PAWHUSKA, OK – Through CARES Act funds, Osage Nation purchased the Mid-Continent building and property located at 111 John Dahl Ave. in Pawhuska, OK. The building will be used as a centralized receiving and distribution hub for Osage Nation.
“The purchase of this building and the property that goes with it is essentially two-fold,” said Casey Johnson, Osage Nation Director of Operations. “First, it gets more land and a viable structure back into the hands of the Osage people. Second, it will allow us to have a centralized receiving and distribution hub for all of the supplies, materials, and equipment that comes into the Nation for all of the departments. From this central hub, we can better track where and to whom our assets are going. It will make it easier for us to understand what the Nation owns in property and supplies.”
Most importantly, this CARES Act purchase serves as an additional level of safety as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to make social-distancing necessary.
“A central receiving facility will increase social distancing by routing all deliveries to one place,” said James Weigant, COVID Task Force Coordinator. “Rather than delivery companies entering all the Osage Nation buildings, they only enter one. Additionally, with the delivery service we will provide, Osage Nation employees will no longer be required to travel to pick up some orders. This facility will greatly improve social distancing and our ability to contact trace all personnel in and out of all Osage Nation facilities.”
The Osage Nation Attorney General’s Office cleared title to the property in order to make the purchase possible. “Any time our office can help grow the Nation’s land base, we are thrilled to be involved, especially on a purchase like this one that is intended to increase the safety of the Nation’s employees,” said Clint Patterson, Osages Nation Attorney.
Renovations on the building and property clean-up will begin as early as September 2021.