I'm so excited for this project!
Noticed this weekend they've taken the Spaghetti Warehouse signs down, although as of Sunday the one of the east facade is still up.
It kind of creeps me out to see the old girl without windows. Its sort of like looking into a zombie's face with no eyeballs. Horror movie in the making....
Looking forward to seeing this in a few months. Very exciting!
So, project for someone this week with a drone: get your drone up there close enough so we can see what the condition of the interior is like. The building faces south, so maybe go up the west side in the evening when the light is just right?
From Channel 9:
http://www.news9.com/story/38419074/...medium=twitter
They are renaming the building "The Icon".
BTW, Carol Hefner is quoted by Channel 9 and her title is shown as Development Partner.
For those who didn't know, she is the daughter of Sam Coury who bought the building last year.
Why don't people do a bit more digging to find a more historical name that would be more unique and authentic for this incredible structure? Does anyone know who the architect/investor/original owner/tenant of this building was? Using a name like that would be so much more distinctive and a connection to OKC's past. But I am an historian, not a real estate developer, and they probably can market a building called "The Icon" better.
Well, anything is a step up from “The Spaghetti Warehouse Building”.
Historically, it just seems like all the buildings downtown would just be painted/renamed for whatever was occupying it.
The Oklahoma Furniture Manufacturing Company Building doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
Makes sense. I'm okay with the icon. But maybe a hat tip to the architect or something like that would be okay to.
This survey report calls the building the "J.W. Awalt Building", page 118.
http://www.okhistory.org/shpo/themat...rialokcnty.pdf
This article from 1989 also calls it the "Awalt Building". I can't find any info about who J.W. Awalt was.
https://newsok.com/article/2259700/s...awalt-building
Awalt was also a furniture manufacturer and had a factory-direct store at that site.
I remember going there with my dad around 1982.
"Awalt Building" would be a perfectly fine name. Maybe if it becomes a boutique hotel they can call it "The Awalt", with the building still being the Icon building.
Or it would be cool to name it after a historical figure who doesn't get their due like OKC Civil Rights icon Roscoe Dunjee. Honestly, he should have a street named after him. To me, he's OKC's most inspiring historical figure. He was the founding editor of one of the largest black newspapers in the nation (the Black Dispatch), he helped lead the first state-level NAACP conference in the nation, he was involved in the Sipuel and McLaurin desegregation Supreme Court cases out of OU that led to Brown v. Board, he promoted black businesses, and he bravely fought segregation laws by violating them right after they were passed. Important to this conversation, I think he was based out of what is now Bricktown, but I'm not positive on that. If so, it would make naming a Bricktown building after him even more appropriate. Here's a short bio on him: http://www.okhistory.org/publication...hp?entry=DU007
That would be fantastic and appropriate, but Carol Hefner's racist and most likely wouldn't go for it...
https://www.thelostogle.com/2015/11/...-carol-hefner/
^^^
I remember seeing that post, but even re-reading it was incredibly depressing. Okay, well, maybe someone could start a movement to recognize Roscoe Dunjee in another way in the core (e.g., street name, historical markers, monument). Seriously, his name should be better known by OKC residents and visitors.
moved photos to next page
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