WAGONER, Okla. — More than six years after a fire devastated downtown Wagoner, claiming businesses and liveliness in the area, the city plans to bring a multipurpose outdoor entertainment space to the vacant lot.
'The Junction' will include a permanent stage for all kinds of entertainment, AstroTurf, fresh landscaping, and space for small businesses to test their product in the community.
Kristen Mallet, Public Relations Officer for the City of Wagoner, said the opportunities for the new project are endless.
"Businesses could be born here," said Mallet. "We would love to see them take it from a pop-up shop and turn it into a brick-and-mortar somewhere else in our community."
- Previous story>>> Downtown Wagoner trying to rebuild one year after fire
Amy Matthews owns Smokin' Sisters BBQ on Main St., directly across the street from where the investment is set to go. As a lifelong resident, she fondly remembers the days before the fire took businesses out of downtown.
"Oh, there were businesses everywhere," said Matthews. "People were down here all the time, shopping, you knew the business owners, you knew everybody shopping, I mean it was, it was community."
Matthews said it's risky for business owners to move into a space like downtown Wagoner with many empty storefronts around them. She recently expanded her business and said she is eager for more people to enter the area.
"Hopefully, this investment will encourage more people to take a chance and come down here and buy more buildings or put in businesses in our downtown to get it built back up," said Matthews.
For the last several years, the plot of land has been referred to as the B.O.B.'s for burned-out buildings. The city hopes that by restoring such a large space, it will revitalize other establishments in the area.
"I think it will drive people that don’t even live here, who see what we're doing and they’ll maybe be interested in purchasing one of these buildings and maybe start their business here," said Mallet.
With the $900,000 investment moving into the area, Matthews hopes traffic will start moving again as it once did through downtown Wagoner.
To preserve and pay homage to what came before it, the outdoor project will somehow utilize what was salvaged from the fire.
"We took the remaining bricks, and we have stored them," said Mallet. "We hope we can incorporate those into the plans that we have here for the Junction."
The funding comes in equal parts from three separate entities - a private donor, the Wagoner Economic Development Authority, and the Wagoner County Economic Development Authority. Each is contributing about $300,000.
Pending no issues like supply chain or inclement weather delays, the city anticipates the Junction will be open to the public by June 2024.
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