Durant City Council, in its recent monthly meeting, agreed to vacate part of an alley for a Bryan County Courthouse Annex building that will be constructed.
City attorney Tom Marcum said the alley is between Fourth and Fifth avenues north of Beech St.
Bryan County plans to construct a courthouse annex on the southern part of that block, but between Fourth and Fifth, there is a city alley that divides that block in half.
“In order to construct what they want to construct, they want the southern part of that alley to go away,” Marcum said. “The city doesn’t need it for the purposes of utilities or trash collection and staff has approved vacating that alley and this would allow the county to do what they need to do with the southern part of that block.”
According to Marcum, passage of the ordinance closes the alley and the county will need to take an additional step to foreclose the reopening of the alley.
“What I would expect to happen after you guys take this action if you approve this ordinance closing the use of the alley, the county would then file a suit with the district court,” Marcum said. “It’s just a routine procedure but statute requires them to file suit with the district court that permanently prohibits the reopening of that alleyway and so they’ll do that before they start their construction.”
Mayor Martin Tucker asked if there is still access from the north half of the alley.
“I can’t remember how long this is, but it’s less than half of the alleyway,” Marcum replied. “It’s just basically a lot or two deep that they need to have closed so they can build their building.”
Council members, with the exception of Danny Sherrer, who was not present for the meeting, then approved vacating the alley.
In a meeting earlier this year, Bryan County commissioners Scott Goad, Tony Simmons and Brandon Carr approved a $157,100 agreement with Theorem LLC architecture to design a new courthouse annex building to be constructed at 301 N. Fourth Ave. and an apartment building that was located there has since been demolished. The District Attorney’s Office, currently located in the old Plaza Theater, will move into the current courthouse annex upon completion of the new building.
The council presented a proclamation declaring December 2024 as Osteopathic Medicine Month and marking the 150th anniversary of the American Osteopathic Association.
Vice Mayor Mike Simulescu read the proclamation and presented it to Dr. Terry R. Gerard II, Dr. Jantzen J. Faulkner, Dr. Brady Liu and Dr. Reika Takita.
Under new business, Ryan Brewer, parks and recreation manager, announced the city received the award of excellence in the program or special event category from the Oklahoma Recreation and Parks Society for the Durant Sports Festival held in June 2024. The sports festival was a month-long celebration of sports and community and featured more than 13 sports tournaments, camps and clinics in eight locations. The City of Durant was also featured in the October 2024 issue of the National Parks Magazine.
Brewer recently attended the Oklahoma Recreation and Parks Society Conference where he was presented with the award.
“Several months ago, I submitted the sports festival that we did last June as a contender for Oklahoma’s best special event and program to the state,” Brewer said. “Well, we won out of 140 different members of Oklahoma Parks and Rec in the state … We had the best one that encompassed the view of what parks and rec is supposed to be about. The overall betterness and wellness of society and the community with a creative impact and engagement event with program excellence.”
Tucker congratulated Brewer for the accomplishment.
In a social media post, the parks department announced that the next sports festival will have more sports, including Esports, rodeo and buddyball.
“Our goal is to introduce people of all ages to a variety of sports and recreational activities, showcasing all that Durant’s parks and local businesses have to offer,” the parks department said. “A huge thank you to our sponsor, Discover Durant, and all the partners who made this award-winning event possible. Together, we’re showing the state and nation just how special our city is.”