Blackwell Youth Center to be repainted as part of state project

Blackwell’s Youth Center will be getting a fresh coat of paint this fall as part of the City of Blackwell’s annual participation in the Paint Oklahoma Beautiful grant program.

Announced last week, Utility Office Supervisor Cindy Gaddis with the City of Blackwell voiced her enthusiasm with painting the Youth Center as her next project.

“We have done the senior citizen’s building next to the Wheatheart building, and last year we did the Animal Shelter. We actually won the Paint Oklahoma Beautiful contest when we did the senior building, and that was incredible for our community.”

Gaddis is meeting with the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful organization soon to set a concrete date for the Youth Center painting which will be in September.

Volunteers will be needed, Gaddis said, and encouraged as many people as possible to come help with the project.

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB) received over 50 applications, and then HIS Paint, the organization’s paint donor, selected 19 community structures to participate in Paint Oklahoma

Beautiful.

“The Paint Oklahoma Beautiful program encourages volunteers to seek out community

structures and renovate them with the creative use of resources. The City of Blackwell was chosen as one of the participating groups this year,” the organization said in a release.

HIS Paint and Keep Oklahoma Beautiful started the Paint Oklahoma Beautiful program in 2005.

The City of Blackwell will be among 19 groups competing for the “Best Visual Impact Award” through the “Communities Primed for Change” online contest. Finalists will be chosen based on their ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos. Winners will be announced at the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful 33rd Annual Environmental Excellence Awards Celebration on November 17, 2023.