WAGONER, Okla. — A downtown development Wagoner has waited almost three years to start - and endured some drama to fund - broke ground on Oct. 5, with businesses and local leaders suggesting better days ahead for the community.
Junction Plaza is the $1.3 million park, and public theater City of Wagoner first announced in December 2023.
But the planned paved walkways, heritage-themed art, and business-friendly Main Street scenery at a space burned down in a 2017 fire faced a bumpy road to get to this point.
Early last year, the Wagoner County Economic Development Authority derailed its funding plans vital for the project, sparring with Wagoner mayor Dalton Self over a quarter-acre land sale and reported budget concerns.
Seven months later however, Junction Plaza was back on track with retired Williams Companies CFO and Wagoner-native John Chandler tapped to direct its finances.
"(My wife and I) for one look forward to coming downtown to hear bands playing, to watch movies in the park, to attend community events, and to find a place to reconnect with our community," Chandler said at the groundbreaking.
“We’ve already had several people reach out about buying businesses downtown or lots to build new buildings, so this is just a great day," Mayor Self told 2 News.
- Previous coverage>>> 'Constructive' year ahead for Wagoner development, improvements
“We’ve had a lot of challenges," the mayor said about previous groundbreaking delays. "We’ve had to go over some steps with our bidding, our engineer. We got all that taken care of. That takes some time. You have to wait a certain amount of time to advertise it out. And we actually wanted to get into this (year’s) budget and verify our funding and everything."
Junction Plaza now has a targeted completion of spring 2027.
I’m also a Wagoner volunteer fireman, and I almost lost my life in the 2017 fire right here where we’re standing,” the mayor said.
“And now we’re here, and the people are coming to Wagoner."
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