November Focus: Experiences from the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference…

What an exciting time for everyone who believes in Tulsa’s architectural history and in preserving it for Tulsa’s future generations!

The Good News is Tulsa’s preservationists are not alone!

The National Trust for Historic Preservation brought 2000 of its members to Tulsa from all across the nation so the world could see and experience Tulsa’s vast wealth of Art Deco buildings and our beautiful older neighborhoods.

They also came to ignite the spark of action for all Tulsans to come together to value and to save these treasures before it is too late!

The week was filled with inspiring speeches by former Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller, National Trust President Richard Moe, Sonic CEO and National Trust chairman of the Board of Trustees J. Clifford Hudson, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter, PhD, and well-known urbanist, Anthony M. Tung among others.

Conference attendees were amazed at our large collection of Art Deco architecture. What a valuable asset Tulsan’s have to celebrate! Attendees were equally impressed with our beautiful older neighborhoods.

However, these same attendees were horrified at the number of buildings that had already been demolished in downtown and at the rampant incompatible infill development in our older neighborhoods. What a tremendous loss we have allowed to happen in our city. What are we to do?

On the local level, PreserveMidtown hosted 2 bus tours of the neighborhood west of 38th street and Lewis Ave. to inform the National Trust attendees about the history of our PreserveMidtown organization. The attendees and trustees guaranteed us that they would continue to support preservation efforts in Tulsa’s midtown neighborhoods.

PreserveMidtown founders were panelists at the conference session, “Residential Infill Development-Tearing Down the Environment.” Some of the many issues discussed included the loss of our valuable tree canopy (our community “air cleaners”), contamination of our stormwater runoff with household and building site chemicals, the overburdening of our landfills and the waste of embodied Ḁἀ

energy (energy used to produce the original housing structure). We were excited with the very active discussion by the attendees in this well-attended session.

I was particularly struck by the closing plenary session. Nell Painter and Anthony Tung spoke about the importance of our architectural history to our combined cultures. Both authors suggested that Tulsa needs to be building bridges between the past and the future, between economic development and how saving 2% of the city’s building stock can generate millions of dollars in historical tourism. Anthony Tung was very clear about the irreparable danger of destroying the architectural and cultural heritage of Tulsa that makes it unique among America’s cities.

The National Trust left us with a challenge as Tulsa marches into the future with our new comprehensive plan-determine what you as an individual and as a city can do to save your architectural heritage!

We are fortunate to have many groups committed to preservation like the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, the Oklahoma Historical Society, COHN historical neighborhood group, the Preservation Commission, neighborhood associations and many citizens who do recognize the value of preservation to our culture and quality of life. Find a group that interests you and join them. If you don’t have the time to join them, then do all you can to support their efforts!

Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said it best: ”This year’s National Preservation Conference takes place in one of America’s most interesting and dynamic cities. Tulsa has a rich history embracing a strong Native American presence, the near-legendary decades of cowboys and homesteaders, the oil boom of the 1920’s and 1930’s and the heyday of Route 66, the iconic “Mother Road.” These and other periods are represented in a marvelous array of historic landscapes, neighborhoods and buildings culminating in the dazzling collection of Art Deco landmarks for which the city is justly famous among preservationists and architectural buffs.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation will host its 2009 conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Tulsa is the smallest city that has ever hosted the National Trust Conference. I think that speaks volumes on a national level that Tulsa has an architectural heritage worth preserving!