Music, water refresh Bricktown
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
Banjo music soon will flow through the streets of Bricktown, thanks to a pending move by the American Banjo Museum from its home in Guthrie.
The nonprofit closed Tuesday on a $1.3 million purchase of the two-story building at 9 E Sheridan and is set to proceed with a $2 million renovation this spring.
Johnny Baier, executive director, said the project is possible thanks to support by banjo enthusiast and industrialist Jack Canine.
"Mr. Canine has established a gift trust to serve as the museum's long-term endowment, and into that trust he has provided an additional gift to ensure this project will be seen through completion.
The 9 E Sheridan building was briefly leased to a club and before that a Chinese restaurant. The building is about a century old and stands at the main entry to Bricktown. It is surrounded by restaurants and is within walking distance from the downtown hotels and the Cox Convention Center.
"It was the location in Bricktown, Baier said. "We didn't want to be on the fringes. We looked out by the boathouse, we looked at vacant land where we could build a new structure ...
We are dependent on casual traffic people who don't seek us out, but say this is interesting enough, I'm going in.'
The renovation, being overseen by Architectural Design Group, calls for restoring bricked-in windows and removing pink paint added a few years ago. Baier estimates 75 percent of the $2 million renovation budget will be spent on returning the building's facade to its historic appearance.
"No more pink paint, Baier said. "We are committed to taking this building to its original look and doing it well.
Chuck Ainsworth, who represented the seller, Bricktown Square LLC, said the building wasn't for sale when negotiations began in September. But the banjo museum, represented by J.R. "Bud Fulton, wasn't just any ordinary buyer, he said.
"It was only after the owners realized how this could enhance the entire area that they decided to depart with it, Ainsworth said. "It's just such an exciting deal for Bricktown. It's another dimension we talk about retail, restaurants and housing, but this brings another dimension of culture to the fabric of downtown.
The museum since 1998 has been on the second floor of a building it owns at 116 E Oklahoma Ave. in Guthrie.
The museum was formed after Canine, who was hoping to find a place to display his banjo collection, visited a banjo festival in Guthrie.
For the past several years the museum has waited for a tenant's lease for the first floor to expire in 2009 so the organization could expand and gain a street-level presence.
After acquiring 200 jazz-age banjos last year from a collector in Germany, the museum's board realized the Guthrie building still wouldn't be big enough once the first floor becomes available.
What museum will feature
Designs call for visitors to first view a history of banjos, which date to African slaves who invented the instruments in the mid-1600s.
The exhibit will trace the instrument's spread in popularity, including the advent of ragtime jazz in the 1920s.
The first floor also will include a gift shop, bistro and a catering kitchen.
Baier credits his own interest in banjo music to visits to Shakey's Pizza as a 15-year-old, and he hopes the same magic might inspire future museum visitors to take an interest in what he calls the only truly American-made musical instrument.
"I saw the visual aspect of it, Baier said. "After hearing the music, I realized it wasn't the old music that I liked; it was the banjo aspect of it.
Because of that history, the new museum's first floor also will include a recreation of a Shakey's Pizza.
A 57-seat theater, a cultural workshop, banjo displays and offices will be on the second floor. Baier said the theater is designed to be just big enough for a stop by a tour bus.
Jim Cowan, director of the Bricktown Association, said the American Banjo Museum is an eagerly anticipated addition to the entertainment district.
He said two other museums also are looking at moving into the area.
American Banjo Museum moving to Bricktown
Originally Posted by Steve
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