Amidst talk of renovated buildings and the purchase and sale of properties, the Britton District meeting of March 17th was called to order by Grace Powell at the 89th Street-OKC bar and music hall at 6:00 P.M. Powell, who serves as the executive director of the Britton District, distributed to those attendees a document that bore the words “Britton District” in bold red lettering and were advised that that is what will be put in place on Britton Road adjacent to Western Avenue later this year and many of them expressed enthusiasm for that undertaking. A representative from the Oklahoma City city government, Susan Atkinson, who serves as a liaison with the district, told of how the city will be putting out for public comment shortly a proposed expansion of the bike and walking lanes that are currently in place, and said that if any party wanted to extend them to include thoroughfares located in the Britton District they could submit such a proposal. The liaison further detailed how that the centennial of the construction of Route 66, which ran through the district, will take place in 2026, and that a nation- wide celebration will take place and that the district may wish to be part of it. She further told of that how Route 66 was altered on occasion, and that may account for the fact that several different streets in Oklahoma City were part of that fabled thoroughfare that has been called the “Mother Road of America,” and that many Europeans have travelled it in recent years. Maura Baker, who operates the popular Zero Tolerance Coffee and Chocolate in the district was in attendance, and she told of how a tourist from Europe had asked her to stamp a document to confirm that he was traveling on it, which prompted some of the other members to suggest that she should have such stamps created for that purpose. It was also announced that the annual Britton Day Festival will be held on July 31st this year, and will result in closure of the section of Britton Road that is part of the district, and the attendees were told that vendors would be on the street for much of the day, but live music will be performed there from 5 P.M. until 9:00 P.M.
It had previously been made public that both a brewery and a pizzeria were coming to the district, and the owners of the latter, which will be known as Venn Pizza, were present and told of how they anticipate opening their establishment officially on May 1, but that they anticipate approximately 5 or 6 soft openings to ensure that their staff is adequately trained. It was further revealed that a popular Oklahoma artist, Carlos Barboza, whose murals are increasingly found throughout the state of Oklahoma, had already painted a mural on the wall of the building that will house that undertaking. It is possible that decades from now students of art history may be traveling to that location as part of an effort to chronicle the work of Barboza.
Against the Grain 