Hilton Skirvin Hotel

[Patrick]

As it stands now, assuming JQH builds an Embassy, we should be pushing 2,000 in the next 2-3 years.

That's not bad, considering before MAPS we had 395 rooms downtown.

[John]

Just for S&G's, how many rooms did the Biltmore have?

[brianinok]

I don't know how many rooms the Biltmore had, but that would be comparing apples to oranges. I am sure the Biltmore's rooms were much like the Skirvin's rooms-- small. The Skirvin had 525, but will have 225 now. So, whatever the Biltmore had, you would have to figure a renovated Biltmore would now have 40-45% what it had back then.

[Patrick]

Wasn't sure if you read this today or not, but apparently the Skirvin isn't going to open now until Spring of 2009. Here's the reason why:

[Patrick]

Marcus Hotels decided they liked the Skirvin so well, they decided to expand it to 8 towers. They got the approval to cut through the Santa Fe Parking garage and cross EK Gaylord Ave. How nice! should be around 700 rooms once completed.

[John]

Streched out like that, it almost looks like some NYC projects.

Speaking of updating the Skirvin, I wonder how far gone the original exterior of the Skirvin Annex is. Did they just cover it, like with the bottom two floors of the Skirvin? I'd like to see that building brought to its former glory.

[Patrick]

I'm guessing you're referring to the building to the north of the Skirvin? Attached the the Skirvin? If so, last I checked, it's getting a complete makeover along with the rest of the building. Not sure what's planned for the annex though.

[Patrick]

Sorry guys, looks like the project isn't going to happen after all. OCURA determined the Santa Fe Parking Garage to be historically significant, and voted against its removal. Thery stated that the concrete architecture represented the modern era back in the 70's-80's, and there was nothing like it comparable any where else in the world.

[John]

I'm guessing you're referring to the building to the north of the Skirvin? Attached the the Skirvin? If so, last I checked, it's getting a complete makeover along with the rest of the building. Not sure what's planned for the annex though.

No, just West of the Skirvin across Broadway. It was part of the Skirvin, just not connected, if I remember from reading about it. Here is a picture and link to the building on Doug's page.

...and it was called the Skirvin Tower, not Annex. My bad.

http://www.dougloudenback.com/downto...irvintower.htm

[John]

Thery stated that the concrete architecture represented the modern era back in the 70's-80's, and there was nothing like it comparable any where else in the world.

One building that would have been great from that era to save and use as lofts would be the old Y building. Can you imagine? I'm surprised a bigger fuss wasn't raised when it was being torn down. Think how many housing units that could have added to downtown.

BUT NO! We needed another parking lot!

[Doug Loudenback]

One building that would have been great from that era to save and use as lofts would be the old Y building. Can you imagine? I'm surprised a bigger fuss wasn't raised when it was being torn down. Think how many housing units that could have added to downtown.

BUT NO! We needed another parking lot!

Actually, there WAS a big fuss ... including litigation by interested citizens ... see http://www.dougloudenback.com/downto...age/1.ymca.htm

[Patrick]

Oh, you're referring to Skirvin Tower, where WKY was located. I believe the building is still there. Doug, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the whitish building just south of Kerr Park there, that used to house Sonic? If so, definitely doesn't look like it used to. I suppose it got a complete makeover.

[John]

Oh, you're referring to Skirvin Tower, where WKY was located. I believe the building is still there. Doug, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the whitish building just south of Kerr Park there, that used to house Sonic? If so, definitely doesn't look like it used to. I suppose it got a complete makeover.

Yeah its there, just with an ugly facade on it.

[Patrick]

Yeah its there, just with an ugly facade on it.

Yeah, the facade matches what used to be on the lower portion of the Skirvin Hotel. I'd love to see the facade removed from the old Skirvin Tower just as it's being removed from the hotel.

It's amazing how covering a building up with a little facade, can change the appearance so much.

Take the Civic Center for instance. When they were renovating it recently, the removed the wood panels and discovered that they were covering up the original art deco architecture of the music hall. Too bad that couldn't have been preserved.

[Doug Loudenback]

No, just West of the Skirvin across Broadway. It was part of the Skirvin, just not connected, if I remember from reading about it. Here is a picture and link to the building on Doug's page.

...and it was called the Skirvin Tower, not Annex. My bad.

http://www.dougloudenback.com/downto...irvintower.htm

How things change but remain the same! The Skirvin Tower was originally planned to be 26 stories instead of its eventual 14, but the effects of the Great Depression changed that (as did Oil Bust in the post-Oil Bust days). Here's an artist's postcard rendering of what was contemplated for the Skirvin Tower (now 101 Park Avenue Building):



Even so, the Skirvin Tower was a fine place ... Balliets was a tenant from 1936-1972. WKY Radio operated here from 1936-1951 (TV from 1949-1951), occupying 2 floors. The building was gutted in 1971 to become the 101 Park Avenue Building, a very nice building, as well.

[John]

Yeah, I've seen that postcard before. It would have been an even more magnificent building. ...but probably would have gotten a 60's era facelift like many others.

One building whose 'facade' really annoys me is that of the old AT&T or Southwestern Bell building. I know the anennae on top are needed, but that building would stand out so much more if that junk was removed from the roof. It really takes away from the art deco beauty of the building.

While we're tearing down modern facades and bringing old buildings to their former glory, Kerr McGee should restore the old India Temple building.

[Doug Loudenback]

As to the above:

Yes, 101 Park Avenue hosted Sonic for a short while. See http://www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/panorama2.htm and look for the red/gold neon sign (you won't be able to read it) on top of the building in the foreground of Chase Tower. It reads "Sonic". Before that, though, Sonic was located in the building immediately north of City Place ... the Petroleum Building (now Dowell Center).

As to "facades", 101 Park Avenue doesn't have anything left of the old Skirvin Tower except the concrete (I guess) tinker-toy structural framework (I don't know the right terms). The building was totally gutted, other than that structure, and a totally "new" building was built within the structure. Engineers and/or architects can help me with the terminolgy ... "skeleton" comes to mind.

[Doug Loudenback]

Yeah, I've seen that postcard before. It would have been an even more magnificent building. ...but probably would have gotten a 60's era facelift like many others.

One building whose 'facade' really annoys me is that of the old AT&T or Southwestern Bell building. I know the anennae on top are needed, but that building would stand out so much more if that junk was removed from the roof. It really takes away from the art deco beauty of the building.

While we're tearing down modern facades and bringing old buildings to their former glory, Kerr McGee should restore the old India Temple building.

Supposedly, that's in the works. All 3 "old" buildings which are part of the K-M campus (Braniff building, SE corner of Robinson & McGee, OKC S & L building on NE corner of Robinson & Kerr, and India Temple on NW corner of Kerr & Broadway) are supposed to become condos ... there's a thread about that here somewhere ... but I guess it remains to be seen how much restoration is possible to the India Temple building ... we shall see.

[John]

That's good to hear about the restoration. I know they are converting to condos and I'll definately be interested at seeing what the units in the Braniff building look like.

[Patrick]

I know the out-of-towners on the site like pics, so here are some pics of the Skirvin that I took today.

[Patrick]

No, just West of the Skirvin across Broadway. It was part of the Skirvin, just not connected, if I remember from reading about it. Here is a picture and link to the building on Doug's page.

...and it was called the Skirvin Tower, not Annex. My bad.

http://www.dougloudenback.com/downto...irvintower.htm

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Here's a picture of Skirvin Tower today. As Doug stated, today it's known as 101 Park Ave.

[Doug Loudenback]

Nice!

[Pete]

Thanks so much!

Wow,it looks like they still have a looooong way to go before their target opening date in December.

[brianinok]

I believe their target opening date is March (for the Big XII Basketball Tournament). It is the Colcord that will be open in December.

[writerranger]

Thanks, Patrick! It's so nice to see the Skirvin coming alive!