CHICKASHA — The Municipal Authority voted to allow the Community Foundation to sublease a portion of the Visitor Center as retail space “for the convenience of the public and to help defer … maintenance costs” of the new Downtown Park.
The visitor center is located in the renovated “Railway Express Agency” freight building in the Downtown Park, home of the iconic “Leg Lamp” statute. The building includes a common area and restrooms that are open to the public.
The Chickasha Community Foundation intends to lease approximately 420 square feet of the building at 102 E. Chickasha Avenue to Whitney Palesano, doing business as Downtown Mercantile, for $600 per month, effective July 1.
The tenant is authorized to sublease the western section of the Visitor Center for usage as a “retail sales location and staffed information center for visitors to the park and Chickasha in general.”
Palesano “agrees to take good and reasonable care of the premises” for retail sales of souvenirs, “locally sourced products, and convenience products which are family oriented.” Sales of alcohol, tobacco, vape and marijuana-related products are forbidden.
The tenant will be “solely responsible for the collection and deposit of all appropriate sales taxes for retail sales” in the visitor center.
A condition of the lease is that Downtown Mercantile agrees to serve as the ticket agent for the foundation “regarding future amusement rides” in the park and to remit the proceeds from the ticket sales to the foundation.
The agreement is for one year, and Palesano will have four one-year renewal options “under the same terms and conditions” of the lease.
The foundation will pay for property insurance on the premises. The tenant will be responsible for its own personal property insurance “and agrees to carry commercial general liability insurance” covering the premises it occupies and the business it conducts there.