Council: Arthur's bar to expand; Library to sell surplus books

The City of Blackwell held their first council meeting for the month of February last Thursday where they honored members of the Blackwell Police Department and approved the transfer of four lots to Arthur’s Bar & Grill for expansion and development.

The meeting began at 6 p.m with Chief of Police Jay Brewer recognizing Nick Grove and Cory Ingram as Employees of the Month. Grove was recognized for assisting in replacing a flat tire in the freezing January cold while Ingram was recognized for his hard work on several major cases for the department.

The meeting’s major action was the City of Blackwell declaring four lots as surplus and transferring them to Sabrina and Brandon Ward who own and operate Arthur’s Bar & Grill.

Arthur’s opened in October 2023 in the renovated Harvey’s building on 3rd and Dewey and quickly became a local hot-spot operating as a restaurant and bar. Quickly, the business expanded to offer karaoke, singo, live music, painting classes, and more.

Parking, as City Attorney Bryce Kennedy noted, quickly became an issue. The lots transferred to Arthur’s will allow the business owners to incorporate a parking space as well as leaving room for expanding the business with a covered outdoor patio area that will have TVs and fans which will be an estimated 1,000 square feet in size.

The City Council also heard from Blackwell Public Library’s Director of Operations Talyn Spence who approached the council to surplus excess children’s books that have been weeded from the downstairs children’s library.

The books will be sold at the library to raise money for programs and events. More information on the sale will be posted to the Blackwell Public Library and City of Blackwell’s social media pages.