Mid-Century
Modern designs like the Civic Center Plaza, our next site on the Endangered
list, often lack the nostalgic supporters of other architectural styles; they
are still “new” buildings in many people’s eyes, and in fact are only beginning
to meet the National Register age criteria of 50 years. In addition, their clean and even sparse
aesthetic, an intentional break at the time from more ornate styles of previous
generations, contrasts sharply with what we’ve learned to appreciate as
“historic.” However, appreciation is growing for Mid-Century Modern
architecture, with supporters heralding these buildings as representative of a
significant, national architectural movement.
As preservationists learn to appreciate a new era of architecture, (and
to acknowledge that buildings built within their lifetimes may have historic
value), we also must learn to preserve a different generation’s building
methods, materials, and design intent.
Tulsa Civic Center Plaza, Tulsa (representing
Mid-Century Modern Architecture):
The Civic
Center Plaza recently has been determined eligible for inclusion on the
National Register of Historic Places as a historic district for its unique
Mid-Century Modern Architectural style. This district includes 8 buildings and a
landscaped plaza. This Civic Center district was an idea that began in the mid
1920’s, with Tulsa community leaders wanting to establish a central focused
government and civic area within the downtown area to discourage decline and to
encourage stability and civic pride. Though the idea went through a few stages
of planning and revision, the basic principle remained the same- to have a
central location that the public identified as their Civic Center for the
community.
Voters
approved the purchase of 6 blocks in the downtown area of Tulsa in 1954 to
construct the civic buildings, and the Civic Center construction began in 1955,
eventually being completed in 1975. In 1955, the plans for the district were
listed in the German publication, Architektur Und Geminschaft: Tagebuch
einer Entwicklung, by Siegfried Giedion, praising it as one of the Top 23
Architectural Achievements of the 20th Century. Credited to the
Architectural League of Tulsa, the construction was overseen by principal
architect Robert Lawton Jones, with individual buildings designed by a number
of Tulsa architects.
Today,
Tulsa’s Civic Center Plaza and particularly old city Hall, like many symbols of
modern architecture, is a site that people love or hate. In 2007, Tulsa City Council approved the
relocation of City Hall to a new building, and the move was completed in late
2008, leaving City Hall empty and awaiting a new use. This centrally-located site is ripe for
redevelopment, ideally through adaptive reuse of its many structures, rather
than through a clean sweep of the site.
