items were passed on. They included the Oklahoma St. lighting improvement and banner Frames. The proposed lighting project included stringing LED lights across West Oklahoma St., between Main St. and the alley. This was passed on because the lights needed to be attached to the buildings and permission was not yet cleared from the Meises building on the south side of the street. The final item that was passed on was frames that would properly hold event promotional banners.
