Gutenberg Gates replica looms large at OKC mall
At 40-feet-tall with sunlight beaming across its gold exterior, the structure in the parking lot at an Oklahoma City mall easily captured the attention of passers-by.
That was just what Museum of the Bible leaders had hoped when they erected the Gutenberg Gates replica in the south parking lot of Penn Square Mall, 1901 Northwest Expressway. Shoppers and other visitors stopped to inquire about and take pictures of the eye-catching replica that was featured at the mall on Oct. 28 and 29.
“It is very massive and cool,” said Camerin Oliphant, a Dillard’s employee who visited the replica while on a break.
Steven Bickley, Museum of the Bible vice president of marketing, said the gates replica was brought to Oklahoma City as part of a national, five-city campaign to raise awareness of the museum, which is set for grand opening on Nov. 17 in Washington, D.C.
He said the city specifically was chosen as a tour stop because the museum’s founders, the Green family, has ties to Oklahoma City. The Green family, founders of Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby, began construction on the Museum of the Bible in 2015. “These are our roots,” Bickley said.
He said the replica gates are made to the scale of the grand gates — weighing 16 tons— that flank the entryway of the museum in Washington.
While the touring gates were created using truss, plywood, truss wrap, exterior vinyl and a lightweight brick facade, the Gutenberg Gates at the museum are made of bronze and are the largest panels of their kind in the world.
Bickley said the replica
gates are currently in the heart of Times Square in New York City and will move on to the National Mall in Washington. As part of the tour, they were first erected in Los Angeles before being moved on to Nashville, Tennessee, near the location for the 49th annual Gospel Music Association Dove Awards.
Meanwhile, motorists attempting to find parking at Penn Square Mall couldn’t help but turn their gazes to the replica gates. Many people milled about the replica, with most of them stopping to appease their curiosity.
Bickley said some visitors said they came out to the site because they knew about the Bible museum and the replica tour while others said they didn’t know much about any of it.
“Isn’t that the story of the Bible? We expect people to come to our museum who know a lot about the Bible, and there will be people who come who don’t know anything about it, and that’s wonderful. That’s what we hope for,” he said.
“We hope both sets are equally engaged.”
The replica gates had been scheduled to debut at the metro-area mall on Oct. 27, but high winds forced Museum of the Bible leaders to postpone erecting the structures. Bickley said crews had to wait until the wind died down about 5 p.m. Oct. 27 to begin erecting the replica gates with a 60-foot-tall crane, and
they worked until 4 a.m. on Oct. 28 to complete the installation.
‘Wonderful symbol’
Bickley said museum leaders chose to replicate the museum’s gates for several reasons.
He said the huge gates, created by artist Larry Kirkland, represent an important aspect of the museum. They bear the passages of Genesis 1:1-31 in Latin, as found in the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed using movable metal type.
“It is a wonderful symbol, and it hits on so many things,” Bickley said. “It speaks to the scale of the museum. It speaks to the quality and thoughtfulness of the design. The museum’s three primary floors are devoted to the history, narrative and impact of the Bible, and it (replica gates) includes all of that. And you can’t miss it.”
Visitors received information about how to become part of the Museum of the Bible membership program, which helps support the museum while giving those who join exclusive benefits and special access.
Bickley said museum leaders think once people visit the museum and they are touched by it, they will want to help support it in some way.
Chuck and Inez Freeman, of Bethany, said they planned to visit the museum.
The couple took pictures of each other in front of the replica on Oct. 28. They said they knew the Green family and had been
anticipating the museum’s opening.
“We know all about it. We can’t wait to take a trip,” Inez Freeman said.
The pair said they read about the replica coming to Penn Square Mall so they made it a priority to stop and see it. “It’s fantastic, and it’s beautiful,” Inez Freeman said.
Oliphant said he and several of his Dillard’s coworkers saw the replica gates being erected, and they became curious.
Choir director at North Church, Oliphant said he thinks a museum focusing on the Bible is a great idea.
“We have all those other museums out there that are secular. It’s time for one that is religiously based,” he said. “I’m sure it will increase people’s faith.”
Bickley shared similar sentiments.
“If you want to understand the world that we live in today, you need to understand this book that these doors represent.”