The new travel plaza in Hennessey could open next month.

“We’re shooting to open inthemiddleofDecember,” said Jay Ruiz, a principal in the 75,000 square-foot Howdy Travel Plaza going up in north Hennessey on U.S. Highway 81 at State Highway 51.

Ruiz said the inside of the restaurant is “about half-ready.”

He made the announcement during Thursday night’s Hennessey Board of Trustees meeting at Town Hall.

He was there to present the board with a $77,136 quote to pave about one-seventh of a mile (725 feet) road that would be 24 feet wide.

That road will allow easier access for supply trucks to Howdy.

It will run north a halfmile off U.S. 81/S.H. 51 and that dirt road now leads to the veterinary clinic.

Paying to pave that road, an extension of Hennessey’s Main Street, is part of a concession the town made during negotiations with Howdy to place the business inside the town limits.

The town will get its 4 percent sales tax revenue from the plaza that includes a 6 a.m.-8 p.m. restaurant, fuel stations for automobiles and tractor- trailers, and a trucker’s lounge with showers and laundry facilities.

In negotiations, the town also agreed to a payback agreement with the company if Howdy would pay for installation of water and sewer lines to its property.

The town will repay Howdy for those installations with sales tax money generated by the new business.

All board members were present at the Nov. 10 meeting: Mayor Bert Gritz, Vice Mayor Clif Vogt and Trustees Richard Simunek, Harold Shaw and David Jones

Concrete vs. Asphalt Paving?

A paving quote from Stan’s Asphalt & Construction of Enid calls for an asphalt overlay.

Gritz asked what it would cost for concrete.

“About the same,” Ruiz said.

Gritz and other trustees agreed that concrete would be best.

Ruiz said he’d have a new quote for them the next day.

Gritz said they will have a special meeting later this month and could consider a new quote then.

Simunek asked what it would cost for an eightinch overlay instead of the five-inch (two-inch surface and three-inch base) listed on quote since there will be heavy truck traffic.

“Double the price,” Ruiz said.

That was before Ruiz made the board and audience hungry.

French toast, barbecue, specialty chicken and even a variety of “pops” that were popular in the 1960s will soon be available, he said.

He said the pop is what is now at “Pop’s” in Arcadia that generates lots of sales with their drinks.

“Are you going to have slushies?” asked Simunek.

“Yes,” he said, along with other foods and drinks not available in the area.

Why locate in Hennessey?

Simunek also asked Ruiz why he chose Hennessey for the new plaza.

“Because of the 11,000 cars and trucks on 81 and 51,” Ruiz said.

( Ed. note: See story on Page 3 on Hennessey Trustee action.)