It’s been three weeks since those two tornadoes tore through Sapulpa, and for the most part, folks seem to be getting back to life as it was before we got hit with the worst damage in almost sixty years.
But the truth is, not everyone has been so quick to recover. Several buildings in downtown Sapulpa still have plywood over their large storefront windows. Buildings like Westfall, which houses Isabella’s and Balamachi Salon, still have scaffolding up, while business owners are trying to get by as best they can.
Water Street Tattoo relocated to Tulsa for now
Brandon Mull, the owner of Water Street Tattoo, has had to completely relocate his business because of the damage done to the property. During the storm, the back half of the roof of his building was ripped away, leaving a gaping hole that allowed rain to pour in.
The roof of the Water Street Tattoo building. 
Debris from the roof of the Water Street Tattoo building sits in the street the morning after the storms passed through.
The result left his shop completely unusable:
With nowhere to turn locally, Mull has been forced to move his business to Tulsa temporarily while repairs are being made. He’s currently working out of a space at 71st and Mingo that belongs to another tattoo shop called InkJunkys.
Mull says that the progress on the repairs has seemed to stall out, saying that the contractor delivered a work report to the insurance company, but they’re still waiting on a “counter offer”.
Mull says that they’re still paying off the loan they took out to do the build out that happened before the storm it. He hopes they can make it back into the space soon. “we love that place,” he says.
A new, very secretive ice cream shop is coming to downtown Sapulpa
The space at 24. E Dewey has brown paper covering it, giving very little clue as to what’s happening inside. Thankfully, we were able to catch the owner on Saturday to get a sneak peek at what’s coming downtown.
Y’all, it’s gonna be the first ice cream shop that Sapulpa has seen in years. What can we tell you? Not much.
The owner, who requested that we only give her name as “Michelle,” is really excited to be coming to Sapulpa, but is also being very secretive about style of ice cream shop she’s opening in the space that formerly house Steve Grogan’s Insurance (which has now moved next door) and for years, 24 E Dewey was the location of Paul’s Book Place.
While she gave some details to Sapulpa Times, we’ve been sworn to secrecy for the time being. What we are allowed to tell you is that it’s going to be “the very first ice cream shop of it’s kind in all of Oklahoma.”
Last Saturday, you could get bit of a peak inside the shop, but the fallen brown paper has been replaced:
Michelle says they were hoping to be open by June 1st, but issues with the AC unit has made that impossible. “Our contractor won’t even come in here until the AC is fixed,” she says. They’re now shooting for mid-July to open up.
Should be good weather for an ice cream shop.
The new shop joins GiGi’s Gourmet Popcorn in a series of new business ventures that are breathing new retail life into Route 66, Sapulpa.
