Googie

[ddavidson8]

Hey, the Denny's post made me think about the googie buildings around OKC. The OP (I think) said he was going to start a thread about it, but I guess it never happened.

Anyone have photos or memories of some of these buildings?

[metro]

The Googie buildings?

[Luke]

Googie rocks.

[jstanthrnme]

Neptune's Submarine Sandwiches on Classen is a good local example.

[jstanthrnme]

The Googie buildings?

its a style of architecture from the 50's and 60's.
Here's the wiki description.
Googie architecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Arby's on 39th has a good googie sign, and so does 66 bowl.

[westsidesooner]

its a style of architecture from the 50's and 60's.

Was the Mcdonalds at 23rd and Penn a googie? I went by there the other day and noticed they remodeled it to look more modern...what ever happened to the 50's classic design Mcdonalds they just built there a few years ago? I liked it.

[jbrown84]

Was the Mcdonalds at 23rd and Penn a googie? I went by there the other day and noticed they remodeled it to look more modern...what ever happened to the 50's classic design Mcdonalds they just built there a few years ago? I liked it.

They've basically removed all of those elements over the last couple years.

[westsidesooner]

They've basically removed all of those elements over the last couple years.

Thats sad.

A couple more examples of buildings that might fit this thread that I liked are the BOA building at May and "Mosteller"? (NW Highway), and the old Kips on N may. I couldnt find any pics online of the okc Kips but found this sight you might find interesting ddavidson8. Kip's Big Boy - Googie Art

[jbrown84]

Yeah I love the old Boatman's Bank building on May and Mosteller.

[jstanthrnme]

Was the Mcdonalds at 23rd and Penn a googie? I went by there the other day and noticed they remodeled it to look more modern...what ever happened to the 50's classic design Mcdonalds they just built there a few years ago? I liked it.

I'm not sure that that qualifies. It has googie elements certainly, but I recall that building being built in '94 or '95.

Pop's in Arcadia also has a googie style. But it has no historical value.

[jstanthrnme]

Here's something I've forgotten:

There is some good stuff that pertains to this if you go to flickr and type "googie oklahoma city"

[OKCisOK4me]

Would Googie be the old signs that Holiday Inn's used to have out in front of them with that weird boomerang looking arrow pointing in to them with the flashing orange/yellow lights in them? Granted they were still around in the early 1980's but I remember those.

Oh and there's also a building in Tulsa right south of I-44 between Riverside Dr. and Lewis. It's a white building with these curvey looking walls on the front of it like the building above. I think it's a church but I'm not for sure. Anyway, I always thought it was the weirdest building when I was a kid!

[CuatrodeMayo]

Here's something I've forgotten:

There is some good stuff that pertains to this if you go to flickr and type "googie oklahoma city"

One of my favorite forgotten gems.

[lasomeday]

The family that built the McDonalds on 23rd and Penn sold it and the new owners have changed the style.

[jstanthrnme]

The former sign there was a McDonalds sign that I almost cared to see.

[scootinger]

There's a couple of Googie-esque bowling alleys off of South 44th if I recall correctly...

[CuatrodeMayo]

First Christan on 36th is another good example. Many of this style of achitecture made use of thin-shell concrete...a new technology at the time.

[jstanthrnme]

a lot of bowling alleys are built like that.
(The one in "The Big Lebowski" comes to mind.)
I suspect its because when the lanes became automated in in the 50's, it became a high volume business and a family friendly thing to do. This "space-age" architecture was popular at the time, so the new ones that sprung up, used it. The starbursts, the signs. A lot still survive.
Here are several from the metro:

[bombermwc]

Isn't the building 1492 is in one....there's another similar to that on Broadway about 1/4 mile south of 23rd.

[Luke]

Sonic tries for a googie kinda look.

[metro]

One of my favorite forgotten gems.

Not forgotten, this bank still exists on Classen and about NW 5th. I love the architecture. Too bad it's sat vacant for years.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Forgotten in terms of falling into disuse.

[ddavidson8]

Great pictures. I think we should really make an effort to photograph the insides and out of the remaining buildings. Not just the Googies, but all of the important styles. When they are inevitably torn down the next generation needs to have documentation of the past.

Kind of like the movie palaces. I would love to have the opportunity to visit some, but most are gone. When I come across one I try to get inside or see a show...whatever, but those things were mostly torn down without a second thought. There are really very few pictures of the ins and outs of those places.

Let's do our part.

[jbrown84]

Kind of like the movie palaces. I would love to have the opportunity to visit some, but most are gone. When I come across one I try to get inside or see a show...whatever, but those things were mostly torn down without a second thought. There are really very few pictures of the ins and outs of those places.

If I could bring back just one destroyed OKC building, it would probably be the Criterion Theatre. We lost so many great old movie palaces. It seems pretty much every other city has saved theirs.