For the month of May the National Trust for Historic Places has promoted National Preservation Month through a campaign known as This Place Matters . The site invites normal Joes (and Joe-ettes) to submit photos or videos with their story of a place that matters. I scanned the list of submissions for submissions from Tulsa, Bartlesville or Oklahoma City. None. What about Norman? Hmmm... maybe Ponca City? Okay, I'm desperate- what about Muskogee? Nothing from Oklahoma at all! So no place in the Sooner State matters? It's Easy! Register on the National Trust's website, www.preservationnation.org Download and print out a “This Place Matters” sign from the National Trust website. Snap a photo of people holding the sign and standing in front of a building or place of particular personal significance. Then, upload the photo (or photos) to the National Trust's This Place Matters website, and post a brief story about the place and why it matters. Alternatively, upload a
On the Trail of Julius Shulman: Stop 2 "This is a bank," the sign outside the futuristic building read. According to legend a prankster added a strategic question mark and echoed the sentiment of many passers-by: "This is a bank?" That was back in 1964 when it opened. Today the Arvest on Lincoln Boulevard looks a bit less Jetsonian, mostly due to replacement of structural glass below the "saucers," but it's still an unusual bank. Designed by Robert Roloff of the architectural firm Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson & Roloff, the State Capitol Bank caused quite a stir in Oklahoma City when it opened. Heck, it's still pretty shocking today! Originally the flying saucers appeared to hover above the building (as seen in this vintage postcard). All the glass that made that effect possible also made heating and cooling an expensive proposition. Security concerns also mandated replacement of those windows with solid materials and small square portholes