A purchase and redevelopment agreement with a local environmental engineering firm will preserve the historic Gold Dome in Oklahoma City, reported The Oklahoman newspaper.
Jones Public Relations was set to make an announcement Friday about the Gold Dome’s future. However, reporter (and historic preservation advocate) Steve Lackmeyer got the story Thursday.
TEEMCO representatives confirmed Thursday the company intends to move its 65-person operation into the building after it completes renovations. […]
“TEEMCO believes the building should be preserved for future generations to appreciate,” said Arrow Cunningham, spokesman for TEEMCO. “Revitalizing the Gold Dome fits into our core belief in protecting our environment, whether natural or man-made.”
David Box purchased the Gold Dome — a former bank building built in 1958 that’s now on the National Register of Historic Places — in a September foreclosure sale and pledged to preserve its unique geodesic structure. However, Box filed for a demolition permit in March, saying that renovating the Gold Dome would be “prohibitively expensive.”
Box’s proposal was given a chilly reception by the Oklahoma City Urban Design Committee, which indicated it would be reluctant to approve the demolition permit. Box backed off from his plan.
Final plans and designs for the Gold Dome reportedly will be unveiled next month.
The Gold Dome sits at Northwest 23rd Street and North Classen Boulevard, both sections of Route 66, near the Milk Bottle Grocery building.
(Image of the interior roof of the Gold Dome by Brittanie Shey, via Flickr)
That’s great news about the Dome. It’s such an interesting structure. I hope to have the chance to see it some day.
It’s unfortunate that Lackmeyer ruined the excitement generating PR announcement that the purchaser deserved. I doubt many extra papers were sold by “breaking” this story, but it certainly takes much of the energy out of the formal announcement, and the attention it would have rightfully brought the purchaser.