BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- They're breathing new life back into rundown, old buildings on the east side of downtown.
A construction area now surrounds the former Adrin Perkins Mill & Glass Works at the corner of Frank Phillips Boulevard and Wyandotte Avenue. Dr. William Patrick Tinker bought the dilapidated building to turn it into the Tinker's Glass House Restaurant.
"It's more involved than we thought it would be," Dr. Tinker said, "but it's a beautiful thing. It's going to be just fabulous."
Crews will build an addition to house a large kitchen, create a new entrance to the restaurant as well as an outdoor dining area upstairs. Crews are unsure when they'll complete all the work, but Dr. Tinker would like to have the restaurant opened by summer 2018.
This project comes at a time when other redevelopment is happening nearby. A California man recently bought the old Teco Home Appliances store at Frank Phillips Boulevard and Delaware Avenue. According to the Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority, he plans to offer the ground floor for retail space and renovate the apartments on the second story for the first time in decades.
Leslie Knoblock, who works at the Farmers Insurance office across the street, said she and her coworkers are glad to see the redevelopment in the area.
"These buildings are beautiful down here," Knoblock said. "They have a lot of life left to give, so it's just a really great thing."
Back at what will become Tinker's Glass House, Dr. Tinker is excited to see work progress because he's taking in just as he's about to leave his medical practice. The project not only creates a new chapter for his life, but it also gives a shot in the arm to an historic building that now has its best days ahead of it.
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