Tulsa Union Depot

Digging deep through the Tulsa City-County Library's Beryl Ford Collection today, I tripped across some great pics of the Tulsa Union Depot. This is one of my favorite Art Deco buildings in Tulsa, and I have some old shots from 2004 that I've been wanting to share. This was just the excuse I needed.

Completed in 1931, Tulsa's Union Depot is a PWA Moderne style building that barely escaped demolition after years of vandalization and decay.

The depot was planned by architect Frederick Kershner. He was responsible for accommodating the three separate railroads that would serve Tulsa with 60 trains arriving each day. The building was designed by R.C. Stephens, an architect for the Frisco Railroad. It was originally built by Manhattan Construction through the Public Works Administration program. During the Great Depression, the PWA created jobs for architects, designers, and builders by putting them to work creating government and public buildings.



The station was used for passenger rail service until 1967 when it was closed and left abandoned for well over a decade. During this time, it was ransacked by thieves who took marble, chandeliers and etched glass. Anything left below eight feet was stripped bare.

The Williams Companies bought the building and financed the life-saving renovation of the structure for use as office space in 1982. Using the original builders, Manhattan, they managed to make the building look better than new. Compare the modern pics to the archive photos and I think you'll agree, the restoration they performed is remarkable. The ongoing maintenance of this historic building is impressive as well.

The former depot is now home to the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra as well as office space for Level 3 (formerly Williams subsidiary Vyvx).

Considering all of the lost depots around the nation, we're lucky to still have such an impressive structure downtown.

Additional information on the history and details about the architecture can be read in this BNET article that I borrowed from (among other internet sources) for historical reference.

As always, clicking the top image will take you to the [flickr] photoset.

Labels: renovated