Buildings of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Tulsa is a hub of art deco and contemporary architecture, and most buildings of Tulsa are in either of these two styles. Prominent buildings include the BOK Tower, the second tallest building in Oklahoma; the futurist Oral Roberts University campus and adjacent Cityplex Towers, a group of towers that includes the third tallest building in Oklahoma; Boston Avenue Methodist Church, an Art Deco church designated as a National Historic Landmark; and the BOK Center, an 18,000-seat arena in downtown Tulsa.

Contents

Skyscrapers and highrises

BuildingsHeight in feetStoriesImage
BOK Tower 66752 The BOK Building.jpg
Cityplex 64860 CityPlex Towers in Tulsa, Oklahoma.jpg
First Place Tower 51641 First Place Tower Tulsa.jpg
Mid-Continent Tower 51336 Mid-Continent Tower.jpg
Bank of America Center 41232 Bank of America Center, Tulsa cropped.jpg
320 South Boston Building 40022 320 S Boston Tulsa OK.jpg
110 West 7th Building 38828 110 W 7th Tulsa Image1 no glare.png
University Club Tower 37732 University Club Tower, Tulsa.jpg
Cityplex West Tower 34830 CityPlex Towers in Tulsa, Oklahoma.jpg
Philtower 34324 Philtower in Tulsa.jpg
Liberty Towers 25423No Picture Available
Boulder Towers 25315 Boulder Towers in uptown Tulsa.jpg
Mayo Hotel 25218 Mayo Hotel Tulsa.jpg
First National Bank 25020 First National Bank, Tulsa.jpg
Cityplex East Tower 24820 CityPlex Towers in Tulsa, Oklahoma.jpg
Remington Tower 23218No Picture Available
Thompson Building 21515 Thompson Building, Tulsa. OK.jpg
2300 Riverside Apartments 17616 2300RiversideTulsa.jpg

Auditoriums, arenas, and theaters

1910 to 1919
ImageBuildingDateArchitectNotes
Lyric Theatre, 103 S. Main St.built 1891(800 seats) Tulsa's first masonry theatre structure, presented vaudeville & motion pictures until converted to retail use in 1959. Demolished by Urban Renewal 1971.
Grand Opera House, 115 E. 2nd St.Built in 1906 John Eberson (1,200 seats) Converted to furniture store, then an auction house. Demolished for Urban Renewal project 1973.
Orpheum Theater, 12 E. 4th St.1924 John Eberson (1,600 seats) Originally a Vaudeville theater. Converted to movie theater in 1931. Held world premiers for The Song of Bernadette and Tulsa . Demolished in 1970.
BradyTheaterWestSide.jpg Brady Theater 1912-14, remodeled 1930, additions 19521930 remodel, Bruce Goff Still in use as 3200 seat performing arts center.
Majestic Theater, 406 S. Main St.1917(1,000 seats) Beau Arts style. First theater in Tulsa designed for movies, first in Tulsa with sound system, and first in Tulsa with Pipe Organ. Showed first talkie in Tulsa and first 3-D movie in Tulsa. Destroyed by fire 1973.
Rialto Theater, 7 W. 3rd St.(AKA-Orpheum)1917 John Eberson (1,400 seats) This was Tulsa's second Rialto, first sat next door at 13 W. 3rd. First theater in Tulsa to have air-conditioning. Demolished 1971.
Akdar Theatre, (Cimarron Ballroom), 221 W. 4th St.1925George & Leo Rapp(1,800 seats) Built in exotic Moorish & Roccoco style. Converted to ballroom use 1946. Demolished in 1965.
Ritz Theater, 18 W. 4th St.1926 John Eberson (1,600 seats) Italian style atmospheric theater, demolished in 1963. Remaining Ritz Building demolished in 1973
Fairgrounds Pavilion , Tulsa State Fairgrounds1932Leland I Shumway(6,000 seats) Art Deco PWA. Photo looking west in the 1960s toward downtown Tulsa skyline
Cains Ballroom Tulsa Night.jpg Cain's Ballroom 1924Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tulsa Coliseum , 502 S Elgin Ave.1928Leon Senter(4,200 seats) Destroyed by fire September 1952
Circle Theater In Whittier Square District.jpg Circle Theater, 10 S. Lewis Ave.1928(800 seats) Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
State Theater, 118 S. MainOpened 1911 as Wonderland Nickelodeon1935 Art Deco remodel by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. (400 seats) Art Deco (Streamline style). Converted to retail store 1955. Demolished 1973
Loew's Delman Theater, 2335 E. 15th St.1938W. Scott Dunne(1,400 seats) Art Deco (Streamline style). Closed 1980. Demolished 2008.
Tulsa Theatre, 215 S. Main St.1941 Jack Corgan & William J. Moore (1,000 seats) Art Deco (Streamline style). Demolished by Urban Renewal 1971.
Will Rogers Theater, 4502 East 11th Street1941Jack Corgan(900 seats) Southwestern style Art Deco (Streamline style). Demolished 1977
Loew's Brook Theatre, 3307 South Peoria Avenue1945Willim H.C. Calderwood(800 seats) Art Deco (Streamline style) Ceased movie presentation in 1983, and has since been converted to a restaurant.
Big Ten Ballroom (American Beauty), 1632 East Apache Street1950Art Deco (Streamline style).
Mabee Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University.jpg Mabee Center , Oral Roberts University, 81st and Lewis1972Frank Wallace
Cox Business Center, formerly known as Tulsa Convention Center, 6th and Houston1964
Tulsa Performing Arts Center.jpg Tulsa Performing Arts Center 1977 Minoru Yamasaki
ReynoldsCenter.JPG University of Tulsa, Reynolds Center 1998
BOK Center faccade.JPG BOK Center 2008César Pelli

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Avenue Methodist Church</span> Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, and completed in 1929, is considered to be one of the finest examples of ecclesiastical Art Deco architecture in the United States, and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built by a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1999. It has 15 floors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BOK Tower</span> Tallest commercial skyscraper building in Tulsa, Oklahoma

BOK Tower is a skyscraper in Downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. At 203 m (667 ft) in height, the 52-story tower was the tallest building in Oklahoma until surpassed by Devon Tower in 2011. It was built in 1976 and designed by Minoru Yamasaki & Associates, the same architect who designed the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City. This structure is a replica of Tower 1; former CEO John Williams liked the design of the WTC so much he hired the same architect to build him a 1/2 scale model of Tower 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Continent Tower</span> Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Mid-Continent Tower is a 36-story skyscraper located at 401 South Boston Avenue in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. At 156 meters (513 ft) in height, it is the fourth-tallest building in Tulsa and fifth-tallest in Oklahoma. Faced with bright white terra cotta and crowned with a distinctive copper roof, it is one of the city's most recognizable buildings. The design is unique because the first 16-story structure was built in 1918. The top 20 stories comprise a separate structure, cantilevered over the first 66 years later. The architects of the addition matched the design of the original structure so carefully that the result is considered a single structure. It is included as a contributing structure in Tulsa's Oil Capital Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philtower Building</span> United States historic place

The Philtower Building is a historic building located at 427 South Boston Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neighborhoods of Tulsa, Oklahoma</span>

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma. It has many diverse neighborhoods due to its size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BOK Financial Corporation</span> American bank

BOK Financial Corporation — pronounced as letters, "B-O-K" — is a financial services holding company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Offering a full complement of retail and commercial banking products and services across the American Midwest and Southwest, the company is one of the 50 largest financial services firms in the U.S., and the largest in Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Place Tower</span> Skyscraper in Tulsa, Oklahoma

First Place Tower is a skyscraper located at 15 East Fifth in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was completed in 1973 and has 41 stories. At 516 feet (157 m) in height, it is the third tallest building in Tulsa behind BOK Tower and Cityplex Towers, and the fourth tallest in Oklahoma. Although it shares an address with the adjacent First National Bank Building, it faces Boston Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">320 South Boston Building</span> High-rise building located in downtown Tulsa

The 320 South Boston Building is a 22-story high-rise building located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was originally constructed at the corner of Third Street and Boston Avenue as a ten-story headquarters building for the Exchange National Bank of Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1917, and expanded to its present dimensions in 1929. The addition brought the building's height to 400 feet (122 m), making it the tallest building in Oklahoma. It lost this distinction in 1931, but remained the tallest building in Tulsa until Fourth National Bank was completed in 1967. It is now included in the Oil Capital Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank of America Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)</span> Commercial high-rise building located in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Bank of America Center is a commercial high-rise building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The building rises 412 feet in downtown Tulsa. and contains 288,776 square feet (26,828.2 m2) of space. It has 32 floors, and was completed in 1967 as the Fourth National Bank of Tulsa. It is located on the corner of Sixth Street and Boulder Avenue, the site of the former Tulsa County court house. The Bank of America Center currently stands as the 5th-tallest building in the city, and the 9th-tallest building in the state of Oklahoma. The architectural firm who designed the building was Kelley & Marshall of Tulsa. The Bank of America Center contains offices of the Charlotte-based Bank of America Corporation. It currently stands as the 2nd-tallest international style skyscraper in the city, behind the BOK Tower. It also houses the offices of several petroleum companies and the Oklahoma State Attorney General's office.

Downtown Tulsa is an area of approximately 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) surrounded by an inner-dispersal loop created by Interstate 244, US 64 and US 75. The area serves as Tulsa's financial and business district; it is the focus of a large initiative to draw tourism, which includes plans to capitalize on the area's historic architecture. Much of Tulsa's convention space is located in downtown, such as the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and the Tulsa Convention Center, as well as the BOK Center. Prominent downtown sub-districts include the Blue Dome District, the Tulsa Arts District, and the Greenwood Historical District, which includes the site of ONEOK Field, a baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers opened in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon Energy Center</span> Tallest commercial skyscraper building in the state of Oklahoma

The Devon Energy Center is a 50-story corporate skyscraper in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the tallest building in the city and state, though it has fewer floors than the 52-story BOK Tower in Tulsa. It is tied with Park Tower in Chicago as the 71st tallest building in the United States; at its completion Devon Tower was tied as the 39th tallest. Construction began October 6, 2009, and was completed in October 2012. The tower is located next to the historic Colcord Hotel, which Devon currently owns, on Sheridan Avenue between Hudson and Robinson Avenues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma)</span> School

Central High School is the oldest high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1906 as Tulsa High School, and located in downtown Tulsa until 1976. The school now has a 47-acre (19 ha) campus in northwest Tulsa. Tulsa Central is part of the Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma's largest school district, and is a public school for students from grades 9 through 12. Since 1997 it has served as a fine and performing arts magnet school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

Oklahoma County Courthouse in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma was designed by prominent Oklahoma architect Solomon Layton and partners George Forsyth and Jewel Hicks of the firm Layton & Forsyth, and was built in 1937. It replaced the original courthouse that was built with $100,000 in bonds issued and located at the intersection of California and Robinson at 520 West Main Street in the 1900s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Duncan Forsyth</span> Scottish-American architect (1886/87 - 1963)

John Duncan Forsyth was a Scottish-American architect who became prominent in Oklahoma. Based in Tulsa and working in a variety of styles, he was connected with a number of significant buildings around the state.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon B. Senter</span> American architect (1889–1965)

Leon Bishop Senter was an American architect who worked primarily in Oklahoma. Although not formally educated in architecture, he became Oklahoma's first licensed architect in 1925 and designed several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

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