Preservationists from around U.S. take in Tulsa

[PonderInc]

In case you missed it, the National Trust for Historic Preservation was in Tulsa last week.  About 2,000 people from around the nation attended events, lectures, and went on tours of Tulsa.

It's always interesting to hear what others have to say about your hometown.  It was great to be surrounded by people who were ooohing and aahhing about our magnificent historic architecture.  (And it was eye opening to see people gushing over the weirdly unique architecture of the ORU Campus!)  Of course, we also heard the ubiquitous laments about the loss of our urban fabric due to teardowns.

Several people from the National Trust were blogging about Tulsa and the NTHP conference.  It's interesting to read their impressions of Tulsa.  Here are a few...

Strolling Through Downtown Tulsa

Sacred Spaces

Going Green Tulsa Style

And here's a snippet from a blog by Virgil McDill that critiques both Coney-I-Lander's Frito Pie and the Convention Center architecture all in a single entry...

"Just before attending the closing plenary session of the 2008 National Preservation Conference, I breakfasted on a popular local Tulsa food item that I'd never had before: Frito Pie. Spurred on by Jane and Michael Stern's popular Roadfood website, I'd been going to the restaurant Coney I-Lander (motto – "Since 1926 We haven't Changed a Bite) for lunch most days of the conference. There are a few locations of this popular local restaurant around town — the one I went to is underneath a cool, abandoned 1960s motel right in the middle of downtown Tulsa — a great place to soak up local culture along with the local cuisine. And what is Frito Pie? Basically, it's chili sauce atop a bed of Fritos, topped with cheddar cheese, onions and a special chili-powder mixture. Mmmmmmmm.

"The closing plenary took place at the Tulsa Convention Center, the Edward Durrell Stone-designed modernist building where much of the conference took place, and a building that few people fell in love with this week. The windowless third floor room where I spent much of the week seemed designed to snuff out any inkling of spirit or joy that might come its way."

[cannon_fodder]

Some really good writing on there, architecture is not my strong suit but it sounds like those "in the know" are equally thrilled and horrified with Tulsa:

quote:Many of Tulsa's downtown landmarks have been razed, adding to the inventory of parking lots in a city that has more than its share, but still standing proud is the grand old, long-shuttered Hotel Mayo, which is in the midst of conversion back to a hotel (and apartments). We enjoyed a hard-hat tour of the place, starting with the airy, amazing former ballroom on the top floor. Stepping off the elevator brought a flood of gasps. "Oh my God, oh my gosh ... oooooooh!" The space will live on as an events room. A few floors down is a former warren of fancy suites, once inhabited by such guests as Elvis and Bob Hope, slated for retooling as a restaurant or night club. It opens onto a huge balcony with a view of everything. Across the Arkansas River, in fact, we spotted a farm of oil refineries, the present-day expression of the industry that made Tulsa great in the first place.

http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=1458#more-1458

[cannon_fodder]

quote:I was in Tulsa for four days before I was actually able to get out of downtown, and start to feel like there may just be a community here. I took a wonderful tour Friday afternoon, "Going Green Tulsa Style", led by the passionate and amusing Ken Busby, executive director & CEO of the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa. From Ken I learned that 60% of Tulsa's downtown core is covered with parking lots and that the neighborhoods, communities and culture exist on the edge of downtown or the older "suburbs". That encouraged me a bit, although I would like to understand sometime what happened to downtown Tulsa to devastate it to such an extent. There is no retail, few restaurants, no pharmacies, grocery stores, or dry cleaners anywhere in sight downtown. And while many downtowns around the country go dormant on the weekends, I have never seen a major city that is dormant during the week also. Let's be honest, I was pretty depressed my first few days here. I saw no people, few cars, no sign of activity or life on downtown streets

depressingly true...
http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=1547#more-1547

Thanks for posting these.  I love reading outside perspectives of my adoptive hometown.  I looked for comments from the Arabian Horse show but have thus far found none.

[Steve]

Thanks for the great links PonderInc.  I was interested in the comments of the conference attendees and their impressions of Tulsa.  Looks like the conference went a long way to dispell some of the myths and stereotypes about Tulsa and Oklahoma.

On your "Going Green" link page, there is a further link to comments about mid-century modern residential.  I am particularly interested in this, since I live in Tulsa's Lortondale subdivision, in a pretty well preserved 1954 modern Lortondale home.  Thanks again.

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by PonderInc


"The closing plenary took place at the Tulsa Convention Center, the Edward Durrell Stone-designed modernist building where much of the conference took place, and a building that few people fell in love with this week. The windowless third floor room where I spent much of the week seemed designed to snuff out any inkling of spirit or joy that might come its way."

good grief I had no idea we had any Stone designed buildings in Tulsa, that man did Radio City Music Hall.

[carltonplace]

I'd like to get their impressions of some of Tulsa's older neighborhoods. Any blogs on that subject?

[sgrizzle]

My only gripe is that he went to CONEY ISLAND, not CONEY I-LANDER.

[SXSW]

Sounds like they were impressed by Boston Ave., as many are.  The part from 3rd to about 8th is almost completely lined with buildings and is a true "urban canyon".  Main, Boulder, and parts of Cheyenne and Cincinnati have the same effect, along with parts of 1st-8th streets, but not to the scale of Boston.  The biggest problem with Boston is that it drops off so quickly to parking lots south of 8th.  

If only we could restore the south section of Boston from 8th to 12th (where the church is) through TCC it could be a premier street once again.  The park at 6th, the new TCC building, opening the street to 2 way traffic, and the streetscaping have been good steps in the right direction so far, but there is much more to be done.  Having a trolley/streetcar run down it would be pretty cool, and could spur additional development...