Preserve Midtown

The City of Tulsa was recently honored when First Lady Laura Bush, Honorary Chair of the Preserve America initiative, designated it as one of the nations newest Preserve America Communities.

Preserve America Communities demonstrate that they are committed to preserving Americas heritage while ensuring a future filled with opportunities for learning and enjoyment, Mrs. Bush said. This community designation program, combined with the Preserve America Grant Program, Preserve America Presidential Awards, and other federal support, provides strong incentives for continued preservation of our cultural and natural heritage resources. I commend you for your commitment to preserving an important part of our nations historic past for visitors, neighbors, and, most importantly, for children.

Mayor Kathy Taylor will receive a certificate signed by Mrs. Bush announcing that Tulsa is now a Preserve America Community.

“Becoming a Preserve America Community confirms what Tulsans have known for many years - that our community has a rich collection of historic resources that are of interest to heritage tourists,” Mayor Taylor said. “We are especially excited about achieving this designation with the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference coming to Tulsa in October 2008.”

Communities designated through the program receive national recognition for their efforts. Benefits include the right to use the Preserve America logo on signs and promotional materials; eligibility for Preserve America Grants; notification to state tourism offices; and listing in a Web-based directory that showcases Tulsas preservation efforts and heritage tourism destinations. Preserve America Communities also are featured in National Register Travel Itineraries and in Teaching With Historic Places curricular materials created by the National Park Service.

The Preserve America initiative is a White House Administration effort to encourage and support community efforts to preserve and enjoy Americas priceless cultural and natural heritage. Goals of the initiative include a greater shared knowledge about the nations past; strengthened regional identities and local pride; increased local participation in preserving the countrys cultural and natural heritage assets; and support for the economic vitality of our communities. For more information about the initiative and its programs, visit www.preserveamerica.gov .

The Tulsa Preservation Commission is a fifteen-member board of the City of Tulsa that identifies and nominates properties to the National Register of Historic Places, administers local Historic Preservation Zoning, and produces educational material describing Tulsa historic resources. For more information about the Tulsa Preservation Commission and Tulsas historic resources, visit www.tulsapreservation.org .

Author: Brian L . Freese, AlA Editor and Tulsa architect

 Downtown Tulsa was recently the recipient of a distinctly inauspicious award, when earlier this year Preservation Oklahoma placed the entire Tulsa Central Business District at the top of their annual 11 “Most Endangered Properties list. The public announcement of the 2005 list was highlighted in a full-page article in the February 1, 2005 issue of the Tulsa World.  POk has been assembling and publicizing this list for over 10 years and bases it on a similar model used by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The publication of this annual list holds up to the public eye those buildings and properties of intrinsic significance that have suffered such long term neglect and abandonment that their continued existence is perilous, and their destruction is often imminent. This action, in turn, exposes any parties planning the demolition of such properties and also galvanizes communities to take action to ensure the preservation and successful  reuse of those properties. 

Given that Preservation Oklahoma’s annual list has, to date, mainly named individual buildings, their identification of our entire downtown core emphasizes the gravity of our downtown’s ongoing dismemberment. lf the news of our downtown’s dubious new status were not enough of a blow,then the deafening silence that has followed has been even more damning. Very little public acknowledgement has been made by any of our local politicians, nor from our various city and urban development entities, nor from any of our local citizen groups and the protests following the announcement from a small group of concerned individual were largely ignored.  One can only infer from such an visible inaction an overwhelming apathy and ennui to this issue throughout our city, or that this is considered by many –elected representatives in particular– to be a thorny and unpopular issue.

In fact, this is perhaps one of the best and most critical of all times to embrace this as an opportunity with substantial reward. Alternatively, to ignore the issue at this of all times will surely cause the ultimate demise of our urban landscape, even with our planned new downtown facilities. What we are talking about here is a fundamental urban planning issue that may quite literally determine the success or failure of our citizen-approved Vision 2025projects slated for downtown Tulsa. The new structures and infrastructure intended to help spark our urban redevelopment will materially effect our downtown’s urban fabric–its vehicular flow, its overall infrastructure, its appearance, its visual impact—such that they become in themselves tools of urban planning.  Any effort devoted to an urban revitalization is in effect an urban planning effort.   Effective downtown building preservation is the first and simplest component of effective urban planning.  Every city has its own unique character that distinguishes it from every other city.  That uniqueness is found in the geography, climate, natural amenities, citizens, and itshistory and development made physical and real in the structures of commerce,government and entertainment built over the generations of time. Tulsa has its own very unique character embodied and best revealed in its own downtown buildings. Tulsans know well our city’s proud legacy of one of the country’s most extensivecollections of American Art Deco architecture (even with our abysmal record ofchristening so many with a wrecking ball).  We virtually defined that era with ourarchitecture.  For this city and its citizens to meekly allow the ongoing denuding of our downtown’s irreplaceable character with certainly severely compromise our very best efforts to breathe new life in our downtown.  The new arena, renovated convention center and other planned downtown improvements will most assuredly not reach their intended mark of affecting any turnaround if they are sitting in the middle of a vacant, fractured and dismantled urban core, and robbed of the foundation of elegant older structures that best tell the story of Tulsa’s history and growth. 

During the city’s process of selecting the design team for the Vision 2025 arenaand convention improvements, Mayor LaFortune issued a mandate that expanded the scope of work for the winning team to include the development and presentation of a comprehensive long range master plan for downtown Tulsa, which was called the Mayor’s Challenge.  ln a 2003 interview I conducted with our mayor, he intelligently suggested that the master plan should include the identification of all older downtown buildings of significance within the Interdispersal Loop, and a proposed use of any that are vacant or in disrepair and deemed of sufficient importance to be saved. Disappointingly, the Mayor’s challenge has yet to be realized.  However, when it was still alive, Cesar Pelli, the world-renowned architecit in charge of designing the arena, was asked what he would suggest as a first measure in a comprehensive downtown master plan for Tulsa. His response was to put an absolute moratorium for three years on any further building demolition until such a master plan was completed and codified. So, where do we go from here? Here are a few thoughts and suggestions fromone avowed brickhugger:·        Tulsa’s public officials, politicians and citizens need to absorb the gravityof  POk’s  announcement. Preservation Oklahoma is one of a feworganizations that are the litmus paper that exposes often discomfitingtruths in our culture and in this case in our own community.·       Our elected and appointed representatives in charge of the Vision 2025    process must include in our efforts t e development of a current singledocument comprehensive downtown master plan that incorporates allconstruction improvements either confirmed, planned or envisioned andall existing buildings within the lDL, denoting current use and, if currentlyabandoned, denoting possibilities for future use.·       Attractive state and local tax credits to encourage the adaptive reuse orImprovement of buildings meeting the criteria of historic, architectural orother significance should be made available.  This will enhance the economic viability of rehabilitating older vacant buildings over scraping them for more surface parking.·       Tulsa must adopt a document of tough protective regulations for allBuildings within the lDL, as many other cities have done with success—regulation with sharp teeth– and a designated review board to considervalid exceptions much like the Board of Adjustment that reviews potentialvalid exceptions to the local zoning ordinances. Much could be accomplished in this regard by allowing the Tulsa Preservation Commission more authority to  operate within its original ordinance.Currently there are a scant few protections of any kind for any buildingsWithin the lDL, thus allowing any building owner or developer the right totear down any downtown building regardless of its size, beauty, orarchitecturally significance and that can happen without triggering so muchas a preliminary review by any municipal body.·       All citizens who are impassioned to see and/or participate in creating this kind of paradigm shift should write letters to the Mayor’s Office, or better yet, to our local newspaper.  Our elected representatives and downtown development entities will be forced to take notice when citizens are voicing their concerns and anger in a public forum. Preservation Oklahoma is the latest of many entities sending Tulsa an S.O.S. and we will only expose our ongoing willful ignorance if we continue to look the other way. We and our elected bodies and their appointed boards have vapidly allowed for too long the unchecked dismemberment of the spirit of our downtown and it is time—and an excellent time– to adopt some intelligent and balanced measures to preserve the remaining fraction of our built history.  At a time when all of us have committed our own tax money to rebuilding our urban core, it is utterly senseless that we allow a clear path for anybody to destroy any building within the urban core as they please without question. lf Tulsa is truly committed to a revitalized downtown, we must couple the positive new construction efforts underway with a committed public/private partnership to preserving the remaining valuable urban fabrlc and seeking alternative uses for those buildings in danger of being demolished.  If we do not, all we may have to show future generations is a 10 volume set of Tulsa Art Deco books with beautiful photographs of what we used to have!

As we slowly emerge from the horrors of the ice storm that seriously damaged so many of Tulsa’s trees, it is time to look forward to Spring!

First, homeowners should hire a qualified arborist to trim off torn and damaged branches from their surviving trees as soon as they can.  This will minimize further destruction to the trees that have survived the Ice’s wrath.

In the Spring as the new growth begins, we can celebrate the Survivors!  We can attach a label or tree tag to show the type of tree and approximate age (if known) to the remaining trees.  This will help Tulsan’s identify which trees are the hardiest and choose these kinds to replace the trees that didn’t survive.

Trees tags can be made by using 2″ slices from the downed limbs of about 8-10 inches in diameter.  Seal both sides of the new tag with an application of clear sealer and drill a hole at the top.  Paint the tree type with its approximate age on the tag and seal with another coat of sealer.  You should use a cord, rope or plastic tape threaded through the hole and then hung aroung the tree trunk.  It will look like a medal similar to ones an athletic champion would hang around their neck when they win.  These surviving trees are our champions!

We would like for any Scout troops in Tulsa, youth groups or other interested citizens who would like to help with this worthwhile community service project to contact 749-2898.  Help us commemorate Tulsa’s historic ice storm in a possitive way.

Let’s all see who are our Tree Champions of 2007!

Not very, it turns out. The reputation of older structures as energy sieves, in short, is simply not justified by the data. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, commercial buildings constructed prior to 1920 have an average energy consumption of 80,127 BTUs per square foot. For the more efficient buildings built since 2000, that number is 79,703 BTUs. (The energy efficiency of buildings constructed between these years was less enviable—reaching around 100,000 BTUs—reflecting the cheap oil and electricity of the thermostat age.)

Older homes may not have been as stout and efficient as commercial buildings, but they were green in their own way. “The original buildings had no choice but to be green,” said Florida architect Steve Mouzon, founder of the New Urban Guild, at last fall’s traditional building conference. “Otherwise, you’d die of heat stroke in the summer, or freeze to death in the winter.” Houses in the South had high ceilings and louvered shutters; in the North, they featured thick walls and smaller windows. Sleeping porches provided coolness in summer, and woodstove-centered kitchens gave off warmth in winter. Today, new houses tend to be largely interchangeable wherever you live. Shutters, for instance, have become vestigial, totems from the past screwed into the sides of new houses that do nothing against the wind or sun.

“People often tend to think that historic buildings are inherently energy inefficient,” writes Walter Sedovic, a preservation architect in Irvington, N.Y. “The opposite, though, is more likely to be true: that many historic buildings are inherently very energy efficient.” As he put it when I contacted him: “Before sustainability had a name, traditional builders incorporated sustainable elements into buildings. Working in sync with the environment was the norm, including siting, local materials, natural ventilation, shading, reflective roofing, cisterns, indigenous plantings—the list becomes long, and in many ways mirrors ‘new’ standards espoused today.”

Read full article at http://www.nationaltrust.org/Magazine/current/feature1.htm

Host: City Councilor Maria Barnes 

When:  Monday, January 28, 2008

Where:  Central Community Center in Centennial Park

Time:  6:30-8:00 pm

Subject:  Conservation Districts

Please RSVP to–596-1979

The Ranch Acres Neighborhood has been officially named a Historic District  and has joined a select group of Tulsa neighborhoods listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which is our nation’s list of historic places worthy of preservation. Tulsa now has 14 listed historic districts, but what sets Ranch Acres apart is its post-WWII architecture. For more information, visit the Tulsa Preservation Commission website.

Woo Hoo! Preserve Midtown is number 39!

“Our Hot 100 are the sparks, the catalysts, the nuclear fission, that drives Tulsa.  Some are self-made, some inherited their positions, some just found themselves in the right place at the right time with the right idea and passion to carry it out.

And for Tulsa, these are the people and organizations who make it happen 365/24/7.

Their passion is growth and development, righting wrongs, seeking truth and justice, usually, the American Way.  Super women and men and corporate citizens who see thinks in black and white, shades of gray and all the colors of the rainbow.”

Read more about all the “Hot 100″ in this week’s issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly, http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/index

Tony Klein, an enterprising state representative from Vermont has proposed a McMansion Tax on homes over 4000 square feet. Home buyers would pay an additional $1000 for each additional 100 square feet over 4000 total square feet.

So a 5,000 square foot home will cost an extra $10,000.

Supporters say the goal is to promote energy efficiency and to send a signal discouraging big homes that need a lot of power.

Rep. Tony Klein: “When you build something that requires the potential use of a lot of electricity, even if you don’t use the electricity our utility has to have it in their portfolio which means they have to add to their contract amounts which means it costs all of us in our rates.”

Direct taxing (and this one is rather crude) may not be the way to do it, but there should be some public disincentive to living overly large. The private disincentives - like energy costs - do not really seem to deter anyone. Yet.

This is a video recording of the Fall Forum, Taming Teardowns: A Moratorium to Save Our Heritage presented by PreserveMidtown and Coalition of Historic Neighborhoods (COHN) at the All Soul’s Unitarian Church on October 16, 2007.

Opening presentation was given by Barbara VanHanken, a founder of PreserveMidtown.

Click here to view the video.
A 2nd video can be seen, here.

Guest presenters were:
1) Amanda DeCort, Preservation Planning Administrator for the City of Tulsa–Teardowns & the Economics Involved
2) Guy DeVerges–Environmental Engineer, Environmental Concerns
3) Steve Novick, attorney at law–Conservation Districts

Additional Panelists and Guests:
1) Michelle Cantrell- Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission
2) Cason Carter–City Councilor District 9
3) Maria Barnes–City Councilor District 4

Questions to be discussed:
What is a Teardown?
How will it affect me and my property?
What can I do to help?
What a the city do?

This was a very well attended event by people who were interested in this Teardown issue in Midtown.

When you fly into Tulsa you see our city as an island of trees in a sea of rolling farmland.  Tulsa’s trees grow large where there is a deep topsoil in this area that allows roots to grow deep providing plenty of nutrients and support for these magnificent natural specimens.  A tree’s roots grow as wide and deep as the tree that we see above the ground.  To the west of Tulsa there is only a very thin layer of topsoil on the bedrock and consequently scrub oaks are the most common tree cover with small pockets of a few taller trees.

Tulsa’s tall trees help break up the strong winds that come “roaring down the Plains.”  They help protect Our City.  They are a natural treasure and we, in turn, must protect that treasure!

Author: Valerie VonHarztisch