Next Operation Clean House: Spring 2023
Has a date been set for hazardous material drop off at the Phillips parking lot by the railroad tracks?
City staff recently learned that Operation Clean House event will not be held in 2022. The event is typically held in conjunction with other Earth Day activities in the spring but was moved to the fall last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event wasn’t held in 2020 due to the pandemic. Reports indicate the event will go back to its spring schedule in 2023. There simply wasn’t enough time to organize it between the last event in September and the next event.
Popeye’s reportedly on hold
Any word on whether Popeye’s is coming or is that a dead project?
A quick search on the City website, www.cityofbartlesville.org, indicates the Popeye’s saga started roughly five years ago. Plans for the restaurant were announced in 2017 when the City Council appropriated money, up to $65,000, for the demolition of the former Sooner Motel building, 1300 S.E. Washington Blvd., to make way for the development. The Bartlesville Development Authority negotiated the deal, but the money was to be paid only after the restaurant was constructed and occupied. Because the restaurant was never opened, no public money was expended. Then, in July 2019, the developer announced the company was pulling plans for the Bartlesville restaurant, but by December 2020 the deal was reportedly back on.
Of course, all we can do is report what we heard last. As of today, according to the Community Development Department, Smitco Inc., the company building the franchise in Bartlesville, has submitted plans to the corporate office and is awaiting approval of those plans. There appears to be a delay on that end, as the corporate office is currently focused on expansion in the upper Midwest and has reportedly put the Bartlesville project on hold. So, as far as anyone knows, the Popeye’s plan is still on, just delayed.
Nope, and nope
Are there still plans for Applebee’s and Panera Bread to come to Bartlesville?
Sometimes, unfortunately, the word “rumor” gets interchanged with the word “plan,” and everyone ends up disappointed. Clearly, that’s what has happened here, as neither Applebee’s nor Panera Bread have announced plans to open restaurants — or even inquired about opening restaurants, to our knowledge — in Bartlesville.