Does This Place Matter?

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 video to You Tube and include the keywords "preservationnation" and "thisplacematters" to magically align them with other submissions from preservation-happy videophiles.Not even I am that cynical. I assumed this was an oversight, considering the fact the National Preservation Conference will be held October 21-25 here in T-Town. So I dug a little deeper. Fiona Lawless with the NTHP confirmed it- as of May 27 there are no places in Oklahoma that matter.

Well, at least not any place that someone cared enough to list.

So let's get it in gear people!

Get out your camera or fire up the video. Let's share some of these great buildings we have here in Oklahoma. We need to let them know about the NBT Building, ORU, the Marland Mansion, Boston Avenue Methodist, Price Tower, the Round Barn, Philbrook, the Gold Dome... you get the idea.

Some of the video submissions to This Place Matters...

Comments

The Recent Past

The Bruce Goff House in Vinita

We were recently surprised to learn about a Goff-designed home just an hour away from Tulsa in Vinita, Oklahoma. Vinita is probably best known to OK Mod readers as the home of the Glass House on I-44, also known as (shudder) the World's Largest Largest McDonalds . Anywho, turned out the Goff house was on the market, and the owner was more than happy to let us have a look around. We took a short drive up the turnpike one Sunday afternoon to meet the realtor, snap some pictures, ask some questions and enjoy another one of Bruce Goff's unique creations. The home is known as the Adams House and was built in 1961. The 3,700 square foot home is arranged in a circular floor plan with a large sunken "conversation pit" at the center. Rising up from this pit is a large metal fireplace, its chimney surrounded by skylights, which dominates the entire house. Rooms surround the perimeter with folding accordion doors acting as walls. To maintain some semblance of privacy an inner

OKC's Unique First Christian Church

The Church of Tomorrow Oklahoma's state capitol dome was added some 88 years after the capitol was built, finally completed in 2002. But not far away is another dome that has been turning heads since 1956. It's the First Christian Church of Oklahoma City. Call it a wigwam, igloo, earthbound spaceship or dome- no matter how you describe the shape of the sanctuary, it's definitely eye-catching. The thin-shell concrete dome is massive, with seating for 1200. Connected to the dome is a four-story administrative building and a 185-seat theater. Dedicated as "The First Christian Church of Tomorrow," the architecture caught the attention of local newspapers, as well as Life magazine (Feb. 1957). Last summer I had a unique opportunity to explore these interesting buildings. The main complex was designed by R. Duane Conner in 1953. Conner was a member of the congregation and offered three different designs for the church. Credit is also attributed to his partner, Fr

Oklahoma State Capitol Bank

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

Oklahoma Modern

Search This Blog