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about the architecture can be read in this BNET article that I borrowed from (among other internet sources) for historical reference.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

Williams Center Forum

The Williams Center Forum was a modern 3-level shopping mall with ice arena in downtown Tulsa from the late '70s to early '90s. After going defunct, it was converted and reopened in 1998 as the Williams Energy Trading Floor, taking up the space of a football field and wired with over 235 miles of data cable.

I've had a lot of requests and questions regarding pictures of the former mall and it's ice skating arena. Unfortunately, even though I spent lots of time there during High School (my Sr. prom was even held there), I never managed to take any pictures before it closed down. However, today I stumbled across Flickr user Steven Wilson's fantastic Williams Center Forum photo set of the center during it's prime.

Also of interest is his Woodland Hills Mall photoset showing it's original '70s design before several subsequent renovations. I so glad someone else managed to capture images of these places before they were changed so drastically.

Above: Photo by Steven Wilson of the Williams Center Forum ice arena.

Labels: renovated

Rose Bowl Renovation

Although I can't find an online version of the text anywhere, the Tulsa World has a small article about upcoming renovations to this unique Rt. 66 landmark.

From May 27, 2007 Tulsa World:

After well over a year of speculation, things are looking rosier at the historic Rose Bowl.

Literally.

"We've painted the outside with pink terra-cotta, since we didn't really like the white and purple scheme," said Sam Baker, co-owner of the Rose Bowl along with his nephew, Chris Whinery.

The new paint job marks the first external transformation from a shuttered bowling alley to an event center, which will host an antique auction the first weekend in July. Other potential uses include hosting home and garden shows, weekend flea markets, car shows and motorcycle rallies.

Though the building's purpose will change, Baker, the owner of several nearby automotive businesses, said he wants to keep the building as close to its original architecture as possible. He even stuck with the basic name, calling it the Rose Bowl Event Center.

Baker and Whinery, his partner in the venture and a mortgage broker with Whinery Mortgage of Edmond, Muskogee and Tulsa, purchased the former bowling alley at 7419 E. 11th St. in February 2006 for $295,000.

Baker estimated that it will take well over $1 million to renovate the building.

This is very encouraging news to see such a huge challenge being undertaken. I wish these guys luck with their renovation and I hope their schedule fills up quickly this summer.

Labels: renovated

Northland Center Revisited

Originally built as one of Tulsa's first malls, the open-air Northland Shopping Center has been renovated after many years of neglect. It has successfully been re-purposed as a office complex, dubbed Northland Center. Presently, the primary tenant is a community outreach center.

Although they've modernized the front facade of the buildings, the rear still looks much the same. Also, they left the wonderfully huge Northland Shopping Center sign standing tall on the hill behind the mall. I've been taken by the design of this sign since I first saw it. I was pleasantly surprised that they left the sign intact, although all the former neon has been gone for a long time. My imagination runs wild when I think of how it looked when it presided over a thriving new retail center in the '50s and '60s.

Click on either photo above to visit the former Northland Shopping Center's newest photoset. I first wrote about this mall in this early Lost Tulsa entry. Lots of people who remember growing up with this mall commented and clarified much of the history of the place. Pics from a previous Northland photoset shows it as it was before the renovation.

Labels: renovated

Eastland Mall Metamorphosis

There's been a lot of activity over at Eastland Mall with a $45 million (increased from $30m) renovation in full swing. The newly dubbed Eastgate Metroplex is off to a good start. The biggest news so far is the signing of Coca-Cola Enterprises, who will open customer support offices in the former JC Penney space on the West end of the mall. They will occupy 61,850 square feet and expect to employ ~300 people. Eastgate developers are also busy building out classrooms for a new childhood education center operated by the Community Action Project of Tulsa County.

The external facade is beginning to change as well. I have watched them carefully remove a former incinerator chimney that took over a week. I can only a assume there were some asbestos abatement issues, or that rebar-reinforced concrete was just really giving them a challenge. They have removed the "tents" over the main entrance and will be replacing the square-tube open framework with a more traditional (read: boring) stucco treatment. Since Eastgate is going to be primarily commercial, there will not be as much need for a huge main entrance. Most of the tenants will have their own main access. Staying for sure is Mickey's bowling center. The theater will probably return after the renovation. Dillard's is in discussion over their future there. Very much in limbo is the fate of the former food court, which is simply too large for the smaller scale retail planned for this mixed-use facility.



I found this very informative Tulsa World article the other day, after visiting Eastgate Metroplex with my son for one last attempt at taking some shots. When I saw the photo at the top of the article, I was stunned. I've been trying to figure out for some time what part of this mall I visited as a kid in the early '80s, when I snuck into a cavernous uncompleted mall. Now I realize that I once wandered around in what would eventually become the 150,000 sq. foot basement below the main level of Eastland Mall. This basement surprised even the developer, who was unaware of its existence. I love the mention of the "stairs to nowhere" in the article. I'm sure there's many things like that remain from the original construction started in the mid-'70s.

Even though I couldn't go underground, I took a final opportunity to wander this mall before things really start to change inside. I always loved the waterfall that dropped to the food court level. Now, it's beautifully abandoned, dry as a bone with hard water stains streaking the stone tiles...dead plants surrounding the area. See my Eastland Mall 3 photoset for one last view of this structure as an abandoned/dying retail center. At the rate they're going, this will all be cleaned up renovated and repurposed in another year.

Labels: Eastland Mall, renovated