Neighborhood News

December 18, 2009

Dear Neighborhood Association Leaders:

It has been our pleasure getting to know each one of you this year. This is the last WIN Neighborhood News for this year. Here’s wishing the happiest of holidays. Be safe.

Neighborhood Liaisons

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If you’d walked by the Mayo Hotel in Tulsa, Okla., just a few years ago, you’d have seen nothing more than an empty building, visited on occasion by flocks of pigeons. Once the tallest building in Tulsa and a glittering destination in the boom years of the 1920s, the Mayo closed in 1981 as the “Oil Capital of the World” moved from boom to bust. “Tulsa died, and the Mayo died with it,” says Macy Snyder, hotel spokeswoman and daughter of the current owners.

After a disastrous rehabilitation effort in the ’80s that stripped the building of its marble columns, marble stairs, and other architectural ornaments, the Snyder family bought the building in 2001 for $250,000—then the going price for a parking lot in downtown Tulsa. Nine years and $40 million later, the Snyders have finished a striking comprehensive renovation. The hotel, already open to guests, will celebrate its grand opening this week.

View the rest of this article at http://www.preservationnation.org

By: Lindsey M. Roberts

This Old House has recognized communities across the nation that are “best places” to find great older homes for renovation or restoration. Unfortunately not one community in Oklahoma made this list. Is this because we do not place enough value on the importance of protecting our older homes? Not true. Many Tulsans do value the older homes and seek them out to restore. However, our current zoning ordinances and city policies are not strong enough to stop unnecessary demolition of used, older homes. Are we missing out on a wonderful opportunity to attract new people to Tulsa? Yes.

See more about This Old House Articles Here

If you have not filled out a survey yet for PlaniTulsa, please go to the following site to do so, http://www.planitulsa.org/whichwaytulsa

There has not been a new comprehensive plan to guide Tulsa development in more than 30 years!  Our city desperately needs to look forward to where we want growth and development in our city now.  Our future success and economic progress will depend on this document.

When you go to the PlaniTulsa site, there will be ample information about each of the four plans available to you.  You will be able to access the information you need to evaluate each of the four options.

Please consider this a very important civic duty to help plan Tulsa’s future.

We at PreserveMidtown take this process very seriously and endorse everyone’s participation in this last public planning step.  Please join us in this most important effort for Tulsa’s future.