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Chickasha Community Foundation seeks TSET funds for downtown —Grady Moves— wellness hub; municipal authority approves lease amendment
Summary
The Chickasha Community Foundation updated council on a downsized downtown park plan retooled as a community wellness hub titled 'Grady Moves' and the Municipal Authority approved Amendment No. 2 to the lease to permit the hub and extend the project completion date.
Pat Brooks, representing the Chickasha Community Foundation, told the council the foundation has pivoted a privately funded downtown park plan toward a community wellness hub and will apply for a Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) Legacy Grant under the program name "Grady Moves: A Community Wellness Hub — Building a Better You." The foundation sought a lease amendment to allow the new use and to extend a construction deadline in the lease.
Brooks said the original full master plan for the roughly 6.5-acre site between the railroad tracks and First Street — which included an arts plaza and demolition-then-renovation of a freight building now used as a visitor center — had been priced at just under $10,000,000. After fundraising proved infeasible at that scale, the foundation reduced the plan and then learned of the TSET legacy grant opportunity. TSET is allocating $150 million statewide for legacy grants; minimum application size is $3,000,000 and rural applications receive priority, Brooks said. The application window opened April 15 and closes June 16 with a first-cut notification in September and final decisions later in the fall.
The proposed wellness hub would include an approximately 14,000-square-foot building with space for a farmers market, demonstration kitchen and classrooms, a medical/counseling room, administrative offices, an urban garden, a playground, and indoor recreational flexibility for activities such as pickleball or youth sport programming. Brooks said programming partners include local health-care professionals, the Grady County Health Department and potential participation by Oklahoma School of Arts and Sciences or USAO faculty (Master Gardener involvement was noted). The foundation asked the municipal authority to approve two lease changes: (1) an expanded permitted use to include a community wellness hub promoting healthy living choices free to the public and (2) an extension of the lease improvement completion date from Dec. 31, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2027, to match the grant timeline.
The municipal authority voted to accept Amendment No. 2 to the lease agreement (dated Nov. 1, 2021) to allow the revised use. The motion to approve Amendment No. 2 passed by roll call, with Burris recorded as a no vote and the other members voting yes.
Brooks also noted a retail tenant change in the visitor center: tenant Whitney Palisano plans to end her lease in June and Pamela Prather has expressed interest in assuming the space starting July 1; that sublease assignment is included in the amendment packet.
Brooks encouraged councilmembers to visit a comparable facility in Norman (thewellok.org) to view farmers market integration, demonstration kitchens and multiuse programming. The foundation estimated that, if awarded, construction could begin January 2026 and take roughly 18 months, with a possible opening in July 2027. The council/authority packet included updated site diagrams and the amendment under consideration.
The transcript shows the municipal authority motion to approve the amendment and the related roll call vote; the public portion of the meeting did not include a detailed funding commitment or final grant award confirmation.
