Tall Buildings

[Doug Loudenback]

Since we're getting "building fever" with the Devon announcement, and since Steve is torquing up our curiosity with his article today, I've started a post at Doug Dawgz Blog: Tall Buildings on "Tall Buildings," defined as 8 floors or more. There, when it's done, I'm giving a trace of information on each such Okc building, past, present, future, and those that were hoped for but didn't happen ... I'm going to snarf some images from Steve & Jack's Okc: 2nd Time Around for that before it's done.



A crop of the top of the table is this:



I've probably left some out ... please let me know.

[JWil]

If only the two Leadership Square towers were one it would be over 40 stories, right? Either way, that's a beautiful complex that totally gets buried in the fray of the other buildings.

[Doug Loudenback]

According to DowntownNow, Commercial , Leadership Square contains 735,514 square feet, more than Chase (514,642 ) or Oklahoma Tower (568,960). So, yeah, that might be so.

[Doug Loudenback]

I drove around town taking a bunch of pics to populate the images in my Tall Buildings blog post ... Doug Dawgz Blog: Tall Buildings yesterday, and still have a few to go (the list as it exists includes 97 buildings, old and new).

Some of the better are shown below:

Click a link for a larger image ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ecapitol02.jpg



Valliance Tower
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...iancetower.jpg



The Classen



Founders Plaza (this one was taken a few months ago)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...10_29_07_a.jpg



Union Plaza
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...unionplaza.jpg



50 Penn Place
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...0pennplace.jpg



Lakeview Tower Apartments
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...viewtowers.jpg



Okc Marriott
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...kcmarriott.jpg



Oklahoman Building
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ngs/opubco.jpg



Children's Physicians Building
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...physicians.jpg



OK Department of Health
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ntofhealth.jpg



VA Medical Center
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...vahospital.jpg



Hertz Financial Center
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...cialcenter.jpg



Crowne Plaza Hotel
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...plazahotel.jpg



One Benham Place
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...enhamplace.jpg



Waterford Marriott
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...rdmarriott.jpg



Integris Baptist Main Building
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49.../baptist01.jpg



Presbyterian
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...esbyterian.jpg



Mercy Health Center
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...cyhospital.jpg



Integris Baptist Bldgs A & B
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49.../baptist02.jpg



Here's one that didn't make the "8 floor" cutoff to be included in the list ... the Signature Place building ... would be nicer if it didn't have the "rent me" ads posted on the building, though ...
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...atureplace.jpg



Here's one I don't have a good picture of, the 1960 and now destroyed Plaza Court Hotel on Shartel, south of the Physicians & Surgeons Building ... all I could locate was an image in an old Oklahoman and its poor in quality ... if anyone has a picture of this hotel, I'd be pleased to have it! Anyone?

Plaza Court Hotel
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...courthotel.jpg



If you find any errors or omissions, I'd be glad to have the input.

[metro]

Good work as always Doug. FYI, Founders Plaza is now called The 360 at Founders Plaza and Hertz Financial center is no more, it has a new name. I forget what it is but the new sign is out front. I think there is a post on it with the new name. Didn't know if you wanted the new names for your post.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, Metro, yes, I do want to use current names ... I'll amend ... and check out the new name for Hertz.

[JLCinOKC]

Was the Plaza Court Hotel located near St Anthony? Maybe across the street from the Pasteur Building?

[Doug Loudenback]

Yes, pretty close. The physical street address was 1115 N. Shartel. The hotel opened in August 1960 but didn't last long as such, according to the Oklahoman archives. St. Anthony's was negotiating a purchase to be used for its nursing students (7/1966) but I don't know if that happened. It became the "Shartel Professional Building." I've not researched its destruction date.

On Edit: See Solitude's reply, below.

[solitude]

Was the Plaza Court Hotel located near St Anthony? Maybe across the street from the Pasteur Building?

Yes, JLC, it was immediately to the west of the Pasteur Building. At one time, it also was a nursing college.

[solitude]

Doug, We were posting at the same time - yes, it was used for nursing students in the late 60's and early-mid 70's. I wish we had a better picture, that's too bad. Maybe somebody out there?

[Doug Loudenback]

Doug, We were posting at the same time - yes, it was used for nursing students in the late 60's and early-mid 70's. I wish we had a better picture, that's too bad. Maybe somebody out there?

I'm hoping to find one ... it was a very interesting looking building ... a hexagon ... back in my "religious period," I remember that the Episcopal Church diocesan offices were located there before moving to Plaza Court (shopping center) ... or was it vice versa? ... and later built its office downtown on N. Robinson, a block north of St. Paul's.

An August 1960 Oklahoman article says that it was the 1st hotel built in Okc since the Skirvin Tower was done in 1936 ... and that's a huge gap in time for no hotels to be built (aside from the proliferating motels all around town).

[metro]

Doug, the former Hertz Financial Center is now called Caliber Center and Hertz no longer occupies the space to my knowledge. I know they have some ugly property off N. Penn. They also have another currently used large property on NW Expressway, just east of MacArthur. Love's also has a HQ on N. Penn. It'd be neat if they both would build a downtown HQ in the CoreToShore area.

Here's the link to the purchase if interested:

http://www.okctalk.com/okc-metro-are...ighlight=hertz

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, Metro. I'll amend the table accordingly.

[JLCinOKC]

I remember the Plaza Court Hotel. My pediatrician was in the Pasteur Building. It's too bad it was destroyed! It would have made great residential.

[solitude]

I remember the Plaza Court Hotel. My pediatrician was in the Pasteur Building. It's too bad it was destroyed! It would have made great residential.

Was your pediatrician Dr. Freeman? Bohan? I remember my trips there well.

[JLCinOKC]

Dr. Bohan

[Doug Loudenback]

Here are some new or substituted pics which are in the blog post, taken today:

Oklahoma Tower Larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ahomatower.jpg



Leadership North Larger Image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...rshipnorth.jpg



Leadership South larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...rshipsouth.jpg



1st National Addition larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...aladdition.jpg



Larger Integris Southwest: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ssouthwest.jpg



Larger Physicians & Surgeons: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...nssurgeons.jpg



Larger Everett Tower: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...eretttower.jpg



Alternative Landmark Towers: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...arktowers2.jpg



Biomedical Sciences: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ofmedicine.jpg



Hampton Inn: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...hamptoninn.jpg



Baptist Building C: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49.../baptist04.jpg



Baptist Building D: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49.../baptist03.jpg



There are a few others (jail, OkS&L) that are different or new. The last item on the list, an 8 story hotel on Western, I've not located yet. Maybe Emporis got that wrong.

Do you know?

[RabidRed]

Did I miss OPUBCO building?

[FritterGirl]

Did I miss OPUBCO building?

Try Doug's Post #4, just under the photo of the Marriott hotel. It's kind of a different angle, and a fairly close frame, so not as easily recognizable.

Thanks for all of these great photos, Doug!

[Doug Loudenback]

Spartan at OkMet gave me a heads up about the missing building ... which I though was a hotel or motel.

I believe that the Western Tower is the ugly red mid-rise located on Western south of the SW Medical Center.

He was right. I almost wish that I hadn't found it ... it's an office building, not a hotel/motel as I'd thought. 8 stories makes the cut, though, so ...

Larger pic: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...sterntower.jpg



Seeing that (it looks better in the pic than in person) made me want to have a drink, so I left southwest Okc and drove toward Byrons at 23rd & Broadway. On the way, I passed near a favorite old building of mine, the Aberdeen Apartments, built in 1927, on NW 15 between Broadway & Robinson. So I detoured ... looking at it from its east side, it appears to have 8 floors, even though I know that bottom floor to be a very nicely furnished basement. So, what the hey! I decided to include it. It's my party ... er, blog ... and I can do what I want to!

Larger pic: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...s/aberdeen.jpg



The building table now tops out at 99. I think I'll reformat the table, though, to show 2 buildings per row for easier viewing.

[metro]

The Aberdeen caught on fire last week, don't know if it affected it structurally or not.

[Doug Loudenback]

The Aberdeen caught on fire last week, don't know if it affected it structurally or not.

When I took the above pic today, all looked fine. Saw no signs of a fire. People coming and going as usual.

[jbrown84]

Really?? I can't find any news articles about it.

[FritterGirl]

Spartan at OkMet gave me a heads up about the missing building ... which I though was a hotel or motel.

Speaking of hotels or motels, what about that ugly Country Inn and Suites near the Border's books on NW Expy. It is just south of where the old Continental theatre used to be and was formerly a medical tower, I believe. It had a black facade and now it is beige and red stucco.....

[Doug Loudenback]

Speaking of hotels or motels, what about that ugly Country Inn and Suites near the Border's books on NW Expy. It is just south of where the old Continental theatre used to be and was formerly a medical tower, I believe. It had a black facade and now it is beige and red stucco.....

Agreed on the "eek," but there it is. It's #62 in the table, and there you are!