Museum offers unique investment opportunity
Folks seeking to invest in Oklahoma’s colorful music and creative history can do so Wednesday when brokers will be taking orders for bonds that will be used to finance construction of the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture in Tulsa.
Set to open in 2020, the museum will feature artifacts and exhibits that will tell the stories of a host of American cultural icons with Oklahoma ties or influences — including Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Garth Brooks, Patti Page, Leon Russell and Bob Wills.
“We’ve been trying to get to this point ... for eight years,” said Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
“It’s a facility to celebrate creativity in Oklahoma as expressed by artists who have been able to make a living through their craft,” Blackburn said. “It’s people in the movie industry, radio, television, illustrators— going off into popular literature, but all of this is tied together by music as the universal language.”
The museum will be built on donated property in downtown Tulsa’s Brady Arts District, directly across the street from the historic Cain’s Ballroom, an internationally acclaimed music venue that has featured acts from a variety of musical genres.
Blackburn said he can’t imagine a more perfect location to tell the story of Oklahoma’s vibrant creative history.
People interested in investing need to contact their brokers quickly because the bonds will be priced and sold Wednesday morning, said State Bond Advisor Jim Joseph. The bond issue is expected to close in about two weeks.
Bonds issued as part of the $27.17 million bond issue will be federally taxable, but will not be subject to Oklahoma state or local income taxes, Joseph said.
Bonds will be issued in $5,000 increments and will be backed by legislative appropriations to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The bonds are expected to carry a wide range of interest rates and maturities, ranging from an anticipated 2.05 percent interest rate for bonds that mature in 2020 to a 4.55 percent rate for bonds that mature in 2050, Joseph said.
BOK Financial Securities Inc., Wells Nelson and Stifel will be serving as underwriters.
Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings have assigned the bonds a AArating.
Another opportunity to invest in Oklahoma’s cultural history is expected sometime this fall when the state will be issuing bonds to fund the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, Joseph said.