OKC Civic Center to offer free docent-led tours on April 22nd.

[FritterGirl]

Wanted to pass this news along for everyone. It coincides with the all-day birthday celebration at City Hall on April 22nd. For those true City afficionadoes and history buffs, you can take a tour of City Hall, the Civic Center Music Hall, plus at 2 p.m. watch a highly-anticipated presentation about the City's history featuring Dr. Bob Blackburn. Dr. Blackburn will speak about points in the City's history while local architect Jim Loftis creates live illustrated hand drawings about that same historical moment.

Music Hall to host tours for Oklahoma City’s’ 125th birthday celebration


(April 11, 2014) - The Civic Center Music Hall will open its doors for docent-led tours on Tuesday, April 22 as part of a day full of activities celebrating the City’s 125th birthday.

Tours will depart from the hall’s Meinders Hall of Mirrors at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The tours are free to the public.

Participants will get a door-to-door look at the historic music hall, including visits to the hall’s three theatres, the Meinders Hall of Mirrors, as well as the back stage area, which is rarely open to the public. The historic music hall is part of the original complex of four Civic Center buildings completed in 1935 as part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal matching grant program. It is one of only a handful of municipally-run halls left in the United States.

“We welcome more than 300,000 visitors to our facility for events and performances every year, but rarely do they get an opportunity to experience the hall from behind the scenes,” said Jim Brown, Civic Center Manager. “This is the perfect opportunity to showcase this nationally-recognized facility to our citizens, and teach them how the Civic Center has played such an important role in our city’s culture and history.”

Along the tour, visitors will be treated to stories about the Civic Center, including interesting notes about its Art Deco architecture, behind-the-scenes stories of its many performances, and the Civic Center’s role after the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building. Tours may even touch on the spookier lore surrounding the theatre involving its infamous ghost.

Other activities included in the City’s April 22nd 125th celebration include:

· 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. City Hall Open House

· 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Free hourly tours of City Hall

· Noon Create Oklahoma-inspired art at the Festival of the Arts
($2 charge)

· 2 p.m. Free OKC Historical Presentation & Illustration
featuring Dr. Bob Blackburn in the City Council Chamber

· 6 p.m. Free Spokies OKC History Bike Tour
· All Day Free METRO Transit Bus Rides
· All Day Free admission to Science Museum Oklahoma, Henry Overholser Mansion, Red Earth Museum, The American Banjo Museum, Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory at Myriad Gardens.

For more information, call 297-2578 or log on to City of Oklahoma City | News.

[Pete]

This is a great idea.

Most people haven't seen all the various venues inside this structure -- I know I haven't.

[bradh]

i want to see the room they keep their awesome Steinway piano in (which has an awesome back story if you don't know it)

[ljbab728]

Unfortunately, this schedule negates the possibility of most people with normal jobs being able to attend.

[Mel]

Fortunately, I am abby normal. I will have to check this out.