By TRAVINA COLEMAN
Press Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH —
Local residents will be seeing the results of the half-cent sales tax they passed last April as soon as June or July, according to Tahlequah Mayor Ken Purdy.
During a Tahlequah Area Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday evening, the mayor and David Moore, chamber director, discussed plans for the streets of downtown Tahlequah.
“I wanted to take a moment and update the streetscape project,” Purdy said.
He said the details of the project aren’t set in stone, and he’s awaiting discussion with area merchants on what they would like to see.
“We are going to make sure these are wanted and desired,” he said.
According to Purdy, the plan is to use two of the parallel parking spaces at each block to build an “island” where shoppers can sit and rest and take in the view of Tahlequah.
“The main issue is trying to bring some green to downtown,” he said.
Purdy said a variety of trees and plants will be embedded in the areas, and those that are culturally significant to the Cherokee Nation will be selected.
“Every sidewalk project meets the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] standards,” he said. “The number and size of the islands aren’t set in stone. I plan on meeting with the merchants and getting their input on the details.”
Final revisions on the project are being made right now.
“I would envision the solicitation of bids for the construction soon,” Purdy said. “I would guess it could be late June or early July before we begin initial construction.”
This project is among the downtown improvements that have brought new street signs to the downtown area, a process that’s continuing.
“I really think those signs look nice,” said Isabel Baker. “I think once it’s all done, Tahlequah will have one of the prettiest main streets anywhere.”
The $600,000 allocated for the project will pay for the signs and landscaping.
“We are obviously not going to shut down Muskogee Avenue,” Purdy said. “This is going to be a lot of overlay of what’s already there, and we are going to work on one island at a time.”
And as far as keeping the new trees and plants green downtown, residents don’t have to worry about costly digging to install an irrigation system.
“There’s just no way we can do that,” Purdy said. “As a city, we will be purchasing a small vehicle with water tanks on it that will be responsible for watering daily, if not twice daily.”
According to Purdy, a city in Colorado that undertook a similar green project for its downtown saw an increase of 18 percent in sales tax revenue.
Another bump for tourism is being initiated by the Chamber.
Moore said the chamber will be implementing a new plan called Tahlequah TRUE (Tourism, Recreation, Understanding, Education).
“I walked into a convenience store the other day and heard a visitor asking the clerk where the Cherokee Heritage Museum was,” he said. “I was shocked when the clerk told the patron they hadn’t heard of it.”
Moore said with this program, businesses can get TRUE-certified by having their front line staff members attend some of the courses.
“We want those dealing with customers to know about the area and events so they can help visitors,” Moore said.
For places with high turnover rates, Moore said literature and flyers with key reference points will be given to those businesses, helping the new employees absorb the idea and process.
