Happy Birthday, Bud!
Football gets underway
Bud Meade celebrated his 90th birthday with family and friends during a party at the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. Pages B1 & B2.
Crossings Christian’s Hunter Johnson (7) races for the end zone for an 86-yard touchdown against Rejoice Christian last Friday. Page 5.
- Photo by Bryan Bevel, bevelphotography.smugmug.com
OKC FRIDAY Vol. 52 No. 19 • Two Sections • 16 pages September 7, 2018
www.okcfriday.com facebook.com/okcfriday Serving affluent far north Oklahoma City, Nichols Hills and The Village for 44 years
Investors give a hoot, step up to renovate old Owl Court
Owl Court was a motel built by William Quats Sr. in about 1930 as the Quats Inn, state historical records indicate. A companion café and gas station were added later. An environmental evaluation of the property was performed to determine whether the site was contaminated from the service station; the analysis showed that the station’s two underground fuel tanks were still intact and the dirt is not polluted.
By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer A group of investors has purchased and is renovating one of Oklahoma City’s oldest surviving Route 66 motels from the 1930s: Owl Court, in Old Britton. The six-member investment group bought the old motel from John Dunning in February. Dunning saved the corner from being demolished and cleared for a car lot in 2006, but was unable to renovate the landmark site. Twelve years later, the property was listed on Oklahoma City’s delinquent and abandoned property list and was on the brink of demolition when Owl Court LLC rescued it. A shack and a couple of other derelict buildings on the site were so dilapidated they had to be demolished. Nevertheless, K&M Wrecking Co. of Oklahoma City managed to salvage native stone from the buildings which will be recycled for ornamental use in the new
- Photos by Mike W. Ray
See OWL COURT, Page 2
Who is Owl Court LLC: Marc Weinmeister explains some of the repairs that have to be made during renovation of the Owl Court motel in Old Britton.
Owl Court LLC is comprised of six men: • Thomas Rossiter, a vice president at First Fidelity Bank who earned an MBA at Oklahoma State University. He was the catalyst for the investment group and started working with property owners in 2016 to establish an organization to promote redevelopment of the area. • Marcus Ude, an Oklahoma
City University graduate who is president of Universal Development Enterprise. • Rusty LaForge, an attorney with Mammoth Energy Services who earned an accounting degree at Oklahoma State University and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma law school. • Marc Weinmeister of Edmond, broker/owner of CommercialOKC real estate; he
is the managing member of Owl Court LLC. Weinmeister earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and business at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and a master’s degree in petroleum geology at Texas A&M. Trinity U is where he met his wife-to-be, Elaine Webber, who attended Nichols Hills Elementary School and graduated from Casady High School.
Carl Shortt is 2018 Orchids in October honoree The Board of Directors of the Myriad Gardens Foundation announced that Carl Shortt Jr. is the 2018 recipient of the James R. Tolbert III Crystal Orchid Award. This award is an annual tribute to those who significantly impact the beauty
FRIDAY’s
and success of the Myriad Botanical Gardens and Oklahoma City. This celebration will be held on Thursday, Oct. 25 at the Myriad Gardens with the ceremony on the Water Stage and the luncheon in the Park House Events Center.
Orchids in October is the annual fall fundraiser that benefits the Myriad Gardens Foundation. Tickets are $85 per person and can be purchased online at myriadgardens.org or by phone at 4457084. For more information, email dmorey@myriadgardens.org.
Dog of the Week
Sponsored by Paulette and Leo Kingston of WePayFast.com
Millie is a 6-month-old Goldendoodle. She loves socks, sticks and her brother Milo. She is very smart and was easy to train. She goes to daycare every week to play with her friends! Kristina Tanksley is her human. Send Dog of the Week, Cat of the Week and Baby of the Week nominations with complete descriptions to rose@okcfriday.com. Submissions are used in the order they are received.
After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, Carl began his banking career at First National Bank and Trust Company. In 1981, he and Randy Everest started The Trust Company of Oklahoma See ORCHIDS, Page 3
CARL SHORTT, Jr.
Police alerted when child takes ride in a stroller in a truck bed By Mike W. Ray Staff Writer Police in The Village were notified of an endangered infant, an expensive case of shoplifting and an unusual incident of vandalism. The Police Department was alerted when a pickup traveling north on Pennsylvania Avenue near Britton Road was seen transporting a child who was in a stroller that was in the bed of the truck. The complainant didn’t notice the tag and the vehicle was gone by the time
police arrived on the scene. A suspected shoplifter’s appetite will cost him dearly. The manager at a convenience store in the 10800 block of N. May Avenue reported that a customer stole three breakfast sandwiches and a bottle of milk. The suspect was located by The Village police, identified by the store manager and issued a citation to appear in municipal court. The food items allegedly stolen by the 64-year-old Midwest City See POLICE, Page 3