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The Oklahoma Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office presents its 2018 Citation of Merit Awards.
The Oklahoma Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office has presented its 2018 Citation of Merit Awards for historic preservation work — restoration, rehabilitation, research, planning, public programming and other activities.
Half of the award winners, with brief summaries of their work, are below. The remainder will publish on June 2.
• Ron Frantz, Randy McFarlin, Kandy Steeples and the University of Oklahoma’s fall 2016 historic preservation planning and historic buildings of Oklahoma class, for research on preservation of the Frank House in Sapulpa.
Fourteen students completed a report to guide the owners in prioritizing preservation projects for the house, designed by Bruce Goff and built in 1955 for John and Grace Lee Frank, founders of Frankoma Pottery, once a Route 66 landmark business.
• Berryhill Housing Partners LP; Preservation and Design Studio, PLLC; and Wallace Architects LLC, for a second certified rehabilitation of the 1909 five-story Berryhill Building, originally an office building, now used for affordable housing, in downtown Sapulpa.
• Lawrence and Gene LeVick, dedicated avocational archaeologists in southwest Oklahoma, starting in the 1950s, when documentation of archaeological sites and artifacts was not common in Oklahoma.
They contributed information to Oklahoma’s archaeological record by recording archaeological sites, collecting artifacts, and respectfully excavating burial remains that may have otherwise washed away and destroyed information.
The LeVicks took archaeological preservation seriously and were a great asset to the archaeological community.
• Parkside Optical and Dr. Brad Fielding, for renovation of what originally was Parkside Osteopathic Hospital at 318 S Littler Ave., Edmond, opened in 1950.
Partners Dr. Wayne Roberts and Dr. Ivan Berrey contracted with Oklahoma City architects Noftsger & Lawrence to design and construct their “dream hospital,” an iconic example of the midcentury modern style of architecture and state-of-the-art medical facility until 2000 when Dr. Roberts retired and closed his practice.
Today, visitors to Parkside Optical see the same midcentury facade and enter a reception area that includes the same terrazzo floors and amoeba-shaped ceiling with recessed lighting that greeted Parkside Osteopathic patients for the last half of the 20th century.
• The University of Oklahoma and Bockus Payne Architecture, for extensive renovation and an addition to create space for the new home of the College of International Studies in Hester Hall, now called Farzaneh Hall, 729 Elm Ave., Norman.
The building, the first dormitory built on the OU campus, was constructed in 1925. The addition of two stair towers enhanced emergency egress, and provided additional entry points. An addition to the west facade houses a threestory grand entrance and the new front door to the college, and houses a two-story lobby, elevator and open stairs.
• Oklahoma Department of Transportation and consultancy Mead & Hunt Inc., for researching New Deal-era road and bridge projects.
They published “A New Deal for Oklahoma: Bridge and Road Building in the Depression Era,” a booklet filled with photographs, maps and other graphics, and an interactive Google Earth layer that maps all Oklahoma bridges and parks with confirmed New Deal associations. Both are available on ODOT’s website.
• Page Woodson Development LLC; Ray, Ellis & LaBrie Consulting; Butzer Architects and Urbanism; and Smith Dalia Architects LLC, for the Page Woodson affordable housing complex at 600 N High St., “one of the most impressive and impactful projects certified in 2017.”
Originally constructed as Lowell Elementary School, the building served white students until 1933, when it was designated a segregated high school for African-Americans. It was renamed Douglass High School, then Page Woodson. It closed in 1993 and was vacant for more than 20 years.
• Will Rogers Housing Partners LP; Preservation and Design Studio PLLC; and Wallace Architects LLC, for a second certified rehabilitation of Will Rogers Hotel, 524 W Will Rogers Blvd., downtown Claremore.
The six-story, 64,300-square-foot building, constructed in 1929, provides affordable housing.
• Oklahoma Department of Transportation and Mead & Hunt Inc., for producing “Bridging the Mighty Red: Red River Crossings Between Oklahoma and Texas,” a report providing an engaging historical overview of the dominant forms of transportation and river crossings through time.
The Red River has been a nexus of settlement, trade and transportation through generations of Native American inhabitants, Spanish and French explorers, early American settlers, cattle drivers, farmers, railroad engineers and motorists.
Each of these groups confronted the question of how to cross the waterway. As time and technology evolved, different methods emerged: natural fords helped individuals to wade or ride across, ferries carried travelers from shore to shore, and railroad and vehicular bridges shuttled people and goods in droves over the “Mighty Red.”
• City of Altus; Ron Frantz; Hope Mander; and the University of Oklahoma’s spring 2017 class, environmental design capstone, for research and recommendations for Altus City Reservoir, constructed in 1910 and expanded in 1937.
Having never been dredged, sediment accumulated in the reservoir, reducing storage. City leaders now want to improve it and develop an adjacent 63 acres into a mixed-use park for recreation. Students reviewed historic documents, toured the site, met with local leaders, visited the Museum of the Western Prairie and studied private-sector proposals. Altus leaders continue to advance the project.