Oklahoma Historical Society

PROJECT PURPOSE

ARPA-SOD-2101 - ADA / Safety - The Sod House Museum encloses the only remaining, original sod house from Oklahoma settlement. To make the facility accessible to all Oklahoman?s the parking area must be upgraded to a hard-surface and the restroom facilities have to be remodeled to expand capacity and provide accessibility.

EVIDENCE

Our projects utilize local or regional contractors to perform the work and draw local, state and national visitation to the area thus boosting the local economy from construction activities and tourism for the area and state.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The communities and local businesses around this site were impacted by the state shutdown and the decline of tourism as a result of the COVID pandemic. The local communities, municipalities and businesses lost revenue from sales, lodging, taxes and other tourism related benefits. This project benefits everyone by employing local businesses to create or improve local attractions and facilities to improve local tourism and community programing. The Sod House Museum is located in rural Alfalfa County with a populaton of 5,702. The median age of the population is 44. The median household income is 61,852, but 16% of the total population live in poverty. The unemployment rate is 2.1%. 12% of the adult population is disabled. Agriculture and energy production are the two main economic drivers. 87% of the population identifies as white, 6% Hispanic or Latino, 5% Black/African American, 4% American Indian. 85% of the adult population have a high school diploma.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Project performance will be measured by visitation statistics with our current monthly statistical tracking system and tracking earned income at the site.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma