By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Yukon city leaders are moving ahead with plans to tear down the old lumberyard in downtown Yukon.
The Yukon City Council, at its Feb. 15th meeting, voted 5-0 to request proposals from contractors to demolish existing structures at 24 N 4th Street. The costs will be paid from the City’s capital improvements budget.
“I just have to say I’m sad to see it go,” Mayor Shelli Selby said. “It was a landmark.
“I hope we can envision something going in there that will be beautiful.”
The city council’s action comes three years after the City of Yukon purchased this property from Stan and Renee Lingo and 4812 Lingo Holding LLC. The site formerly housed the Yukon Lumber business.
Purchase price was $420,000 for six lots on the north side of Main Street.
City council members approved general bid specifications for “demolition of structures and removal of debris and foundations” on the 4th Street property.
The contractor may keep all materials and retaining walls on the south and west sides of the property must remain intact, according to the specs.
Bids are due at 3 p.m. March 16 at the Yukon City Clerk’s office, 500 W Main.
Interested vendors are required to attend a pre-proposal conference at 2 p.m. March 2 at the project site.
When the city council approved the 24 N 4th Street purchase in February 2019, then-Yukon Mayor Mike McEachern said the property would be for “future development downtown.”
“There are a whole bunch of ideas being discussed,” he said. “This (purchase) gives us the ability to control that piece of property.”
Several suggestions have been made about how to use the site.
One is to provide more parking for Main Street businesses and well-attended events like the Rock the Route music festival and the Oklahoma Czech Festival.
Other possibilities are use the space to host farmers/vendor markets, art shows, concerts, and a new Yukon museum along historic Route 66.
STORAGE BUILDING ADDITION
Meanwhile, the City of Yukon is requesting proposals from qualified contractors to construct a 50-foot by 66-foot addition on the west side of a City-owned storage building at 111 W Ash.
The non-profit Yukon Community Support Foundation will cover the cost.
“This is a building used for storage of Christmas displays,” Assistant City Manager Mitchell Hort explained.
The city council approved seeking proposals at its Feb. 15th meeting.
Bids are due at 3 p.m. March 16 at the Yukon City Clerk’s office, 500 W Main.
Interested vendors are required to attend a pre-proposal conference at 3 p.m. March 2 at the project site.
