Historical society eyes Tulsa spot for Oklahoma Museum of Music and Popular Culture
The Oklahoma Historical Society is planning to establish the Oklahoma Museum of Music and Popular Culture in Tulsa's Brady Arts District and is in talks with Bank of Oklahoma to acquire land for the project. The museum, nicknamed the OK Pop, would feature large exterior LED screens. This configuration represents a possible Dick Tracy exhibit; the historical society has been working with the family of the late Chester Gould, the Pawnee-born cartoonist that created Dick Tracy. Photo provided
From Saturday’s The Oklahoman.
Historical society eyes Tulsa spot for Oklahoma Museum of Music and Popular Culture
The state historical society is in talks with Bank of Oklahoma to acquire a full square block of land where it hopes to build a 67,000-square-foot museum.
The Oklahoma Historical Society has a spot picked out in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District to establish the Oklahoma Museum of Music and Popular Culture, which is intended to affirm the state’s status as a “crossroads of creativity.”
The historical society is in talks with Bank of Oklahoma, which is headquartered in Tulsa, to acquire a full square block of land where it hopes to build the 67,000-square-foot museum. The property is now a surface parking lot just north of Union Depot. The land connects the Brady District with downtown Tulsa, making it an ideal spot for the museum, said historical society executive director Bob Blackburn.
“With the crossroads of creativity theme, this (land) works out perfectly,” he said.” It’s the crossroads of Tulsa. …
“Oklahoma has been so blessed with so many creative people … so we have this new theme called ‘crossroads of creativity,’ because so much of America’s and the world’s creative spirit has come through Oklahoma.”
Both parties confirmed Friday that the talks are nearing a successful conclusion.
“Bank of Oklahoma is pleased to be involved with this project as part of our continued commitment to support the redevelopment of downtown Tulsa and to support initiatives that benefit the entire state of Oklahoma. This museum will help efforts to make our community a major regional entertainment destination and will assist in workforce recruitment and meaningful population growth,” said BOK spokesman Jesse Boudiette said in a statement.
Nicknamed the OK Pop, the museum would be a companion institution to the Oklahoma History Center, Blackburn said. The historical society is requesting a $40 million bond issue from the state. It plans to match state funds with an $8 million private fundraising campaign, which the George Kaiser Family Foundation has put up a $1 million challenge grant to launch the campaign.
If the bond issue is authorized in fiscal year 2012, Blackburn said the museum could open in 2015.
Despite the state budget crunch, he remains optimistic that the OK Pop can be built. If the bond issue is authorized this year, the historical society won’t need the funds until the 2014 fiscal year.
“Right now, the projections are that state revenue will be back to where it was by next year, back to FY ’09 (levels) … and then hopefully by 2014, it will even exceed that,” he said.
He said the historical society needs “to be serving the people in the Tulsa community like we’re serving the people in Oklahoma City with the History Center.”
“We’re just saying it’d be worth investing the money in this, that it will generate more economic activity and serve a lot purposes,” he said.
Creative spirit
The OK Pop would feature Smithsonian-quality exhibitions reflecting Oklahoma’s creative spirit and showcasing the state’s contributions to music, movies, TV, radio, literature, and more. History Center exhibits like “Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock & Roll Exhibit,” “Chester Gould and Other Okie Cartoonists” and “Pickin’ and Grinnin’: Roy Clark, ‘Hee Haw’ & Country Humor” will form the foundation of the OK Pop’s offerings.
“It’s not a hall of fame. It’s putting things in context … and giving you three degrees of separation to the national scene, like Leon Russell and J.J. Cale gets you straight to Eric Clapton,” said Larry O’Dell, director of collections at the History Center.
Jeff Moore, formerly the History Center’s exhibitions director, already has accepted the job as director of the as-yet-unbuilt museum. He said creativity is “one of Oklahoma’s major exports, and I don’t think the state has always recognized that.”
“It’s got so much potential to do so much good for the state in so many ways, including in kind of self-identity, just increasing awareness of how creative and amazing the people of this state are and have been. There’s just so many stories,” he said, adding that plans for the museum was inspired through development of the rock ‘n’ roll exhibit.
“Oklahoma deserves it. The creatives of Oklahoma deserve it, and Oklahoma needs to be inspired by it. And the world needs to know that Oklahoma’s story is an international story.”
Hundreds of artists have offered their support and collections, ranging from Garth Brooks and Kristin Chenoweth to the families of the late Bob Wills and Gould, he said.
Business plan
Conservatively, the OK Pop would draw about 100,000 paid visitors a year, plus another 100,000 unpaid guests like those attending special events, Blackburn estimated.
The museum would have a planned $1.8 million annual operations budget, and he anticipated the museum would be able to pay for its own operations from the first year through a planned $3 million endowment, annual fundraising efforts and various revenue streams including admissions, gift shop sales, special event rentals and a planned parking garage. The parking garage would serve BOK employees, the museum and the surrounding area.
“Providing adequate parking will be an important element of this project,” Boudiette said. “Downtown currently has many parking options and as the Blue Dome and Brady districts continue to expand within the corridor between ONEOK Field and the BOK Center, parking facilities for downtown workers and visitors will be in high demand.”
-BAM
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