The Deco District

[Conan71]

The CBD gets a more distinctive moniker:

"People would ask Libby Auld what part of downtown her restaurant is in.

The Blue Dome District?

The East Village?

Brady?

"No," Auld shakes her head. "It's not any of those."

She could say "South Boston," because the address of Elote is 514 S. Boston Ave.

But when they hear "South Boston," or SoBo, most Tulsans think of the small entertainment district at 18th Street and Boston Avenue, several blocks south of downtown.

"We needed a name for this part of Tulsa," Auld says. "You can't make a name for yourself if you don't, well, have a name."

Technically, Auld's restaurant is part of the "Central Business District," sometimes abbreviated as CBD, dominated by high-rise office towers.

It's the part of downtown that people used to mean when they simply referred to "downtown," until Blue Dome and Brady became the focus of redevelopment.

"CBD doesn't have much of a ring to it," Auld complains. "I mean, 'Hey, let's go have dinner in the Central Business District.'

"That's lame."

With the recent formation of an association of business owners and developers, the area needed a better name.

Auld suggested "Deco District."

"The buildings and the architecture, that's what makes this part of downtown unique," she says. "It's what we're known for."

So, Deco District it is.

Except when it isn't.

After years of surveying and documenting the area's historic architecture, city officials expect to have the central part of downtown listed on the National Register of Historic Places, likely by the end of this year.

In the application to the National Park Service, a survey map labels the area "Commercial District No. 2."

But that wouldn't make much of an impression on tourists, so the official designation will be "Oil Capital Historic District."

City officials considered "Deco District," but its historic buildings include several styles of architecture, not just art deco.

"Oil Capital" seemed to capture the district's "story," said Amanda DeCort, a preservation planner for the city.

The Oil Capital district is larger than the Deco District, but both are centered around South Boston Avenue and Main Street, roughly between Third and Seventh streets.

"Hardly anything happened in that part of downtown that didn't have something to do with oil," DeCort said. "Oil is what built that part of downtown."

Whatever the name, the area seems ripe for revitalization. Being on the National Register will make tax credits available for restoration projects.

And Elote already attracts a crowd for lunch and dinner, a significant accomplishment for a part of downtown that usually is deserted after office hours.

Mod's Coffee and Crepes recently opened across the street, and developers have promised big announcements for next year.

"Success breeds success," said Clay Clark of the Fears & Clark Realty Group.

Clark, who is marketing the area for Kanbar Properties, which owns much of the real estate in the Deco District, predicts a transformation over the next few years.

"Things are starting to line up, and when it happens, it's going to seem like it's happening overnight," he says. "A year from now, everybody's going to know about the Deco District."

Meanwhile, city officials expect smaller pockets of downtown to go in the National Register, too, some this year and others in 2011

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101129_11_A1_CUTLIN817428

[zstyles]

This is the biggest bunch of BS for marketing real estate ever...this was made up and is being propigated by the uninfored lemming media from a few press releases sent out by:

"Clark, who is marketing the area for Kanbar Properties, which owns much of the real estate in the Deco District, predicts a transformation over the next few years"

[sgrizzle]

This is the biggest bunch of BS for marketing real estate ever...this was made up and is being propigated by the uninfored lemming media from a few press releases sent out by:

"Clark, who is marketing the area for Kanbar Properties, which owns much of the real estate in the Deco District, predicts a transformation over the next few years"

Zstyles, you once again maintain a flawless record of innacuracy. Deco District was the term used by DowntownLive starting in 2007 and by the StreetLife team in 2003.

The only bad part of the story in my book is the mouthful of letters that make up "Oil Capital District" which, unlike Deco, hasn't existed for decades.

Feel free to show your support on Facebook as well:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Tulsas-Deco-District/168766146491705

[we vs us]

This is the biggest bunch of BS for marketing real estate ever...this was made up and is being propigated by the uninfored lemming media from a few press releases sent out by:

"Clark, who is marketing the area for Kanbar Properties, which owns much of the real estate in the Deco District, predicts a transformation over the next few years"

It may very well be in Kanbar's interest to do this, but it also happens to be in the city's interest and in the interest of the existing businesspeople down there.  There's a lot of win-win going on here, and one of those great moments when the public and private goods are both served by a single initiative. 

[TheTed]

If it helps downtown development, then I'm all for it.

But I do wonder why we need so many different 'districts' in what's a one square mile area. Other than the Blue Dome and the Brady, I doubt anybody knows where any of these other districts are. And maybe that will change when some of these so called districts have more than one attraction in them (or in some cases, like the East End, more than zero attractions).

[we vs us]

If it helps downtown development, then I'm all for it.

But I do wonder why we need so many different 'districts' in what's a one square mile area. Other than the Blue Dome and the Brady, I doubt anybody knows where any of these other districts are. And maybe that will change when some of these so called districts have more than one attraction in them (or in some cases, like the East End, more than zero attractions).

Gotta start with a name.  That's pretty much the jumping off point for anything more. A name quantifies and is a reference point; if it doesn't have a name it's just another span of uninteresting city blocks with nothing in common. 

In the case of the East End, there's just nothing remarkable about it, no one's advanced a good concrete idea of what East End is (and is not).  If you think about the Blue Dome, there's a lot more there there, and a concrete identity to it.  Same with Brady.  Hopefully same with the Deco District. 

I think naming -- branding -- is a crucial part of neighborhood identity. 

[TheArtist]

   I have been wanting to push that area being called the Deco District.  If someone with some more pull than me wants to get the ball rolling in that direction, fine with me.  If nobody else had done it, I would have, so you could have griped at me later lol.. We are hoping to get a starter space for the DECOPOLIS Tulsa Art Deco Museum in the area, so all of this is just free advertisement for our efforts imo lol.  I also think this can help Tulsa's marketability as a tourist destination.  Lets take what we got and run with it, promote it, build it up, add to it, etc.  Other cities have done a lot more starting off with a lot less.

[DTowner]

"Former Oil Capital District", while more accurate, doesn't quite capture the imagination.  Of course, in truth, oil money either built and had a hand in building just about everything in Tulsa that is more than 30 years old.

[RecycleMichael]

Why not just call it the "Oil Deco District"

[PonderInc]

I think the Deco District makes more sense from a marketing standpoint.  I know that some of the folks at the Tulsa Preservation commission prefer the "Oil Capital" moniker, but it just doesn't roll off the tongue.  The Deco District has the potential to catch on.

This is about marketing, something that Tulsa has failed to do much of for the past several decades.  It's hard to sell something named the CBD to outsiders.  It's also equally hard to sell people on "Former Oil Capital of the world." 

But Deco District...people care about Art Deco architecture, and many people would come to Tulsa if they only knew what treasures we have.  Personally, I wouldn't cross the street for the "Oil Capital District."  What am I going to find?  Halliburton's headquarters?

If you're worried about too many districts in a single area, think about other major cities.  How many neighborhoods can you name in San Francisco?  Chinatown, Nob Hill, Fisherman's Wharf, Haight Ashbury, the Mission, Russian Hill, the Castro, Union Square, the Tenderloin...  Each place has it's distinctive identity, and each celebrates its uniqueness.

And while I understand that not every building in the Deco District is art deco, it doesn't matter.  Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" is world famous...and it is only about a half mile in length.  They know better than to be sticklers because the "Magnificent 5/8ths of a Mile" may be precise, but it fails as an effective marketing tool.  It's more important that people can send a consistent message about a place ("Tulsa has world-class art deco architecture, and you should start your tour downtown."  Technicalities are less important:  "Many of our buildings were built by oil companies between the years 1920 and 1980.  Oh, yeah, and almost all of those companies have been bought out and moved to Houston."

[SXSW]

It's more important that people can send a consistent message about a place ("Tulsa has world-class art deco architecture, and you should start your tour downtown."  Technicalities are less important:  "Many of our buildings were built by oil companies between the years 1920 and 1980.  Oh, yeah, and almost all of those companies have been bought out and moved to Houston."

While yes many oil companies moved to Houston, and the largest ones have their HQ and major operations there, Tulsa is still an oil city up there with Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City and Denver.  The energy industry employs thousands of Tulsan's from the corporate HQ and research/operations centers of major companies like Williams, ONEOK, Magellan, H&P, Unit, SemGroup, ConocoPhillips in Bartlesville, etc. to the many oilfield services/manufacturing companies with bases in and around Tulsa to the massive Holly refineries along the west bank and even to the excellent petroleum/chemical engineering and energy management programs at TU that provide the industry with new talent.  While not the "Oil Capital of the World", oil/natural gas is still very much a significant part of Tulsa and will be for some time.  Tulsa is also well-positioned for future growth in the industry.

[PonderInc]

Zzzzzzz...Oh, sorry, I fell asleep in the Oil Capital District.  Somewhere in all that "blah, blah, blah" part.  This sort of proves my point about what works and what doesn't work from a marketing standpoint.  We don't need an NPR story about the history of oil companies in Tulsa.  We need a catchy "hook" that grabs people's interest.  Something that you can explain in a sentence when someone asks you where to go in Tulsa.

[sgrizzle]

We need a catchy "hook" that grabs people's interest.  Something that you can explain in a sentence when someone asks you where to go in Tulsa.

[Conan71]

We need a catchy "hook" that grabs people's interest.  Something that you can explain in a sentence when someone asks you where to go in Tulsa.

Since Grizzle stole the like button

[dsjeffries]

While I appreciate someone trying to do some actual marketing, and I think "Deco District" is a fine name, it's not right for that area. There's only a handful of art deco buildings in that entire area. The rest is a mix of many other styles. It's like renaming my neighborhood (Riverview) Midcentury Village because there's one midcentury building there. That doesn't make much sense, now does it?

If we had a congruous area that contained mostly art deco buildings, I'd be on board with "Deco District". But we don't...

While "Oil Capitol District" is much less sexy, it actually tells you more about the area than "Deco District" does. What would you think if you visited the French Quarter in New Orleans only to find that it looks like Barcelona and is filled with mariachi bands? There's an underlying discord in naming this part of downtown the "Deco District" that will have people (i.e., out-of-towners, newcomers, etc.) scratching their heads when they get there. "Where's the art deco?"

It's like when people visit the Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Gardens... and then discover that there's not actually a garden. They pull up, walk in and leave. But wait, not before they're forced to sign in on the oh-so-official visitors' sheet. Look, a map of what will be!

Anyway, I think we need a little more creativity and a little more truth in naming our districts. Take, for example, some of the names of buildings in the district that are both creative (some get bonus points for their use of ports-manteaux) and honest: Philtower (Phillips+Tower), Philcade (Phillips+Arcade [the building actually had an arcade]), Atlas Life (with a whole Atlas motif throughout). Other places in the area that got creative are Woolaroc (a port-manteau of Woods, Lakes and Rocks), and Philbrook. And what would you think if Swan Lake didn't have a) a lake, b) details of swans on most of the homes and c) actual swans?

Here are some hot-off-the-top-of-my-head ideas. Some are crude (pun intended), and some hearken back to what the place was in its heyday:

- The Baron Quarter
- Tycoon Quarter
- Black Gold District
- Black Gold Quarter
- Old Town
- Boomtown Quarter
- Boomtown District
- Oil Town
- Terra Cotta Quarter
- Magic Empire District

After all, it was black gold that built this terra cotta boomtown.