Effort to put Oklahoma City’s Founders Tower on national registry
Oklahoma City is considering an effort to get the Founders Tower listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Founders Tower, 5900 Mosteller Drive. PROVIDED BY AIA CENTRAL OKLAHOMA CHAPTER
Built from 1962 to 1964, the 275-foot tower displays unique architectural elements, such as the revolving-platform restaurant at the top, and helped catalyze the development of northwest Oklahoma City, according to a staff report. Recently it has undergone significant renovations with the addition of luxury condominiums.
The revolving restaurant, which I remember as the Eagle’s Nest, is empty but from county property records it appears the condos are starting to fill.
According to city staff, which is preparing the application, the tower is unique for it’s architecture. As written in the yet submitted application the tower “is a highly individual mid-twentieth century high-rise building that showcases a limited timeframe in which recent technological developments and the freedom to experiment in architecture gave rise to rare building forms and details, as exemplified in the folded plate roof system and unusual slender decagonal form of this tower, plus its cantilevered balconies.”
Another way of saying “it looks neat,” at least from my uneducated perspective.
The tower is one of two circular tall buildings in Oklahoma, according to the application. The other being the University Club Tower in Tulsa.
At its last meeting, the city council delayed voting on whether to submit the tower until May 17 so that staff could review a bit more of the application.
Below is the application and some other documents, including a letter from Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Bob Blackburn in support of placing the tower on the registry. Reading through the documents were an interesting glimpse into Oklahoma City’s history. I hope you find them as fascinating as I did.
Or, maybe it’s just that I’ve loved tall buildings since I was a small child.
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