Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Bartlett Square and Main Mall
5th and Main
Completed in 1978 by HTB, Inc.
Lawrence Halprin, consultant
In 1978, at the same time construction was just completing on Tulsa's new Main Mall, many cities throughout the country were ripping their pedestrian malls out. It seems that closing off downtown streets to motorized traffic wasn't such a great thing for retail business. Ooops! By 1996, the city was already trying to find ways to bring a very stagnant downtown back to life. In 2005, they completed the removal of Bartlett Square and the Main Mall, opening the heart of downtown to traffic once again. This has been repeated all over the country numerous times. Of the over 200 pedestrian malls that were built during the late 60s through the 70s, only a handful were successful. For a good chunk of the 90s, I lived near one of the few that continue to thrive, the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. Too bad Tulsa's couldn't turn out this way. Hopefully the new changes being made downtown will bring positive results to the city.
I really wish I took more photos during the early 80s when this was still new. I attended numerous events and concerts in Bartlett Square. When the fountains were running, it really was a nice place to hang out. Waterfalls cascaded all around. The mature trees provided shade during the day and the ambient lighting of the fountains and lamps created a wonderful nighttime mood.
These photos were taken during the Summer of 2003. It includes several photos of some buildings of interest. The Froug's Department Store building at 3rd and Main was demolished last August. There are also shots of some of the surrounding buildings such as the empty Lerner building and it's companion, the Sinclair, McFarlin, Vandever, Pythian, Mayo Building and Hotel.
Since I started working in Bartlesville in late '03, I haven't been down there to see the "new downtown". I'm working on a before/after gallery, so I'll see if I can get some new shots to work into that project.
Edit: Sorry, I didn't mean to include that last shot of Jazzcow...although they were a good band. I've already closed Picasa...so I'm not re-doing it!
Edit 7/30/05: The photo galleries aren't the most user friendly, so I'm trying to get all of my sets online with Flickr. A test set of the Bartlett Square and Main Mall pics is here. Let me know if you like this better. It certainly gives them more exposure due to the number of tags I can put on them.
5th and Main
Completed in 1978 by HTB, Inc.
Lawrence Halprin, consultant
In 1978, at the same time construction was just completing on Tulsa's new Main Mall, many cities throughout the country were ripping their pedestrian malls out. It seems that closing off downtown streets to motorized traffic wasn't such a great thing for retail business. Ooops! By 1996, the city was already trying to find ways to bring a very stagnant downtown back to life. In 2005, they completed the removal of Bartlett Square and the Main Mall, opening the heart of downtown to traffic once again. This has been repeated all over the country numerous times. Of the over 200 pedestrian malls that were built during the late 60s through the 70s, only a handful were successful. For a good chunk of the 90s, I lived near one of the few that continue to thrive, the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, CO. Too bad Tulsa's couldn't turn out this way. Hopefully the new changes being made downtown will bring positive results to the city.
I really wish I took more photos during the early 80s when this was still new. I attended numerous events and concerts in Bartlett Square. When the fountains were running, it really was a nice place to hang out. Waterfalls cascaded all around. The mature trees provided shade during the day and the ambient lighting of the fountains and lamps created a wonderful nighttime mood.
These photos were taken during the Summer of 2003. It includes several photos of some buildings of interest. The Froug's Department Store building at 3rd and Main was demolished last August. There are also shots of some of the surrounding buildings such as the empty Lerner building and it's companion, the Sinclair, McFarlin, Vandever, Pythian, Mayo Building and Hotel.
Since I started working in Bartlesville in late '03, I haven't been down there to see the "new downtown". I'm working on a before/after gallery, so I'll see if I can get some new shots to work into that project.
Edit: Sorry, I didn't mean to include that last shot of Jazzcow...although they were a good band. I've already closed Picasa...so I'm not re-doing it!
Edit 7/30/05: The photo galleries aren't the most user friendly, so I'm trying to get all of my sets online with Flickr. A test set of the Bartlett Square and Main Mall pics is here. Let me know if you like this better. It certainly gives them more exposure due to the number of tags I can put on them.
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Love your site. I used to own the donut bldg. at 31st and Yale. I wanted to get a picture of it but can't find it on your site. Guess I'm computer dumb. I know it was listed but could not navigate to it. Jim Pumpelly
I moved to Tulsa in 1949. I have lived here every since. This brings back a lot of memories. I lived in Brookside and then my parents moved out east. We never shopped downtown, but shopped at Admiral Shopping Center and East Gate Shopping Center. I do know that a lot of people went down town at Christmas time to shop just for the atmosphere.
I used to spend alot of time skateboarding at Bartlett Square and other spots Downtown in my youth. The new fountain is pretty dissapointing.
As a downtown Tulsa employee, the new Bartlett Square certain leaves much to be desired. It will be interesting to see if it does indeed pull more stores into downtown as suggested.
*sigh*
*sigh*
By the way, the building with arby's in it that you don't know the name of is called the Excaliber building. I'm finding out why they call it this.
I've noticed that the small new fountain which was dedicated in the spring of 2005 is now smashed and out of service. I guess that's what happens when poor drivers meet poor urban design.
I'll remember this folly the next time we have a chance to vote on yet another third penny sales tax extension...
I'll remember this folly the next time we have a chance to vote on yet another third penny sales tax extension...
I've never been to this pedestrian mall, but just from looking at the photos, I'm wondering if there are too many tiers, too much winding, and not enough visibility.
Boston (where I live) has had problems in the past with public plazas not being at the same level, and not visible to people walking on the street. People would not go up or down into them.
From my own experience, it seems like the most successful pedestrian plazas are ones with long sight lines and are all one level. From the photos, it's not obvious at all what's around each bend unless you explore it.
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Boston (where I live) has had problems in the past with public plazas not being at the same level, and not visible to people walking on the street. People would not go up or down into them.
From my own experience, it seems like the most successful pedestrian plazas are ones with long sight lines and are all one level. From the photos, it's not obvious at all what's around each bend unless you explore it.
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