Main Street Muskogee details $12.5 million Broadway plan, $2.5 million local ask for July 8 vote

Courtney Graham, executive director of Main Street Muskogee, told the City Council on June 23 that the organization is focusing on preservation, placemaking and business recruitment as part of a new three‑to‑five year strategy.

“The strategies will guide our organization to revitalizing downtown,” Graham said, presenting the group’s 2024–25 annual report.

Graham told council members that Main Street’s Broadway District Master Plan is a 10‑phase, $12,500,000 project that includes streetscaping, a new park at the Broadway Green and pedestrian alley improvements; she said a $2,500,000 local funding item related to the plan will appear on the July 8 ballot.

The report listed grant and incentive activity the group said has supported downtown reinvestment: a business incentive grant that awarded five recipients; a Renew & Rebuild grant with 12 recipients; and a facade improvement program the presentation said totaled $150,000 in city grants on projects that leveraged more than $300,000 in total investment. Graham said the organization logged more than $2,000,000 in private reinvestment in downtown during 2024 and a cumulative $45,000,000 reinvested in downtown since 2008.

Graham outlined projects Main Street Muskogee said it expects to complete by the end of 2025, including a mural at the Broadway Green, new pedestrian crosswalk signals on Broadway, 15 planting containers, bike racks and trash receptacles. She described the crosswalk devices as “Bulldog push buttons” that include two‑tone audio signals and LED indicators and which require less than 2 pounds of force to activate; the first installation location she named was Second and Broadway.

The presentation also summarized volunteer‑led committees and programs: energy audits of five civic buildings performed with Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Main Street Center at no cost to the city; window‑display and retail merchandising workshops; a downtown ambassador program that Graham said collected more than 57,000 pounds of litter and used more than 40,000 gallons of water for hand‑watering in 2024; and events including Bonanza and the downtown Christmas parade.

Graham said Main Street Muskogee had 2,278 volunteer hours in 2024, seven completed building rehabs and five new downtown business openings.

Council members and staff were invited to contact Main Street Muskogee for additional information on the Broadway District Master Plan and related grants. The council did not take a formal vote on the presentation; the item was on the agenda as a report.