SWITCHING GEARS

SIZZLE TO FIZZLE
Though Oklahoma City has seen major growth and development
over the past several years, there have also been some projects that
have yet to pan out. Here's an update on where some of those stand.
MIXED
EMOTIONS
A Cultural Collaboration Derailed
The unfinished American Indian Cultural Center and
Museum sits near the intersections of Interstates 35 and 40,
prompting many travelers to wonder about the hulking, oversized
mound and white circular structure. The multi-million
dollar museum was proposed years ago to honor Oklahoma's
unique Native American history and draw tourists interested in
learning about the state's 39 tribes in one central location. But
years of legislative wrangling over funding has left the project
unfinished – and costing more money the longer it sits empty.
More than $90 million has already been invested into the
$170 million project, leaving $80 million necessary for its completion.
If museum officials raised $40 million in private funding,
Gov. Mary Fallin promised a matching $40 million investment to
complete the project. But Republican lawmakers have repeatedly
balked at providing the funding, most recently during
the 2014 legislative term. So the sprawling campus featuring a
symbolic promontory mound continues to sit idle, and museum
officials remain unsure of when – or if – it will be completed.
Coming
Attraction
(Hopefully)
First opened in July 1937, the 30,000-square-foot
Tower Theatre holds the distinction of hosting the
longest-running movie in the state's history with the
82-week run of “The Sound of Music” in 1965. It has
also hosted performances by blues guitarist Bo Diddley
and comedian Tommy Chong during its time as
a live entertainment venue. But the theater, despite
its spectacularly renovated marquee out front, has
been closed for several years, and its reopening has
remained elusive even as the Uptown 23rd District is
in the midst of a revitalization.
But there is hope. Local businessmen Marty and
Mike Dillon, who bought the theater in 2006 and
helped oversee repair and improvement ef forts,
announced that they have sold the property to a trio
of developers who are expected to start construction
on the theater in early 2015.
Stage Center is gone.
The demise of this modernist
building also known as Mummers
Theatre had been years in the
making. Built by John Johansen, a
student of Frank Lloyd Wright, the
Brutalist-style structure's avantgarde
design was said to be based
on an electrical circuit system. The
completion of the building capped
a decade-long effort to establish
a professional theater company
in Oklahoma, according to David
Pettyjohn, executive director of
the nonprofit group Preservation
Oklahoma, which had included the
structure on its list of endangered
historic buildings.
The destruction of the building
had been discussed for some time
following flooding and the high
costs of maintaining it. Supporters,
however, fought to keep the historically
significant building around,
arguing that the Downtown Design
Review Committee had violated
city ordinances requiring that
historic preservation efforts be
thoroughly vetted before demolition.
But it didn't work, and razing
was completed in fall 2014 to make
way for the new OGE Energy Corporation
headquarters.
“Stage Center was a downtown
landmark with international
architectural significance that
played an important role in the
cultural history of Oklahoma City,”
Pettyjohn says. “Of course we are
disappointed that the structure has
been demolished, but we are gratified
to have played a role in raising
awareness of the importance of this
iconic structure, and the guidelines
that were put in place to protect it.”
JANUARY 2015 // SLICE 41