By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Yukon Main Street is primed and ready for its second annual paint beautification project.
Yukon 66 Main Street board members have been notified a 2022 Paint Oklahoma Beautiful grant application has been approved to repaint the former Ross Garage service station, 900 W Main.
Volunteers are being recruited to paint the building’s exterior this September.
The paint dates and colors have not yet been determined, said Shelli Selby, Yukon Main Street’s Design Point chairwoman.
“This Keep Oklahoma Beautiful grant provides a great opportunity to revitalize downtown Yukon and make it more beautiful,” Selby added. “We’re so very thrilled that, once again, we won this grant.”
Sprucing up the vacant Ross Garage site will make it more attractive to a potential new business occupant.
“This building has been long-standing empty,” said Selby, Yukon’s mayor. “We talked to the owner, Schulte Oil (of El Reno), and received permission to paint it.
“We hope that once we paint it in September, it will become a viable business.”
The company HIS Paint will provide recycled paint for the upcoming Yukon Main Street beautification effort. Color options are tan, clay, brown, and green.
“The grant provides all the paint to paint the entire building, along with brushes, rollers and mat tape,” Selby added. “I also applied for a power washer grant, but I haven’t heard back on that yet.”
Yukon Main Street officials must follow the Paint Oklahoma Beautiful grant timeline.
“We will get the paint in the beginning of September, then we need to complete it by the end of September,” Yukon Main Street Director Vicki Davis said.
“Our committee will work with the property owner to determine which color we’re going to go with.”
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful projects like this encourage community participation from volunteers of “all ages”, Davis noted.
The Yukon Main Street painting project will be entered in Keep Oklahoma Beautiful’s “Best Visual Impact” contest.
This contest is a public online vote, which determines the top three finalists.
The paint provider reviews the finalists and places them in first, second and third place order.
Winners will be revealed and their painting projects will be highlighted at Keep Oklahoma Beautiful’s Environmental Excellence Celebration on Friday, Nov. 18 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
PAST SUCCESS
Yukon’s first Paint Oklahoma Beautiful effort was finished on the weekend of Sept. 25, 2021, at the old DX gas station, 545 W Main.
That two-day project also was funded with a grant through Keep Oklahoma Beautiful and HIS Paint. The building’s exterior was painted light green with a tan trim.
Several dozen volunteers contributed well-over 100 hours to transform the vacant Main Street building.
After the outside was painted for the 2021 Paint Oklahoma Beautiful project, interior improvements were completed in leased retail and office spaces.
The building at 545 W Main now houses two businesses.
“It’s all great – job creation and expanding our retail space,” Davis said.
Yukon’s Main Street director hopes for a similar result with this year’s paint beautification project at 900 W Main.
“Besides beautifying downtown, we hope that property improvement prompts more business and commercial activity,” she added. “This just adds to our revitalization efforts.”
The Yukon Main Street office, 528 W Main, open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Anyone interested in helping with Yukon’s second Paint Oklahoma Beautiful project this September should call (405) 350-5999 or visit www.yukon66mainstreet.com
Read more about the 2022 Paint Oklahoma Beautiful project on Yukon’s Main Street in an upcoming edition of The Yukon Progress.
