One of Oklahoma's Most Endangered Historic Places - Downtown Tulsa

One of Oklahoma's most endangered places, according to Preservation Oklahoma, is Historic Downtown Tulsa. From the Preservation Oklahoma website:

From homes of the postwar suburbs to the glass-walled office parks that symbolized American business, 20th century architecture embodies the ambitions, challenges and achievements of our recent history. While older structures have long been the focus of preservation efforts, the value of properties from the 1950's, 60's and 70's have not widely embraced.

These 20th century structures need to survive because of the economic potential, beauty and historic value. Oklahoma's mid-century architecture, from skyscrapers to supermarkets, deserves out attention.

I have heard that Downtown Tulsa was going to make the endangered places list again this year, but that has yet to be seen. The future of Tulsa's Downtown is not all gloom and doom. Recently two investors, Maurice Kanbar and Henry Kaufman, have purchased over 17 buildings that includes some of the most historic and beautiful in Downtown Tulsa. A recent news story at KOTV Chanel 6's website states -

"Preservationists will no doubt be pleased that the buildings appear to be in stable hands. And city leaders who have long been looking for developers to nurture residential areas in downtown say the vodka company owner is creating quite the buzz."

Does this mean that Downtown Tulsa's future is secure? Recently there has been quite the stir on a local community forum website at TulsaNow.org. The stir was prompted by the proposed demolition of two Downtown buildings that are owned by Kanbar and Kaufman. Preservationists are in communication with the owners and architects which are trying to determine the feasibility of saving the Main Street buildings.

Will Tulsa's Downtown be saved? Only time will tell!

I'll post updates and photographs from time to time here at BlogOklahoma.us. In the meantime here are some related links if you are interested in more information.

Related Links:

Batesline.com - Posts regarding Kanbar and Kaufman
TulsaNow.org - Forum Topic regarding the fate of two Downtown Tulsa buildings.
Flickr - Pictures of Downtown Tulsa at Night.