Tulsa Memories from the 80's

[mrskns]

Hi everyone.  I lived in Tulsa from 1981 - 1989 as a teenager.  I was wondering if the following places still exist:

1.  The Camelot Hotel.  It was a castle-like hotel that was somewhere around Peoria, I think.  We began visiting Tulsa in the 70's and I always wanted to stay there.

2.  My family loved eating at the Black-eyed Pea at 81st and Yale.  Is it still open?

3.  Does Woodland Hills mall still thrive?

4.  We had friends who lived at The Falls apartments at mmm... let's see... 61st and Memorial?  Are they still there and livable?

5.  Is there still a QuikTrip on every corner?  Remember the Squart and the Squantum?  You could buy one and fill it up from their fountain drink machine.

6.  Does the flame still burn on top of the Prayer Tower at ORU?

7.  Although I couldn't afford it and never got to shop there... is Miss Jackson's still the store of choice for the ladies?

8.  Does RHEMA still own that skating rink in BA?

9.  Is Jenks still the "power" school?

10. Does the $1 movie theatre still exist?

I'll stop there.  Oh, one more.. is there still a Sipes on Lewis?

[Rowdy]

Woodland Hills seems like its holiday season almost year around at times. Rhema owns that rink and turned it into the Ninowski Center. I used to cruise the Fontana back then but those days are gone.

[mrskns]

the fontana... is that were the $1 movie was located?  It sounds familiar, but I can't place it.

Oh, what about Hamburger Haven around 71st and Lewis... my, my, my the best burgers and nachos I ever had!!!

[Rowdy]

51st and Memorial.  Back when the police brought their Rottys and the arcade was next door to the theater.  Dale Apollo Cook's gym was in the same center.

[Breadburner]

How bout sky high interest rates....And a housing market in the toilet.....

[MichaelBates]

quote:Originally posted by mrskns

Hi everyone.  I lived in Tulsa from 1981 - 1989 as a teenager.  I was wondering if the following places still exist:

1.  The Camelot Hotel.  It was a castle-like hotel that was somewhere around Peoria, I think.  We began visiting Tulsa in the 70's and I always wanted to stay there.

It's been closed for ages and the Maharishi has let it go to pot. The city was going to lend money to the current owner to demolish it, but QuikTrip is going to buy the land and tear it down themselves.

Here are some photos by Alison Zarrow of the hotel in its current state.

quote:2.  My family loved eating at the Black-eyed Pea at 81st and Yale.  Is it still open?

There aren't any Black-Eyed Peas in Tulsa any more, but one of the founders of the chain started a new chain with a similar menu called Dixie Cafe in Arkansas and Delta Cafe everywhere else. We have three in Tulsa.

The BEP at 81st and Yale is now a Rib Crib.

quote:
3.  Does Woodland Hills mall still thrive?

On my rare visits there, it seems to be doing OK.

quote:
4.  We had friends who lived at The Falls apartments at mmm... let's see... 61st and Memorial?  Are they still there and livable?

They have been refurbished in recent years and have been renamed a couple of times. They were the Reserve at Shadow Mountain and are now called The Falls at Shadow Mountain

quote:5.  Is there still a QuikTrip on every corner?  Remember the Squart and the Squantum?  You could buy one and fill it up from their fountain drink machine.

There are more QTs and they are bigger than when you were here. More gas pumps, bigger fountain machines plus a bunch of coffee varieties. Tons of ready-to-eat food, most of it pretty good for what it is.

quote:6.  Does the flame still burn on top of the Prayer Tower at ORU?

It's called the eternal flame, isn't it?

quote:7.  Although I couldn't afford it and never got to shop there... is Miss Jackson's still the store of choice for the ladies?

It's still there, "in fashionable Utica Square."

quote:8.  Does RHEMA still own that skating rink in BA?

It's now a sports center for Rhema Bible College.

quote:9.  Is Jenks still the "power" school?

Jenks vs. Union is the big football rivalry -- they play that game in Skelly Stadium every year.

quote:10. Does the $1 movie theatre still exist?

Movies 8 (behind Red Lobster at 68th and Memorial) is still $1. The cheap theaters at Fontana and Mall 31 (31st & Sheridan) are closed.

quote:I'll stop there.  Oh, one more.. is there still a Sipes on Lewis?

There isn't a Sipes anywhere. All but one Sipes store were sold to Bud's in 1991. The one at 61st and Yale closed in 2001 and was demolished with the rest of the Holliday Hills Shopping Center the next year. The one at 27th and Harvard is a dollar store of some sort. The one at 71st and Lewis is an Office Depot.

[Breadburner]

Buds was then purchased by Harvest Foods and subsequently run into the ground........

[Wingnut]

quote: There isn't a Sipes anywhere. All but one Sipes store were sold to Bud's in 1991. The one at 61st and Yale closed in 2001 and was demolished with the rest of the Holliday Hills Shopping Center the next year. The one at 27th and Harvard is a dollar store of some sort. The one at 71st and Lewis is an Office Depot.

Drysdales on Memorial also used to be a Sipes. I think it was called Sipes Food Barn. It had a big clock inside and was pretty nice from what I remember. My brother used to work there. It changed hands a few times and is now Drysdales.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Wingnut

quote: There isn't a Sipes anywhere. All but one Sipes store were sold to Bud's in 1991. The one at 61st and Yale closed in 2001 and was demolished with the rest of the Holliday Hills Shopping Center the next year. The one at 27th and Harvard is a dollar store of some sort. The one at 71st and Lewis is an Office Depot.

Drysdales on Memorial also used to be a Sipes. I think it was called Sipes Food Barn. It had a big clock inside and was pretty nice from what I remember. My brother used to work there. It changed hands a few times and is now Drysdales.

The big clock changed hands a few times?

Sorry couldn't resist.

[sauerkraut]

How about Cooper MFG over at 3100 Charles Page Blvd? What about RiverSide Industires They were booming back then. Is RiverSide Industries still around anyone know?[]

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

How about Cooper MFG over at 3100 Charles Page Blvd? What about RiverSide Industires They were booming back then. Is RiverSide Industries still around anyone know?[]

I don't believe either is still around.  If you are referring to Cooper Tire, I believe that is Mileage Masters now.

The refinery has bought up most of the east side of SW Blvd. they didn't already own and is starting to tear down the buildings.

That area has changed quite a bit.  Further north, Burgess Hardware has been gone about five years, and the old Mac's Plating closed a couple of years ago.

[Aa5drvr]

I knew of Cooper on Chas Page Blvd.  They made well workover rigs and took over an old Safeway/Homeland store on Charles Page Blvd, which since became a church.  Like many of us who had a "Fantastic Summmer" they had a "Great Fall...." in the mid-late 80s, and a church took over their offices.

[Conan71]

Whoops, my bad.  I read SW Blvd. not Chas Page.

[mr.jaynes]

Are the Falls apartments still there in Tulsa? Now that was a really happening kinda place for a while-I'd a colleague that lived there-but around 1990 (around when I left Tulsa), almost overnight, there was gang grafitti. Have they cleaned it up?

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by Aa5drvr

I knew of Cooper on Chas Page Blvd.  They made well workover rigs and took over an old Safeway/Homeland store on Charles Page Blvd, which since became a church.  Like many of us who had a "Fantastic Summmer" they had a "Great Fall...." in the mid-late 80s, and a church took over their offices.

Yes, there ya go. I used to work there in 1979 at Cooper, at 3100  Charles Page- They made oil rigs. They were real busy- We were doing 10 hour days then they cut that to 9 hours then down to 8 hours, then they got into a slump, I left in May, 1980 for the Dallas/Fort Worth MetroPlex in Texas... Texas was booming in the 1980's. A few of the co-workers went to RiverSide Industries and tryed to get me to go there too. They made electrical tower galv. steel, "transmission towers" I guess you'd call them, and things like that. It was a huge place, but alot of it was outside work. They were also pulling 10 hour days. I don't even know where it was located except that it was in the west side.